Russia Shut Out of Chess World Top 20 for First Time in FIDE History
When the first FIDE ratings list of 2026 is published for January and attention turns to the top players, one big name will be missing.
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia's number-one and two-time Challenger for the classical World Championship, will have dropped down to 24. Lowly by the standards of such a great player.
Nepomniachtchi's position won't just have significance for him. It means that for the first time since official rankings began, there will be no Russian's among the world's top 20.
Just as restrictions on Russian teams and symbols start being relaxed, the traditional chess powerhouse appears to be slipping off the game's top echelon.
Going into 2025, Nepomniachtchi was the sole remaining top-ranked Russian but his form has slumped alarmingly this year.
In August he slipped out of the top-10, now in the live ratings—due to be made official on December 31—he has fallen to 24. It comes after he crashed out the FIDE World Cup, in Round 2 back in November and hasn't seen much actions since.
Right now, he's in Doha defending his World Blitz co-champion crown, although two losses have put a dent in his chances.
Even at the start of 2025, this fall from grace would have seemed inconceivable to many.
Russian Success
Russia's history in chess is long and proud. And rightly so—with it's famed Russian School of Chess producing champion after champion, no other single nation has contributed so much to chess. No other nation has seen as much success either, or has built such a strong base of titled players.
Russia and before it the Soviet Union dominated the World Championship and team competitions since the end of the World War Two.
Yet in 2026, Russia faces having a severely weakened team at the FIDE Olympiad and only an outside shot in GM Andrey Esipenko of having a challenger to the world title.
There are green shoots of recovery to look forward to in Russian chess.
Should "Nepo" fail to recover his mojo, Esipenko has emerged as his likely successor. He sits on the brink of breaking into the 2700 club and has shown he can mix it with the best. He also has a big 2026 ahead.
In November, the 23-year-old from Novocherkassk in the Rostov region spared Russia's blushes by grabbing he final spot in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
Esipenko bounced back from a heart-breaking loss to GM Wei Yi of China in a gripping semi-final at the 2025 FIDE World Cup to beat Yakubboev 2-0 and take third place.
For now, all hopes are pinned on Esipenko.
The immensely-talented IM Roman Shogdzhiev is another one for the future who is being tipped for great things. But at just 10-years-old, it may be some time before he threatens the top 20.
There has been more joy in Russian chess. In November, a team comprised entirely of Russians, competing under the FIDE flag, also triumphed at the 2025 Women's World Team Chess Championships in the Spanish city of Linares. In 2026, this team will be able to compete as Russians.
And only this week GM Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated China's GM Zhu Jiner in a blitz playoff to win the Women's World Rapid crown. Goryachkina is now the highest rated Russian woman in chess history with a peak FIDE rating of 2611.
Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev also placed second at World Rapid's Open event. Artemiev, the 2019 European Chess Champion, was a serious contender beating eventual winner GM Magnus Carlsen along the way.
Russian players may be out of the top 20, but the empire will strike back.