Controversial GM Sergey Karjakin’s Top 10 Comeback Cut Short By FIDE Reversal

Last Updated:March 02, 2026, 09:16 IST

Sergey Karjakin entered FIDE’s top 10 chess rankings before a correction removed him, sparking controversy and discussion in the chess community.

Sergey Karjakin has been marked inactive by FIDE (Picture credit: AFP)

Russian chess Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin suddenly found himself among the top 10 in FIDE’s rankings, only for the joy to end within minutes after the governing body noticed the mistake and corrected it.

When the world chess governing body FIDE published its March ratings update over the weekend, unveiling the top 10 players in classical chess, it sparked a major uproar.

And just as swiftly as the controversy erupted, it disappeared.

Karjakin has become a polarising figure in the chess world. Once the record-holder as the youngest-ever GM, he has spent years outside the top 10 after the fallout from his outspoken support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, the nation where he was born.

Karjakin’s invitations to elite tournaments dried up, with events such as Norway Chess making it clear he wouldn’t be welcomed back.

Karjakin, who challenged for the world title in 2016 against Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, also chose to boycott FIDE-rated events when he was barred from competing under the flag of his adopted country.

Instead, Karjakin emerged as a vocal supporter of Russia’s military and backed chess events staged in occupied regions of Ukraine. As a result, he became persona non grata in much of the chess world and, having not played enough FIDE-rated matches, was marked as ‘inactive’.

It seemed and in many ways still seems, that Karjakin’s career at the elite level was over. A sombre chapter for one of the most gifted players of his generation, a cohort that also featured Carlsen.

But in the March rankings released over the weekend, Karjakin reappeared at world No. 10 with a FIDE rating of 2750, pushing India’s reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju down to 11th.

The shift appeared to coincide with FIDE easing certain restrictions on Russian participation after its General Assembly last December.

But Karjakin’s moment of celebration was short-lived. A storm erupted on social media and, within hours of his return to the top 10, the two games he had played against a junior, the results that had reinstated his ‘active’ status, vanished from FIDE’s database.

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