Sorted by number of games played
Here is the latest IGM rating or grading list which I prepared for presentation at the FIDE meeting in October at Lugano. The ratings given are to be construed as averages over the indicated 28 month period. Unfortunately I cannot supply what would be 'current' ratings as so far I have been unable to obtain tournament and match reports in chronological order and within a reasonable time after the respective events. FIDE had directed its membership to send me reports; however, the response to the directive was negligible; absolutely zero from behind the iron curtain.
A single important factor which casts a doubt over the validity of a ranking list such as this, regardless of what type of grading system is used, is the prevalance of the 'grand master draw'. Among the top ranked players only Fischer, Botvinnik and Larsen had more games played to a decition than draws. Even such fighting players as Korchnoy, Tal and Portisch played more than 50% of their games to draws. And how can any system truly evaluate Spassky's performance when he played 91 draws in 129 grand master games? One could paraphrase an oft quoted saying here: "the fault is not our system but in our masters" - and the way they play. At that, a grading system, even at the grand master level, could serve a useful purpose. Grand masters may pretend to be above such things as ratings systems but the truth is that they are as vain about their ratings as the duffers. If they understood that draws could adversely affect their ratings we might see fewer perfunctory draws in grand master play.
The performances of the International Grand Masters over the period January 1966 through April 1968. Included on the list are all the F.I.D.E. grand masters as of October 22, 1967 and a few international masters who, by statistical ciriteria, have performed at the grand master level. The ratings of the players represent their average performances over the indicated period. The figures are rounded to the nearest ten since greater precition cannot be claimed.
/ Prof. Arpad E. Elo, CHESS, November 1968 /
pos Player_ID Name Title Fed Rtng +/- gms Birthday Sex Flag
1 Fischer, Robert James USA 2710
2 Botvinnik, Mikhail URS 2690
3 Korchnoi, Viktor URS 2660
4 Spassky, Boris V. URS 2660
5 Larsen, Bent DEN 2650
6 Petrosian, Tigran URS 2650
7 Tal, Mikhail N. URS 2650
8 Geller, Efim P. URS 2630
9 Smyslov, Vassily URS 2630
10 Polugaevsky, Lev URS 2610
11 Portisch, Lajos HUN 2610
12 Stein, Leonid URS 2610
13 Unzicker, Wolfgang GER 2610
14 Keres, Paul URS 2600
15 Kholmov, Ratmir D. URS 2600
16 Lutikov, Anatoly S. URS 2600
17 Boleslavsky, Isaak URS 2590
18 Gligoric, Svetozar YUG 2590
19 Najdorf, Miguel ARG 2590
20 Olafsson, Fridrik ISL 2590
21 Benko, Pal C. USA 2580
22 Gipslis, Aivars URS 2580
23 Krogius, Nikolai V. URS 2580
24 Reshevsky, Samuel H. USA 2580
25 Taimanov, Mark E. URS 2580
26 Darga, Klaus GER 2570
27 Furman, Semyen A. URS 2570
28 Hort, Vlastimil CSR 2570
29 Lein, Anatoly URS 2570
30 Antoshin, Vladimir S. URS 2560
31 Evans, Larry M. USA 2560
32 Gufeld, Eduard URS 2560
33 Ivkov, Borislav YUG 2560
34 Matulovic, Milan YUG 2560
35 Zaitsev, Alexander URS 2560
36 Matanovic, Aleksandar YUG 2550
37 Mecking, Henrique BRA 2550
38 Osnos, Viatcheslav URS 2550
39 Savon, Vladimir A. URS 2550
40 Vasiukov, Evgeni URS 2550
41 Averbakh, Yuri L. URS 2540
42 Bobotsov, Milko G. BUL 2540
43 Panno, Oscar ARG 2540
44 Parma, Bruno YUG 2540
45 Shamkovich, Leonid URS 2540
46 Bilek, Istvan HUN 2530
47 Ciric, Dragoljub M. YUG 2530
48 Donner, Jan-Hein NED 2530
49 Gheorghiu, Florin ROM 2530
50 Suetin, Alexey S. URS 2530
51 Uhlmann, Wolfgang GDR 2530
52 Byrne, Robert E. USA 2520
53 Kavalek, Lubomir CSR 2520
54 Pomar Salamanca, Arturo ESP 2520
55 Szabo, Laszlo HUN 2520
56 Filip, Miroslav CSR 2510
57 Kotov, Alexander URS 2510
58 Liberzon, Vladimir M. URS 2510
59 Pilnik, Herman ARG 2510
60 Schmid, Lothar GER 2510
61 Simagin, Vladimir URS 2510
62 Barcza, Gedeon HUN 2500
63 Eliskases, Erich ARG 2500
64 Trifunovic, Petar YUG 2500
65 Janosevic, Dragoljub YUG 2490
66 Barczay, Laszlo HUN 2480
67 Padevsky, Nikola BUL 2480
68 Tringov, Georgi P. BUL 2480
69 Lengyel, Levente HUN 2470
70 Yanofsky, Daniel A. CAN 2470
71 O'Kelly de Galway, Alberic BEL 2430
72 Damjanovic, Mato YUG 2420
73 Pietzsch, Wolfgang GDR 2420