< December 31, 1947     Back to date list    December 31, 1949 >

Top 10 active players as of December 31, 1948


All active players as of December 31, 1948

  #  

Player Rating +/- Best? 75%? Age
1 Botvinnik, Mikhail M28235666.4% #237.37
2 Fine, Reuben27596919.7% #534.21
3 Reshevsky, Samuel H2721585.8% #737.09
4 Keres, Paul2710533.1% #832.98
5 Boleslavsky, Isaak E2685541.3% #1129.55
6 Smyslov, Vassily V2683531.1% #1227.76
7 Najdorf, Miguel2669520.5% #1338.70
8 Bronstein, David I2657530.3% #1524.86
9 Kotov, Alexander A2656530.4% #1535.38
10 Eliskases, Erich G2651580.4% #1735.87
11 Stĺhlberg, Gideon2646530.2% #1740.92
12 Szabó, László2645550.2% #1831.78
13 Horowitz, Al2612670.2% #2641.12
14 Flohr, Salo261054 #2540.13
15 Pirc, Vasja2603570.1% #2741.03
16 Lisitsin, Georgy M259863 #2939.21
17 Lilienthal, Andor259253 #2937.65
18 Gligoric, Svetozar258855 #3025.91
19 Konstantinopolsky, Alexander M258362 #3338.86
20 Makogonov, Vladimir A258064 #3444.34
21 Foltys, Jan257161 #3640.21
22 Euwe, Machgielis256752 #3547.61
23 Kashdan, Isaac256466 #3943.11
24 Trifunovic, Petar256156 #3838.33
25 Levenfish, Grigory Y255860 #4059.80
26 Ragozin, Viacheslav V255753 #3840.22
27 Simagin, Vladimir P255665 #4129.52
28 Furman, Semen A255464 #4128.08
29 Bondarevsky, Igor Z255253 #4035.63
30 Benko, Pal C254967 #4420.45
31 Böök, Eero254259 #4438.89
32 Tartakower, Saviely G253355 #4661.85
33 Kholmov, Ratmir D253160 #4823.63
34 Barcza, Gedeon253160 #4837.35
35 Medina García, Antonio A252562 #5029.24
36 Tolush, Alexander K252257 #5038.66
37 Pilnik, Herman251454 #5234.97
38 Panov, Vasily N251461 #5342.16
39 Yanofsky, Daniel A251356 #5323.76
40 Stoltz, Gösta250355 #5644.64
41 Lundin, Erik250358 #5744.49
42 Averbakh, Yury L250062 #5826.89
43 Lokvenc, Josef250071 #6149.66
44 Yudovich, Mikhail M249072 #6537.56
45 Sokolsky, Alexey P248670 #6640.18
46 Alatortsev, Vladimir A248458 #6339.62
47 Vidmar, Milan Sr248465 #6563.52
48 Kasparian, Genrikh M247564 #6838.84
49 Pachmann, Ludek247555 #6624.63
50 Michel, Pablo247459 #6743.01
51 Alexander, Conel H246575 #7439.69
52 Rossolimo, Nicolas246468 #7338.84
53 Taimanov, Mark E246462 #7222.89
54 Canal, Esteban246268 #7452.69
55 Denker, Arnold S246157 #7134.85
56 O'Kelly de Galway, Albéric245958 #7237.62
57 Renter, Raul245675 #7828.41
58 Kan, Ilia A245665 #7539.65
59 Kottnauer, Cenek245460 #7538.85
60 Dubinin, Peter V244370 #8139.50
61 Steiner, Herman244162 #8043.70
62 Kramer, George M243964 #8119.62
63 Bolbochán, Jácobo243459 #8242.01
64 Ulvestad, Olaf243276 #8736.17
65 Ilivitsky, Georgy A243264 #8427.66
66 Kamishov, Mikhail P243174 #8639.99
67 Zíta, František242962 #8439.08
68 Guimard, Carlos E242756 #8335.73
69 de Freitas, Márcio E242764 #8523.09
70 Rossetto, Héctor D242153 #8526.31
71 Bolbochán, Julio241959 #8728.77
72 Unzicker, Wolfgang241875 #9123.51
73 Opocenský, Karel241661 #8856.89
74 Aronin, Lev S241458 #8828.44
75 Richter, Emil241265 #9154.96
76 Ufimtsev, Anatoly G241170 #9234.63
77 Šajtar, Jaroslav240962 #9127.07
78 Steiner, Lajos240956 #9045.54
79 Troianescu, Octav239868 #9632.90
80 Hounié Fleurquin, Carlos239868 #9642.13
81 Maderna, Carlos H239658 #9538.40
82 Tomovic, Vasilje239372 #9842.63
83 Golombek, Harry239262 #9637.83
84 Castaldi, Vincenzo239171 #9932.62
85 Ravinsky, Grigory Ionovich238873 #10039.20
86 Prins, Lodewijk238862 #9835.92
87 Rohácek, Ivan V238665 #9939.69
88 Marini, Luis238569 #10036.25
89 van Scheltinga, Tjeerd D238463 #10034.81
90 Bisguier, Arthur B237668 #10319.22
91 Sanguinetti, Renato237558 #10132.69
92 Füster, Géza237473 #10438.86
93 Luckis, Marcos237059 #10243.95
94 Szily, József236874 #10635.24
95 Michel235876 #109
96 Klaman, Konstantin M235868 #10731.02
97 Stulik, Vlastimil235367 #10927.88
98 Randviir, Jüri235275 #11021.59
99 Gereben, Ernö235164 #10841.53
100 Pizzi Possi, Tulio234373 #11229.22
101 Tsvetkov, Alexandar K234372 34.23
102 Christoffel, Martin233874 26.32
103 Winter, William233774 50.30
104 Grob, Henry233564 44.57
105 Fairhurst, William A233474 45.35
106 Podgorný, Jirí232866 36.05
107 Goldenov, Boris Petrovich232771
108 Iliesco, Juan T232261 50.70
109 Fletzer, Gino232076
110 Szabados, Eugenio232076 50.49
111 Giustolisi, Alberto232076 20.78
112 Gawlikowski, Stanislaw232068
113 Cruz, Walter O230672 38.99
114 Pilnick, Carl230573 25.01
115 Plater, Kazimierz229769 33.82
116 Broadbent, Reginald Joseph229672
117 Medina228873
118 Corte, César J228670 34.65
119 Monticelli, Mario228376 46.78
120 Wood, Baruch Harold228266
121 Castillo, Manuel227564
122 Rautenberg, Wilhelm226971
123 Abrahams, Gerald226569 41.70
124 Radulescu, Mihai225376
125 Camara, Luciano225073
126 Primavera, Giuseppe224576
127 Bakonyi, Elek221576
128 Olivera, Alfredo221464
129 Moller, Baldur216468

These ratings, calculated as of December 31, 1948, incorporate all games (against rated opponents) played in the time between January 1, 1948 and December 31, 1948, along with the ratings that were already calculated as of December 31, 1947. 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, 1948. This represents the player's estimated strength on January 1, 1949.

+/- 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, 1949. The +/- value represents the standard deviation of that estimate; the player's true strength on January 1, 1949 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, 1949. 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, 1948. 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.

Back to top

Home