by Greg Shahade

Ed. Note- this list was published a month late, in order to include results from the U.S. Women's and U.S. Open. However, the new rating list (August) is now out. In the future, CLO will rarely delay this feature. Expect the August junior rating update in the next couple weeks.

 Starting with this list, I am going to note the all time high ratings of everyone from the top ten. Some of the ratings really stand out, with Kamsky once getting to 2797 many years ago, before his hiatus from active chess. A topic for debate in the comments section is whether anyone will break the 2800 USCF barrier in the next 10 years, and if so who will it be? To be put it in simpler terms, who has the better chance, Kamsky or Nakamura?

My answer would be no, that no player will break 2800 in the next ten years, even though Kamsky was only 3 points away a long time ago and Nakamura was off by just 26. Two very good tournaments
would have probably been enough for Nakamura to make it and of course Kamsky needed a lot less. Note that foreign players who play only
a few games per year in the USA don't count for this debate. For instance, GM Ilya Smirin, who played a fairly decent amount, was rated over 2800 for a period of a few events, maintaining his rating through 3 World Open's and 2 Foxwoods Opens. His peak topped out at 2816. If he lived in the USA and played even more events on a regular basis, with his opponents being more familiar with his style, it may have been tougher to achieve this kind of domination.

Anyway let's get on to the list!

1.2. Gata Kamsky – 2752 (Last Ranking: 2nd; Gained 5 points, Peak Rating: 2797), pictured above

Gata has played just one American tournament in the last rating list, and in typical fashion, he scored 7/9 to tie for first at the Foxwoods Open. His most serious chess action was the FIDE Candidates matches, in which he had an impressive showing against GM Etienne Bacrot in the first round, before losing a tight match to GM
Boris Gelfand in the second round. It was another solid performance from Kamsky, who is showing time and time again that he is still on par with the world's elite.

What I find most interesting about Kamsky is that his style of play is very unintimidating. He plays very solidly and is so humble that its sort of hard to believe he's as good as he is. He is almost never playing wild and amazing tactical variations, instead playing mostly strategic setups. Anyway whether his moves strike fear into his opponent's hearts or not, he finds a way to win anyway, and has retaken his claim on the #1 spot in the nation.