FIDE Clarifies Sergey Karjakin's 'Inactive' Status, Issues Rating List Correction

Last Updated:March 03, 2026, 11:57 IST

The Russian Chess Crown match was included in the March 2026 FIDE Rating List, due to an oversight, and in breach of the regulations. 

FIDE issued a clarification on Tuesday, stating that Sergey Karjakin’s status in the standings is inactive and has been removed from the list of active players’ ratings following the identification of an error.

As per Article 0.2.1 of the FIDE Rating Regulations, a tournament and its playing schedule must be registered no later than 30 days before the tournament starts, if one of the players in the tournament is rated in excess of 2700, or a female player rated in excess of 2500.

The Russian Chess Crown match was included in the March 2026 FIDE Rating List, due to an oversight, and in breach of the regulations.

The Qualification Commission removed the event from the FIDE Rating System in accordance with the applicable rules when the error was identified, and hence as a result Karjakin had to pay the price.

The FIDE Qualification apologised for issues the error may have caused with the release of the new rating list, and will work at improving the approval process in the future.

News sports chess FIDE Clarifies Sergey Karjakin's 'Inactive' Status, Issues Rating List Correction

Read More