Every three months FIDE updates its rating list covering tens of thousands of active, internationally ranked chess players. While most ratings are only interesting to the player whose name appears against it, the ratings of the world's top players are eagerly awaited by chess fans everywhere.

Our chart in the upper corner of this post shows the world's top 15 players on the July 2008 rating list. If you can't find your magnifying glass to read it, you can see the full, larger chart at Fide.com under 'Ratings > Top Players'.

The FIDE list is becoming a victim of its own popularity. More chess fans are starting to ask why the list of top players is only published once every three months. Why not publish it weekly, supplemented with quarterly updates for the rest of the rated players? One web service, located at chess.liverating.org, calculates an unofficial list featuring 'All Players Rated above FIDE 2700 Right Now!'.

For FIDE's own announcement of its most recent list, see July 2008 FIDE Rating List. • For our discussion of the April 2008 list, see Rating Tie Broken, Anand World No.1.

There are thousands of books available on chess, covering just about every aspect you can imagine. Listed here are a few titles considered classics by many experts on the subject. Classic chess books frequently go in and out of print. If you can't find a new copy of a title that interests you, check out used book resources. And don't forget your local library! Read more...