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Judit Polgar (2735, +3) widens her lead over her sister Susan Polgar (2577, +0) who rarely plays in tournaments these days. Xie Jun (2573, +0) holds steady while Koneru Humpy (2531, +23) picked up a boatload of points playing in 40 rated games! Alexandra Kosteniuk has taken the #5 spot while Maia Chiburdanidze (2509, +0) has stagnated. Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova jumped to #7 (2495, +4) and recently had a strong performance in Bajada de la Virgen. Kateryna Lahno's (2498) European Women's Championship should vault her a few spots toward the top five. Pia Crambling (2494, -5), one of the first women to earn a GM title, continues to hold a spot among the top ten.
Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov (2682, +9) regained his junior rating crown and was strong in the past European Championships. The Ukraine's Andrei Volokitin (2671, -8) slides for the second consecutive list with David Navara (2663, +16), Artyom Timofeev (2661, +39) and Hikaru Nakamura (2660, +3) on his heels. Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (2646, +0) while Pentala Harikrishna made more gains at the HB Global Chess Challenge (2645, +13). India (as well as China) is rising as indicated by top players in each junior age category.
In Africa, Morocco's Hichem Hamdouchi gains (2567, +9) to keep his #1 ranking in Africa safe. Africa has a new GM and it is the young Egyptian star Ahmed Adly (2484, +0) who earned his 3rd GM norm in Dubai past December. He is the first GM in Egypt's history! Egyptian trio of Essam El-Gindy (2520, +14), Adly (2484, +4) and Abdelnabbi Imed (2460, -2) represent the nucleus of a strong Egyptian side. Adly remains Africa's top junior and appears to be the brightest rising star on the continent.
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