Ratings sometimes can go up or down. Players sometimes can have a very good or bad tournament once in a while. But who would you vote for as the top 5 strongest players right now?
Here are the top 15 based on ratings:
1 Topalov, Veselin 2813
2 Anand, Viswanathan 2779
3 Kramnik, Vladimir 2750
4 Svidler, Peter 2750
5 Morozevich, Alexander 2747
6 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2741
7 Aronian, Levon 2741
8 Leko, Peter 2741
9 Adams, Michael 2735
10 Gelfand, Boris 2733
11 Radjabov, Teimour 2729
12 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2728
13 Navara, David 2725
14 Shirov, Alexei 2720
15 Akopian, Vladimir 2713 
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Actually, after Elista, Topalov is 2798 and Kramnik is 2766
In no particular order:
Ivanchuck, Morozovich, Kramnik, Anand, Mamedyrov.
Top 5? Right now, Kramnik, Anand and Topalov are probably a slight but noticable cut above the rest of the pack (in that order). For the other 2, you can take your pick from any of a dozen players.
Now? Morozevich for sure!!! He was amazing at the european cup.
Kramnik, Anand, Topalov, Svidler, Leko
Kramnik and Anand look currently strongest to me. We’ll just have to see what happens to Topalov. Svidler has the talent but can he work hard enough to bcome the best?
Sorry to be off-topic, but I’d like to point out a certain Judit Polgar’s performance rating at Essent is over 2900!
I guess the top 3 would have to be Anand, Kramnik and Topalov (in no particular order).
For the next two, I’ll pick Morozovich and Ivanchuk (especially due to their recent European Club Championship performances)
1. Kramnik
2. Anand
3. Leko
4. Aronian
5. Mamedyarov
Susan, you are doing a great job with your blog. Congratulations!
Your coverage of WC and news about Essent made me a regular reader of your blog.
As a side note, it is quite ok if you do not post anything in a day or two. It is the quality that matters not quantity. I have a feeling that ‘who is a better player questionnaire’ thing is a little bit overused.
Anyway, sorry for growling. Everything is almost perfect here!
1. Kramnik
2. Anand
3. Topalov
4. Svidler
5. Leko
But Judit is number 1 in fight.
1. Kramnik
2. Anand
3. Leko
4. Kamsky
5. Polgar
1. Polgar
2. Polgar
3. Polgar
4. Polgar
5. All of the Above.
@latest anonym
ME!
(i’m about 25 kms around – can we meet tomorrow – please give me your bank account, so i can transfer the money today …)
till tomorrow – your nightmare ^^
Morozevich had a nice performance recently (2800+), Shirov also playd very good …
I think it is kind of hard to point out the first 5 … even the number one?! (I think that if we looks only at performance in the last turament played then Morozevich shuld be N#1.
Te top 5 must have Kramnik, Anand and Topalov (even if his elo is free falling at the moment) But for places 4 and 5 it is hard to decide … in my view Morozevich deserves to be there but Svidler? He didn’t show much at the European Club Cup …
So for N#5 it is one of these:
Ivanchuk, Vassily
Aronian, Levon
Leko, Peter
Shirov, Alexei
Mamedyrov might get some elo points now … so he must be included
Well for the first 4 it is easy but then there are a lot of GM’s with similar “power” …
So to recapitulate the top 4 are:
Kramnik, Vladimir
Anand, Viswanathan
Topalov, Veselin
Morozevich, Alexander
(I dont know in which order maybe Morozevich is n#2!?)
(what is the last turnament Anand played in? He usualy takes “big” brakes from turnament play … but has been this strong for such a long time now that a list without him is nonsense)
D.K.
1. Topalov
2. Moro
3. Anand
4. Aronian
5. Ivanchuk
“1. Polgar
2. Polgar
3. Polgar
4. Polgar
5. All of the Above.”
I don’t see how the opinion of anyone who thinks Polgar is 5 separate people could be taken seriously. Even Danailov only claims to be two people.
Easy question:
1) Kramnik
2) Topalov
3) Anand
4) Morosevich
5) Kamsky (comeback kid)
http://chess-training.blogspot.com
1. Kramnik (everyone agrees)
… quite some distance
2. Anand
3. Topalov
4. – 10. various players from Leko, Morozevich and Svidler to young Azeris and Ivanchuk
Judit Polgar and Gata Kamsky do not make top 10.
