As of May 2025, the number of FIDE-rated chess players by country is as follows (rounded to the nearest hundred):Russia: 34,800 rated players India: 32,500 rated players Germany: 26,500 rated players Spain: 24,800 rated players France: 23,400 rated playersThese five countries have the largest number of FIDE-rated players by a significant margin. The average rating of the top 100 chess players in the world in May 2025 was Elo 2667. But good news: the Live Chess Ratings of May 30 she has climbed to place 100. RiddleThe reason why China has so few active chess players can be expressed in one word: Xiangqi (象棋, pronounced "shiang-chee"). Young people who become interested in strategic board games in India will learn and play chess, in China Xiangqi.