Magnus #1 in the New Year!

Here's wishing all of my readers a joyous, healthy and prosperous New Year 2010!!

There has been plenty of exciting chess news to report over the past couple of days. Several local youngsters faced stiff competition at the North American Open in Las Vegas (photo top right), and they no doubt earned the praise of many around the country. Watch for my final report in the coming days.

The biggest international story is the rise of a Norwegian teenager as the new #1 rated player in the World. At 2810, Magnus Carlsen (photo top left) becomes the youngest top ranked chess player in history! It may only be a matter of time before he also earns a shot at the official World Chess Championship. Check out the December 25 issue of Time magazine for an interview with the new "King of Chess".

Top FIDE Ratings, January 2010

• 1 Carlsen, Magnus 2810 (NOR, 19)
• 2 Topalov, Veselin 2805 (BUL, 34)
• 3 Anand, Viswanathan 2790 (IND, 40)
• 4 Kramnik, Vladimir 2788 (RUS, 34)
• 5 Aronian, Levon 2781 (ARM, 27)
• 6 Gelfand, Boris 2761 (ISR, 41)
• 7 Gashimov, Vugar 2759 (AZE, 23)
• 8 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2749 (UKR, 40)
• 9 Wang, Yue 2749 (CHN, 22)
• 10 Svidler, Peter 2744 (RUS, 33)
• 28 Nakamura, Hikaru 2708 (USA, 22)
• 40 Kamsky, Gata 2693 (USA, 35)
• 57 Onischuk, Alexander 2670 (USA, 34)