By Arvind Aaron
There are more Indian male players in the FIDE Elo list than Russian men. The latest list was published by FIDE on March 1, 2017. Russia and India have more players in the Elo list than all other nations.
It shows 53371 Indian men in the rating list, against 52925 Russian men. Russia however is higher in the combined rating list which includes men and women.
There are 11443 Russian women versus 8422 Indian women. Clearly, Indian women rating events need some incentive to catch up with the Russians!
Many nations compare themselves with Russia in chess and always stand dwarfed in all aspects. In another area, Indians are better is International Arbiter where we have more than Russia in men (India 112 v Russia 106). Again, in the IA combined count they have more because we have less International Arbiters among our women.

CHESS IN SCHOOLS BOOK
28th Asian Youth Chess Championships – 2026 in Shenzhen, China from 15th to 25th July 2026
FIDE World Cadets Cup – 2026 in Batumi, Georgia from 15th to 28th June, 2026
Certificates of SNA Seminar & Exam in Ahmedabad on 02 & 03 Jan 2026
Commonwealth Chess Championship – 2026 – 27 in Kaluthara, Sri Lanka from 16th to 26th May, 2026.