Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, completes her woman grandmaster norms at the Olympiad
By Louis · October 1, 2026 · 4 min readBodhana Sivanandan, 11, earned her third woman grandmaster norm at the Chess Olympiad: once FIDE ratifies the title, no player will have become a woman grandmaster younger. She also made a second IM norm, scored 8/11, gains 28 points to 2382 and climbs from No. 84 to No. 64 in the women's world rankings. England finished 12th in the open and 15th in the women's section, and have 3 players in the world top 100. David Howell is now England's top-rated player at 2665. Daniel Fernandez slips from No. 7 to No. 8 in the English top 10 at 2530 after a -12 month, -11.4 at the Chess Olympiad (open) with 3.5/7.
England top 10
| # | Player | World | Elo | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  GMDavid Howell | 47 | 2665 | 0 |
| 2 |  GMNikita Vitiugov | 50 | 2663 | -3 |
| 3 |  GMGawain Jones | 92 | 2630 | -3 |
| 4 |  GMLuke McShane | 136 | 2607 | +9 |
| 5 |  GMMichael Adams | 154 | 2597 | -1 |
| 6 |  GMNigel Short | 164 | 2594 | 0 |
| 7 |  GMShreyas Royal | 381 | 2533 | 0 |
| 8 |  GMDaniel Fernandez | 392 | 2530 | -12 |
| 9 |  GMMatthew Wadsworth | 468 | 2516 | 0 |
| 10 |  GMJohn Nunn | 482 | 2513 | +1 |
England women's top 10
Yao Lan climbs from No. 4 to No. 2 in the English women's top 10 at 2297 after a +27 month, +27.4 at the Chess Olympiad (women) with 6.5/9. Susan Lalic slips from No. 5 to No. 6 in the English women's top 10 at 2199 after a -9 month, -8.8 at the European Senior Team Championships (50+) with 4/9.
| # | Player | World | Elo | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FMBodhana Sivanandan | 64 | 2382 | +28 |
| 2 | WGMYao Lan | 164 | 2297 | +27 |
| 3 |  IMJovanka Houska | 170 | 2293 | -4 |
| 4 |  IMHarriet Hunt | 181 | 2287 | +3 |
| 5 | WGMKatarzyna Toma | 365 | 2206 | 0 |
| 6 | IMSusan Lalic | 380 | 2199 | -9 |
| 7 |  WGMElmira Mirzoeva | 430 | 2181 | 0 |
| 8 | WFMKamila Hryshchenko | 594 | 2136 | 0 |
| 9 | FMAkshaya Kalaiyalahan | 622 | 2130 | 0 |
| 10 | Susan Caldwell | 734 | 2107 | 0 |
Full England women's ranking →
Beyond the top 10
The biggest gain among English players rated 2200+ belongs to Peter Finn with +36 to 2212. Daniel Sullivan, rated 1948, beat Nigel Davies (2344) at the Hull 4NCL Congress, a 396-point gap.
New titles
The October list brings 1 new FIDE master.
Juniors — under 20
Royal remains the top-rated English player under 20 at 2533. 7 active English players aged 20 or under are rated 2300+, against 5 of the same age a year ago.
Full England U20 ranking →
Michael Adams has held England's No. 1 the longest
David Howell has been No. 1 since Oct 2026. Michael Adams holds the record for most time at the top: 21 years and 3 months in total. 6 players have led England since 2001.
All 20 reigns with dates
- AdamsJan 2001 → Jul 20098y 8m
- ShortSep 2009 → Jan 20106m
- AdamsMar 2010 → Oct 20122y 8m
- McShaneNov 2012 → Dec 20122m
- AdamsJan 2013 → Mar 20196y 3m
- HowellApr 2019 → Apr 20191m
- JonesMay 2019 → Jun 20192m
- HowellJul 2019 → Aug 20192m
- AdamsSep 2019 → Oct 20192m
- HowellNov 2019 → Nov 20191m
- AdamsDec 2019 → May 20233y 6m
- HowellJun 2023 → Jul 20232m
- VitiugovAug 2023 → Aug 20241y 1m
- HowellSep 2024 → Jan 20255m
- VitiugovFeb 2025 → Feb 20251m
- HowellMar 2025 → Mar 20251m
- VitiugovApr 2025 → Aug 20255m
- HowellSep 2025 → Mar 20267m
- VitiugovApr 2026 → Sep 20266m
- HowellOct 2026 → Oct 20261m
Bodhana Sivanandan has been No. 1 since Aug 2026. Harriet Hunt holds the record for most time at the top: 18 years and 4 months in total. 4 players have led England's women since 2001.
All 24 reigns with dates
- HuntJan 2001 → May 201110y 6m
- HouskaJul 2011 → May 20121y
- HuntJul 2012 → Jan 20152y 7m
- HouskaFeb 2015 → May 20154m
- HuntJun 2015 → May 20172y
- HouskaJun 2017 → Nov 20176m
- HuntDec 2017 → Dec 20181y 1m
- HouskaJan 2019 → Nov 201911m
- HuntDec 2019 → Mar 20204m
- HouskaApr 2020 → Oct 20207m
- HuntNov 2020 → Mar 20215m
- HouskaApr 2021 → Oct 20217m
- HuntNov 2021 → Jun 20228m
- HouskaJul 2022 → Aug 20222m
- HuntSep 2022 → May 20239m
- HouskaJun 2023 → Nov 20236m
- YaoDec 2023 → May 20246m
- HouskaJun 2024 → Aug 20243m
- YaoSep 2024 → Dec 20244m
- HouskaJan 2025 → Feb 20261y 2m
- YaoMar 2026 → Mar 20261m
- SivanandanApr 2026 → Jun 20263m
- YaoJul 2026 → Jul 20261m
- SivanandanAug 2026 → Oct 20263m
Where England played
England moves up from No. 17 to No. 16 among federations by the average of its 10 best active players (2584.8, -0.9 since September). The event with the most English players rated 2300+ was the Chess Olympiad (open) (5 English players, 5 of them rated 2300+). 59 English players received their first FIDE standard rating on the October list.
| Event | ENG players |
|---|---|
| Chess Olympiad (open) · Samarkand | 5 |
| European Senior Team Championships (50+) · Hersonnisos Crete | 19 |
| Hull 4NCL Congress · Hull | 39 |
| European Senior Team Championships (65+) · Hersonnisos Crete | 18 |
| Spanish Primera División · Linares (Jaen) | 1 |
| SixDays September Open (group A) · Budapest | 1 |
| Chess Olympiad (women) · Samarkand | 5 |
| Torquay Congress (PM Open) · Torquay | 22 |
Top games of the month · England players
The standout games of the month involving England players. Replay them move by move.
Starting position
Masters0 games
| Masters 2400+ · OTB only | You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Games | Results | Games | Score | ≈ Elo |
Written by
Louis
Founder & product
Chasing 2300. Started Chess Second to train smarter and get there.
Methodology
Computed from the official FIDE standard rating list of October 2026, compared with the previous monthly list and the monthly archive since 2001. Active players only (no inactivity flag on the list). Federation = the federation shown on each list, not today's. Age = list year minus birth year. Tournament results come from rated event files (classical only); events not yet published by FIDE may be missing. Every figure in this report is generated from the data and checked automatically against it.