< December 31, 1938     Back to date list    December 31, 1940 >

Top 10 active players as of December 31, 1939

  #  

Player Rating +/-
1 Fine, Reuben269758
2 Alekhine, Alexander A269554
3 Botvinnik, Mikhail M269458
4 Reshevsky, Samuel H268157
5 Capablanca, José R267856
6 Keres, Paul266751
7 Euwe, Machgielis266552
8 Flohr, Salo266153
9 Pirc, Vasja264060
10 Eliskases, Erich G262551

About these ratings

All active players as of December 31, 1939

  #  

Player Rating +/- Best? 75%? Age
1 Fine, Reuben26975818.2% #825.21
2 Alekhine, Alexander A26955415.6% #847.16
3 Botvinnik, Mikhail M26945816.5% #928.37
4 Reshevsky, Samuel H26815711.5% #1028.09
5 Capablanca, José R26785610.1% #1151.11
6 Keres, Paul2667515.4% #1223.98
7 Euwe, Machgielis2665525.4% #1238.61
8 Flohr, Salo2661534.9% #1331.13
9 Pirc, Vasja2640603.6% #1732.03
10 Eliskases, Erich G2625511.0% #1926.87
11 Szabó, László2617601.5% #2122.78
12 Stĺhlberg, Gideon2612550.8% #2231.92
13 Makogonov, Vladimir A2610591.1% #2335.34
14 Lilienthal, Andor2608621.3% #2428.65
15 Levenfish, Grigory Y2595580.5% #2650.80
16 Belavenets, Sergey V2594600.6% #2729.99
17 Bogoljubow, Efim D2588530.2% #2750.71
18 Ragozin, Viacheslav V2576570.2% #3131.22
19 Rabinovich, Ilya L2575590.2% #3148.99
20 Vidmar, Milan Sr2570640.4% #3354.52
21 Rellstab, Ludwig Sr2566610.2% #3435.10
22 Tartakower, Saviely G2561580.1% #3452.85
23 Petrovs, Vladimirs256155 #3432.26
24 Alatortsev, Vladimir A2556640.2% #3730.62
25 Lisitsin, Georgy M2546640.1% #4030.21
26 Najdorf, Miguel2543610.1% #4029.70
27 Mikenas, Vladas254158 #4029.70
28 Konstantinopolsky, Alexander M2536650.1% #4329.86
29 Gilg, Karl2529660.1% #4538.94
30 Chekhover, Vitaly252664 #4631.02
31 Feigin, Movsa251565 #4931.84
32 Spielmann, Rudolf251561 #4856.65
33 Goglidze, Victor A251364 #5034.09
34 Michel, Pablo251160 #4934.01
35 Yudovich, Mikhail M250566 #5328.56
36 Frydman, Paulin250267 #5334.59
37 Horowitz, Al249771 #5632.12
38 Engels, Ludwig249158 #5534.05
39 Kan, Ilia A249160 #5530.65
40 Ernst, Wilhelm249069 #5735.99
41 Kieninger, Georg248858 #5637.56
42 Kotov, Alexander A248567 #5826.38
43 Heinicke, Herbert T248465 #5834.79
44 Lokvenc, Josef248065 #5940.66
45 Müller, Hans247765 #6043.08
46 Guimard, Carlos E247759 #5926.73
47 Panov, Vasily N247559 #6033.16
48 Landau, Salo247556 #5936.74
49 Apšenieks, Fricis247165 #6245.73
50 Klein, Ernst L246969 #6329.99
51 Bondarevsky, Igor Z246859 #6226.63
52 Steiner, Lajos246870 #6436.54
53 Richter, Kurt246559 #6239.10
54 Böök, Eero246465 #6429.89
55 Sämisch, Friedrich246367 #6443.27
56 Opocenský, Karel246263 #6447.89
57 Foltys, Jan246260 #6331.21
58 Schmidt, Paul F245970 #6623.36
59 Becker, Albert245464 #6643.31
60 Kohler, Anton244766 #68
61 Milner-Barry, Philip S244061 #6933.27
62 Dubinin, Peter V243968 #7130.50
63 Eisinger, Max Jr243567 #7230.51
64 Tolush, Alexander K243059 #7229.66
65 Romanovsky, Peter A242360 #7447.42
66 Budo, A.241474 #78
67 Smyslov, Vassily V240467 #7918.76
68 Pogrebissky, Iosif B240069 #8033.85
69 Lange, Wilfried240069 #8029.85
70 van Scheltinga, Tjeerd D239759 #7925.81
71 Pelikán, Jorge239771 #8133.68
72 Regedzinski, Teodor239175 #8345.67
73 Golombek, Harry238962 #8228.83
74 Alexander, Conel H238864 #8230.69
75 Cortlever, Nicolaas238569 #8424.54
76 Czerniak, Moshe237864 #8429.90
77 Thomas, George A237857 #8358.54
78 Aitken, James M236974 #8831.17
79 Grau, Roberto G236167 #8839.78
80 Solmanis, Zigfrids235776 #9026.47
81 Trompowsky, Octavio F235466 #8942.08
82 O'Kelly de Galway, Albéric233971 #9328.62
83 Brinckmann, Alfred233773 #9348.99
84 Sergeant, Edward G233764 #9258.07
85 Grob, Henry233068 #9435.57
86 Flores Alvarez, Rodrigo232976 #9526.35
87 Menchik, Vera F232860 #9333.87
88 Tylor, Theodore H232867 #9439.71
89 Dreibergs, Leonids232076 #9631.17
90 Koblencs, Aleksandrs231975 #9723.32
91 Hazenfuss, Volfgang R231470 #97
92 Luckis, Marcos231073 #9834.95
93 Weil, Wolfgang229772 #9927.10
94 Chistiakov, Alexander N227969 #10225.94
95 Wheatcroft, George S227970 #10234.17
96 Staldi, Cherubino227371 #10228.80
97 Hess, Theobald227371 #10247.81
98 Enevoldsen, Jens227066 #10232.27
99 da Silva Rocha, Ademar226976 #103
100 Fontein, George Salto226368 #10349.46
101 Graf-Stevenson, Sonja225473 25.03
102 Cruz, Walter O224676 29.99
103 Bezruchko, Georgs224576
104 Melngailis, Emilis224576
105 Szily, József223571 26.24
106 Ozols, Karlis223471
107 Thomas, Andrew223374 35.21
108 Keller, Rudolf1222071 22.53
109 Castillo Larenas, Mariano219367 34.01

