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Top 10 active players as of December 31, 1940

  #  

Player Rating +/-
1 Fine, Reuben270062
2 Alekhine, Alexander A268859
3 Reshevsky, Samuel H268562
4 Botvinnik, Mikhail M267756
5 Capablanca, José R267262
6 Keres, Paul266953
7 Euwe, Machgielis265955
8 Flohr, Salo265458
9 Pirc, Vasja263467
10 Lilienthal, Andor262162

About these ratings

All active players as of December 31, 1940

  #  

Player Rating +/- Best? 75%? Age
1 Fine, Reuben27006220.5% #826.21
2 Alekhine, Alexander A26885914.4% #948.16
3 Reshevsky, Samuel H26856214.0% #1029.09
4 Botvinnik, Mikhail M2677569.7% #1129.37
5 Capablanca, José R26726210.2% #1252.11
6 Keres, Paul2669536.3% #1224.98
7 Euwe, Machgielis2659555.0% #1339.61
8 Flohr, Salo2654584.8% #1432.13
9 Pirc, Vasja2634674.1% #2033.03
10 Lilienthal, Andor2621621.9% #2129.65
11 Eliskases, Erich G2619551.0% #2127.87
12 Makogonov, Vladimir A2611601.1% #2436.34
13 Stĺhlberg, Gideon2605611.0% #2532.92
14 Szabó, László2599651.1% #2723.78
15 Boleslavsky, Isaak E2596681.3% #2921.55
16 Bogoljubow, Efim D2594570.5% #2751.71
17 Belavenets, Sergey V2582670.6% #3230.99
18 Petrovs, Vladimirs2569570.1% #3433.26
19 Rabinovich, Ilya L2568660.4% #3649.99
20 Vidmar, Milan Sr2567690.5% #3755.52
21 Alatortsev, Vladimir A2562710.4% #3931.62
22 Mikenas, Vladas2559590.1% #3730.70
23 Tartakower, Saviely G2555640.2% #4053.85
24 Ragozin, Viacheslav V255356 #3832.22
25 Levenfish, Grigory Y2552600.1% #4051.80
26 Konstantinopolsky, Alexander M254161 #4330.86
27 Rellstab, Ludwig Sr253263 #4636.10
28 Najdorf, Miguel2531690.1% #4830.70
29 Lisitsin, Georgy M252963 #4731.21
30 Veresov, Gavriil N252367 #5028.42
31 Kotov, Alexander A252163 #5027.38
32 Gilg, Karl252064 #5039.94
33 Platz, Joseph2520760.1% #5335.71
34 Dubinin, Peter V251362 #5231.50
35 Richter, Kurt251359 #5240.10
36 Feigin, Movsa2509730.1% #5632.84
37 Spielmann, Rudolf250869 #5557.65
38 Goglidze, Victor A2507730.1% #5635.09
39 Chekhover, Vitaly250771 #5632.02
40 Bondarevsky, Igor Z250559 #5427.63
41 Kohler, Anton250463 #55
42 Michel, Pablo250467 #5635.01
43 Heinicke, Herbert T249763 #5735.79
44 Yudovich, Mikhail M249375 #6129.56
45 Ernst, Wilhelm249163 #5936.99
46 Panov, Vasily N248960 #5934.16
47 Gerstenfeld, Eduard I248864 #6025.99
48 Engels, Ludwig248565 #6135.05
49 Kan, Ilia A248467 #6131.65
50 Stolberg, Mark M248466 #6118.99
51 Foltys, Jan248263 #6132.21
52 Lokvenc, Josef247967 #6341.66
53 Smyslov, Vassily V247763 #6219.76
54 Ahues, Carl O247470 #6457.01
55 Opocenský, Karel247366 #6448.89
56 Müller, Hans247268 #6544.08
57 Kieninger, Georg247260 #6338.56
58 Guimard, Carlos E247166 #6527.73
59 Schmidt, Paul F246668 #6624.36
60 Apšenieks, Fricis246474 #6846.73
61 Böök, Eero245273 #7030.89
62 Kramer, Haije244969 #7023.10
63 Rudakovsky, Iosif I244866 #7026.99
64 Becker, Albert244773 #7144.31
65 Landau, Salo244060 #7137.74
66 Milner-Barry, Philip S243468 #7334.27
67 Sämisch, Friedrich243369 #7444.27
68 Eisinger, Max Jr242073 #7731.51
69 Tolush, Alexander K241866 #7630.66
70 Romanovsky, Peter A241668 #7748.42
71 Lange, Wilfried240968 #7830.85
72 Johner, Hans240366 #7951.98
73 Pogrebissky, Iosif B239673 #8134.85
74 van Scheltinga, Tjeerd D238565 #8226.81
75 Regedzinski, Teodor238370 #8346.67
76 Golombek, Harry238369 #8329.83
77 Herrmann, Hans238372 #8334.10
78 Alexander, Conel H238173 #8331.69
79 Kranki, Hans237573 #84
80 Thomas, George A237164 #8459.54
81 Treybal, Karel237074 #8555.91
82 Czerniak, Moshe236772 #8530.90
83 Olexa, Vilém234575 #8843.17
84 Trompowsky, Octavio F234274 #8943.08
85 Sergeant, Edward G233072 #9059.07
86 Menchik, Vera F232267 #9034.87
87 Brinckmann, Alfred232171 #9149.99
88 Keller, Hans230971 #9238.99
89 Keller, Rudolf1230669 #9223.53
90 Lachmann, Hans-Georg230075 #93
91 Zíta, František228972 #9431.08
92 Dobiáš, Josef226474 #9654.01
93 Enevoldsen, Jens225875 #9633.27
94 Louma, Josef225674 #9642.07
95 Engert, Immo224776 #9734.38
96 Krticka, Ferdinand224476 #9748.76
97 Katetov, Miroslav224476 #9722.81
98 Podgorný, Jirí220776 #9828.05
99 Castillo Larenas, Mariano218276 #9935.01

These ratings, calculated as of December 31, 1940, incorporate all games (against rated opponents) played in the time between January 1, 1940 and December 31, 1940, along with the ratings that were already calculated as of December 31, 1939. 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, 1940. This represents the player's estimated strength on January 1, 1941.

+/- 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, 1941. The +/- value represents the standard deviation of that estimate; the player's true strength on January 1, 1941 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, 1941. 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, 1940. 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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