The FIDE July 2026 rating list was primarily shaped by Norway Chess, the Asian Individual Chess Championship, the European Women’s Chess Championship, the UzChess Cup, and the French Team Finals.
The Open top 10 saw just one notable shift, as Wesley So moved up two positions following his runner-up finish at Norway Chess 2026. The event’s winner, Praggnanandhaa R, earned 15 rating points and now sits just outside the top 10.
The Women’s top 10 witnessed more significant developments. Bibisara Assaubayeva, the winner of Norway Chess Women, gained 11 rating points to reach a career-high fifth position on the women’s list. Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk returned to the Women’s top 10 after a two-and-a-half-year absence, following her strong performance in the French Team Finals.
Biggest rating gains in top 100 Open and Women
The Ukrainian sensation Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, who recently turned 16, was the biggest rating gainer in June. Seeded only 76th, she claimed the title at the European Women’s Championship in Batumi, Georgia, earning an impressive 214 rating points. This fantastic achievement catapulted her to 18th place on the women’s list. Remarkably, she made her top 100 debut at such a high position and now also tops the Girls U20 list.
Klaudia Kulon and Nadya Toncheva also delivered outstanding performances in Batumi, picking up valuable rating points.
Rakshitta Ravi, Zarina Nurgaliyeva, Savitha Shri B, and Aamuktha Guntaka overperformed at the Asian Women’s Championship, climbing the women’s rankings. Notably, Nurgaliyeva and Guntaka made their first appearances in the top 100.
Shamsiddin Vokhidov lost a tiebreak for the title at the UzChess Cup Masters but collected 18 rating points. Meanwhile, Mahammad Muradli dominated the Challengers event, earning 25 points and making his debut in the Open top 100.
Pranesh M shone in the French Team Finals Top 16, gaining 22 points and entering the Open top 50 for the first time in his career.
The recently concluded FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships in Hong Kong, which brought together most of the top players, and Grand Prix PlusCity – also featuring rapid and blitz tournaments – as well as several events across Europe, had a significant impact on the July 2026 Rapid and Blitz rating lists.
Although Magnus Carlsen dropped some rating points in Hong Kong, he remains at the top of the Rapid Open list. Alireza Firouzja rose to second position following his impressive performance in the World Team Rapid, which earned him 16 points. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi (+4) and Levon Aronian (+5) each moved up one spot, and R. Praggnanandhaa (+27) broke into the top 20 after a strong showing in Hong Kong.
The Rapid Women list saw minimal changes in the top 10 with the most notable shift being Bibisara Assaubayeva’s climb of three positions.
However, the lower echelons were much more dynamic, with several players making huge jumps. These include Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (+40), Teodora Injac (+65), Deimante Daulyte-Cornette (+37), Alua Nurman (+55), Anna Agrest (+36), and Yan Tianqi (+55).
Nodirbek Abdusattorov became a standout performer in the top 10 of the blitz list Open. The Uzbek star hauled 35 points in the blitz event in Hong Kong, soaring to the second position, right behind Magnus Carlsen.
Similarly to the Rapid Open, the newcomers to the Blitz Open top 100 showed the greatest progress: Arian Tari (+35), Jaime Santos Latasa (+38), Sergey Movsesian (+31), Amin Tabatabaei (+22), Vojtech Plat (+23), and Viktor Erdos (+21).
The top 10 of the Blitz Women list witnessed two major shifts. A 21-point rating gain earned by Aleksandra Goryachkina in the World Team Blitz propelled her to second place, while Song Yuxin added an impressive 32 points to her tally in the same event to debut in this prestigious group.
Just as in the Rapid Women list, several players recorded significant rating gains following their solid performances in June blitz events: Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (+80), Umida Omonova (+35), Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (+26), Ekaterina Goltseva (+39), Olga Badelka (+24), Iren Lyutsinger (+30), and Inna Gaponenko (+26).
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