These ratings, calculated as of December 31, 1939, incorporate all games (against rated opponents) played in the time between January 1, 1939 and December 31, 1939, along with the ratings that were already calculated as of December 31, 1938. Players who have played an insufficient number of games in recent years will not appear on the list, even though you may see them on previous and/or subsequent lists. Any players who have been completely inactive for three years are removed from the list.

Definition of columns in the above list:

# refers to the player's world rank on this list.

Player is the full name of the player. Click on the player's name to see a career progression of the player's ratings.

Rating is the calculated rating for the player, as of December 31, 1939. This represents the player's estimated strength on January 1, 1940.

+/- is the standard deviation of the player's rating estimate. It is based on a geometric average of the number of rated games played in past years. Players who play very frequently will have a smaller +/- value, indicating a greater confidence in the accuracy of their rating. Players whose +/- value exceeds 76 are classified as "inactive" and removed from the ranking list due to their infrequent play against rated opponents. Mathematically, a player's rating is an estimate of their exact strength on January 1, 1940. The +/- value represents the standard deviation of that estimate; the player's true strength on January 1, 1940 should be within one standard deviation of their calculated rating approximately 68% of the time, and within two standard deviations of their calculated rating approximately 95% of the time.

Best? is the estimated likelihood that the player was actually the strongest player in the world on January 1, 1940. Since ratings are known to be inaccurate, it is possible that a lower-rated player is actually much stronger than their rating would indicate, and it is also possible that other players are weaker than their ratings would indicate. This number indicates the likelihood that the player is indeed the strongest player in the world. On a particular list, it will add up to 100% across the complete list of all players. This value is only calculated for the top 100 players on any rating list.

75%? gives a 75%-confidence world ranking for the player. Because ratings are known to be inaccurate, even if a particular player is rated third in the world, we cannot say with 100% certainty that they are truly one of the three strongest players in the world. This number indicates the world rank that we are 75% sure the player is "no worse than". Thus if a player has a value of #12 in this column, we are 75% sure that the player is one of the twelve strongest players in the world. This value is only calculated for the top 100 players on any rating list.

Age is the player's exact age in years, on December 31, 1939. If a player's age is displayed as a link, that means that this rating was active at the time of their next birthday. Click on the link to see the sorted list of all players' ratings on their birthdays when turning that same age.

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