Olympiad medals for Lee, Yip and Aronian, the United States stay No. 1
By Louis · October 1, 2026 · 4 min read
Photo: FIDEThe United States, top seeds in the open, finished 4th in both sections of the Chess Olympiad after losing to Germany and Uzbekistan, and came home with three individual medals: Alice Lee, 17, took gold on board two with 8.5/10, Carissa Yip silver on board one with 8/10, and Levon Aronian bronze on board four with 6/8 after winning his last two games. Yip gains 16 points to 2484 and climbs from No. 17 to No. 13 in the women's world rankings; Lee gains 14 to a career-high 2467 (FIDE lists since 2001) and climbs from No. 24 to No. 16. The United States remain No. 1 among federations, with 16 players in the world top 100 and 3 in the top 10. The U.S. and U.S. Women's Championships start in Saint Louis on October 8. Hikaru Nakamura remains the United States' top-rated player at 2792. Hans Niemann slips from No. 5 to No. 6 in the American top 10 at 2717 after a -8 month, -7.7 at the Chess Olympiad (open) with 7/11.
United States top 10
| # | Player | World | Elo | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  GMHikaru Nakamura | 2 | 2792 | 0 |
| 2 |  GMFabiano Caruana | 3 | 2784 | -5 |
| 3 |  GMWesley So | 6 | 2770 | -4 |
| 4 |  GMLeinier Dominguez | 15 | 2732 | 0 |
| 5 |  GMLevon Aronian | 19 | 2725 | 0 |
| 6 |  GMHans Niemann | 22 | 2717 | -8 |
| 7 |  GMSam Sevian | 31 | 2708 | 0 |
| 8 |  GMAwonder Liang | 39 | 2685 | -8 |
| 9 |  GMRay Robson | 55 | 2659 | 0 |
| 10 |  GMJeffery Xiong | 58 | 2656 | 0 |
United States women's top 10
Rose Atwell (17) slips from No. 7 to No. 8 in the American women's top 10 at 2325 after a -17 month, -8.9 at the Southern California Open with 3.5/6.
| # | Player | World | Elo | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  IMCarissa Yip | 13 | 2484 | +16 |
| 2 |  IMAlice Lee | 16 | 2467 | +14 |
| 3 |  GMIrina Krush | 42 | 2404 | +11 |
| 4 | WIMRachael Li | 66 | 2380 | +6 |
| 5 |  FMJennifer Yu | 86 | 2354 | 0 |
| 6 |  IMTatev Abrahamyan | 89 | 2353 | +6 |
| 7 |  IMAnna Sargsyan | 112 | 2332 | 0 |
| 8 |  IMRose Atwell | 118 | 2325 | -17 |
| 9 | FMZoey Tang | 124 | 2322 | -1 |
| 10 |  IMAnna Zatonskih | 129 | 2319 | +1 |
Full United States women's ranking →
Beyond the top 10
The biggest gain among American players rated 2200+ belongs to Carter Ho, 15, with +136 to 2328, +96.4 at the Marshall Chess Club Labor Day Invitational (IM B) with 6/9. Felix Guo, 15, rated 2106, beat Christopher Yoo (2600) at the Southern California Open, a 494-point gap.
Juniors — under 20
Abhimanyu Mishra remains the top-rated American player under 20 at 2636 (+6 this month). 58 active American players aged 20 or under are rated 2300+, against 61 of the same age a year ago.
Full United States U20 ranking →
Hikaru Nakamura has held United States's No. 1 the longest
Hikaru Nakamura has been No. 1 since Mar 2025, and no one has spent longer at the top: 9 years in total. 7 players have led United States since 2001.
All 23 reigns with dates
- SeirawanJan 2001 → Jan 20021y 3m
- OnischukApr 2002 → Jan 20053y
- KamskyApr 2005 → Jul 20094y 5m
- NakamuraSep 2009 → Jul 20112y
- KamskySep 2011 → Sep 20112m
- NakamuraNov 2011 → Oct 20121y
- KamskyNov 2012 → Dec 20122m
- NakamuraJan 2013 → Jan 20152y 1m
- SoFeb 2015 → Feb 20151m
- NakamuraMar 2015 → Feb 20161y
- CaruanaMar 2016 → Feb 20171y
- SoMar 2017 → Aug 20176m
- CaruanaSep 2017 → Jan 20185m
- SoFeb 2018 → Mar 20182m
- CaruanaApr 2018 → Feb 20223y 11m
- AronianMar 2022 → Apr 20222m
- CaruanaMay 2022 → Aug 20224m
- SoSep 2022 → Oct 20222m
- NakamuraNov 2022 → Aug 202310m
- CaruanaSep 2023 → May 20249m
- NakamuraJun 2024 → Oct 20245m
- CaruanaNov 2024 → Feb 20254m
- NakamuraMar 2025 → Oct 20261y 8m
Carissa Yip has been No. 1 since Oct 2024. Irina Krush holds the record for most time at the top: 13 years and 2 months in total. 5 players have led United States's women since 2001.
All 28 reigns with dates
- Donaldson-A.Jan 2001 → Apr 20016m
- KrushJul 2001 → Jan 20053y 9m
- PolgarApr 2005 → Jul 20072y 6m
- KrushOct 2007 → Oct 20081y 3m
- ZatonskihJan 2009 → Jan 20101y 2m
- KrushMar 2010 → Mar 20102m
- ZatonskihMay 2010 → May 20102m
- KrushJul 2010 → Nov 20106m
- ZatonskihJan 2011 → Apr 20132y 4m
- KrushMay 2013 → Aug 20141y 4m
- ZatonskihSep 2014 → Feb 20156m
- KrushMar 2015 → Jul 20155m
- ZatonskihAug 2015 → Sep 20152m
- KrushOct 2015 → Oct 20151m
- ZatonskihNov 2015 → Dec 20161y 2m
- KrushJan 2017 → Feb 20172m
- ZatonskihMar 2017 → Apr 20172m
- KrushMay 2017 → Oct 20176m
- ZatonskihNov 2017 → Oct 20181y
- KrushNov 2018 → Apr 20196m
- ZatonskihMay 2019 → Aug 20194m
- YipSep 2019 → Sep 20191m
- KrushOct 2019 → Dec 20193m
- ZatonskihJan 2020 → Feb 20202m
- KrushMar 2020 → Mar 20211y 1m
- YipApr 2021 → Jul 20214m
- KrushAug 2021 → Sep 20243y 2m
- YipOct 2024 → Oct 20262y 1m
Where United States played
The event with the most American players rated 2300+ was the August NYCNorms FIDE Swiss (Masters) (27 American players, 8 of them rated 2300+). 110 American players received their first FIDE standard rating on the October list.
| Event | USA players |
|---|---|
| August NYCNorms FIDE Swiss (Masters) · New York, NY | 27 |
| U.S. Cadet Championship · Lisle, IL | 8 |
| Marshall Chess Club Labor Day Invitational (GM A) · New York, NY | 6 |
| Labor Day CCC GM Norm Invitational (group A) · Charlotte, NC | 6 |
| Chess Olympiad (open) · Samarkand | 5 |
| Chess Olympiad (women) · Samarkand | 5 |
| September NYCNorms FIDE Swiss (Masters) · New York, NY | 22 |
| Southern California Open · Glendale, CA | 27 |
Top games of the month · United States players
The standout games of the month involving United States 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.