Kramnik
Anand?! (when he return to play?)
Topalov
Ivanchuk
Morozevich
PS
Actually, after third round of Essentm, Topalov is 2782
Megalovic
I’d like to point out a certain Judit Polgar’s performance rating at Essent is over 2900!
Try over 3000. According to the tournament site (http://tinyurl.com/y4k64t), Judit’s tournament performance rating is 3010, while Shak’s is 3004. That’s impressive.
Kramnik
Anand
Polgar, Judit
Mamedyarov
Carlsen
Kramnik, Anand, Topalov, Morozevich, Svidler
as of today someone else estimated
Topo 2782
Anand 2779
Hello from Taiwan!
Top five:
I vote for Kramnik, Anand,
Kasparov, Topalov, and
of course, J Polgar!
Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Leko, Topalov.
Anand is the best right now followed closely by Kramnik and Topalov. The other very strong players are Leko, Svidler, Aronian, Moro, Kamsky …
A lot of Polgar votes, but is her rating really high enough to be close to top 5? I don’t think so.
Top three in order:
Kramnik
Anand
Topalov
probably Leko and Svidler after that.
I am copying this from another site. these are not my estimates but the estimates of the poster over there on that site.
Incidentally, this is my current estimate for the top-10 (including European Club Cup and Spanish league):
1.Topalov 2783 (-30)
2.Anand 2779
3.Kramnik 2766 (+16)
4.Morozevich 2759 (+12)
5.Ivanchuk 2754 (+13)
6.Mamedyarov 2749 (+21)
7.Svidler 2742 (-8)
8.Leko 2741
9.Aronian 2736 (-5)
10.Adams 2735
[Adding (of course)]
J. Polgar 2721 (+11)
>>Try over 3000.
Try “it doesn’t matter”. Nobody judges who the best player in the world is based solely on their best 2 consecutive games.
Kasparov
Fischer
Kramnik
Anand
Svidler
>>
Kasparov
Fischer
Kramnik
Anand
Svidler
>>
LOL, Fischer. If he wasn’t the best in 1992, I don’t know how he could be today. That’s the problem with questions like this. Half the people don’t answer them seriously, they just name their favorite players.
In order
1 Kramnik
2 Anand
3 Topalov
4 Leko
5 Morozevich
6 Svidler
7 Ivanchuk
8 Aronian
9 Radjabov
10 Polgar
11 Mamedyarov
12 Gelfand
13 Kamsky
14 Carlsen
15 Adams
I, on the other hand, am 1 of the 15 worst!
1. Anand
2. Kramnik
3. Morozevich
4. Mamedyrov
5. Aronian
*Excluding Topalov from my list is no mistake.
I find it amazing that one name is missing on all lists:
Magnus Carlsen
It is pretty obvious that he is currently among the top 5 players. he gains rating points en masse playing and winning against the most highest rated players. I think in January in Wijk aan Zee we will see more of his current brilliance.
my Top 5:
Anand, Morozevich, Topalov, Kramnik, Carlsen
my top 5 runner ups:
Svidler, Ivantchuk, Aronian, Radjabov, Fischer 😉
1. Kasparov – the best
2. Anand – clear no. 2 and I predict the next world champion
3.-5. Kramnik, Svidler, Topalov
6.-9. Morozevich, Radjabov, Aronian & Leko
10-12. Ivanchuk, Mamedyrov, Kamsky
13.-15. Polgar, Carlsen, Karjakin,
And in 3 years time:
1.-2. Anand & Carlsen
3. – the pack
Kramnik, Anand, Topalov, Svidler, Morozevich
Not my top 5 for best players, but the participants of the Corus Chess Tournament 2007: (by http://www.doggers-schaak.nl/)
Topalov (2813, worldranking 1)
Anand (2779, 2)
Kramnik (2750, 3)
Svidler (2750, 4)
Morozevich (2747, 5)
Aronian (2741, 7)
Radjabov (2729, 11)
Shirov (2720, 14)
Ponomariov (2703, 20)
Carlsen (2698, 21)
Tiviakov (2680, 27)
Van Wely (2676, 29)
Karjakin (2672, 35)
Motylev (2662, 44)
Who will be best?
