Asian chess players

I suppose I wasn’t the only one who felt energised when Javokhir Sindarov emerged as the Challenger for this year’s world championship match. It will be one match worth following, once FIDE finally gets around to confirming the dates and venue for Gukesh vs Sindarov.

In the meantime, FIDE has put out its May 2026 rating list. They do this at the start of every month, and I still find myself checking it out of habit just to see how things have shifted. Of course, for the top players, the real movement happens on the live rating list during tournaments, where every game nudges the numbers up or down almost immediately. The monthly list is more like a snapshot, something a bit more static.

Out of curiosity, I pulled out the top 20 and put them into a table. FIDE keeps things pretty bare, just the essentials. But I added an extra column of my own, noting down what I could about each player’s background. Nothing official, just something I thought might be interesting to look at.

What struck me, more than I expected, was the pattern that emerged. Thirteen out of the 20, that's 65 percent, have at least one parent of Asian background. Some represent Asian chess federations, others don’t, but the roots are there. Undeniably there. It’s not something that jumps out when looking at a standard rating list, but once I saw it, I couldn’t quite unsee it.

Maybe it doesn’t change anything in a practical sense. Games are still decided over the board, and playing strength is what matters. But I do find myself looking at the list a little differently now. Not just as a ranking of players, but as a reflection of how wide the game has spread at the top. Europe used to be the centre of chess, but Asia has more or less caught up, and this list seems to say exactly that.