1. Kasparov
2. Robert J James
3. Kramnik
4. Carlsen
5. Aronian
6. Mamedyarov
7. Judit
8. Morozevich
9. Leko
10. Anand
11. Svidler
12. Kamsky
13. Ivantchuk
14. Adams
15. Shirov
Kramnik
Carlsen
Anand
Morozevich
Ivanchuk
Kramnik is the best Chess player in the world still in activity , ahead of the others which are Anand , Topalov and Morozevich IMHO.
To beat Vladimir Kramnik in a Match is probably the most difficult thing to do in chess .
He wasn’t at his best at Elista with a lack of competition , and has been plagued by health problems this last years , but still won again .
Now , on these last 2 years , it is clearly Topalov , Topalov is probably the best Tournament player with Kasparov ahead of him , but in a 1-on-1 Match , Kramnik is the best , his style , adaptation to the opponent ability , and psychological strength makes him the strongest Match player and certainly the most difficult chess player to beat .
Now that his confidence is high and hopefully , his health good , i think that Kramnik is going to be the man to beat in the next 10 years .
1. Kramnik
2. Topalov
3. Anand
4. Lékó
5. Svidler
1. Drawnik
2. Cheatalov
3. Drawko
4. Chokanand
1. Rybka
2. Topalov’s wristwatch
3. Danailov
4. Glass Walls
5. Anand
6. Kramnik
7. Morozevich
A different way to classify:
Opening game:
1.Kramnik 2. Topalov 3. Anand
Middle Game:
1.Anand 2. Topalov 3. Morozevich
… Kramnik is not even there in the top 10 of my list
End Game:
1. Kramnik (a cut above the rest)
2. Anand 3. Leko
With no middle game ability, I consider Kramnik to be the worst calibre player of the lot.
1. Morozevich
2. Kramnik
3. Ivanchuk
4. Anand
….
hmmmm. that a toughie….but thats a nice looking set
1. Kasparov (by a long way)
2. Kramnik
3. Anand
4. Topalov
5. Morozevich
There are several players competing for the first place at the moment. Judit Polgar maybe the first. Mamedyarov and Carlsen rising stars. Topalov and Anand almost equally strong but worn out in the moment. Kramnik best in Centaur (human + computer) play as shown against Topalov in the recent match.
“There are several players competing for the first place at the moment. Judit Polgar maybe the first.”
Judit doesn’t make top 10, and your constant childlish digs at Kramnik are boring. Please, don’t post.
to LANTONOV and friends:
JUST SHUT UP GUY !!!!!
Some people are obviously not able to recognize, that their behaviour is what is really damaging chess – in all means.
If you have a personal problem – and it seems you have some really severe of these – we could assist you with links/ hotlines etc. sources to solve them.
so long
To the Anonymous self-proclaimed shrink:
Thanks for your concern but your help is not needed and will not be paid for.
>>lantonov wrote:
To the Anonymous self-proclaimed shrink:
Thanks for your concern but your help is not needed and will not be paid for.
>>
I didn’t see him ask you for any money, quite the opposite, he said to go somewhere else. His asking you for money, seems to be like the idea that Topalov was a victim: something that exists only in your disturbed imagination.
Unfortunately, people are judging Bulgaria and Topalov himself by your dishonesty and bad sportsmanship. Topalov himself seems to be trying to put it behind him and recover a little honor, and it’s not fair that Bulgaria should be made to look bad just because you can’t deal with a defeat. For your country’s sake, it’s your patriotic duty to get help.
lantonov wrote:
“Kramnik best in Centaur (human + computer) play as shown against Topalov in the recent match.”
Funny, Topalov himself said he didn’t believe that. From the Game 6 Press Conference:
“Perhaps it sounded too emotional; it is nothing for me to be proud of. I shook hands with Kramnik, and the match continued. I believe that his play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it. We are humans, and sometimes we make mistakes.” — Veselin Topalov
Frankly, if you don’t even know your own hero’s take on the matter, you should be very careful before trying to speak on his behalf. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but it’s dishonest to state it as though it were a fact simply because you wish it were.
@Anonymous
>>For your country’s sake, it’s your patriotic duty to get help.
It’s my patriotic duty to expose liers like you who hide their names.
@Anonymous
>>to LANTONOV and friends:
JUST SHUT UP GUY !!!!!
My shutting up will make your lies legitimate, wouldn’t it?