Format
JM
James, Michael
🇿🇦FIDE 14303175· Male· South Africa· Born in 1990
Follow Michael JamesTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
Michael James, a 36-year-old South African player, is rated 1959 and sitting in the top 4% of South African players. He plays occasionally (7 games in the last 12 months) and had 2 career breaks: 33 months (2020–2022, COVID-19 included) and 12 months (2023–2024). Recent appearance: Cape Town Chess Federation Club League 2025 (A). His peak of 2055 was reached at age 26 (Jan 2016); he also reached South African #29 in Jun 2016.
Current rating
1959
Standard
Rpd2005·Blz2002
All-time high
2055
−96 pts below
Jan 2016 · age 26
Jan 2016 · age 26
Activity
5
games / yr avg.
7 past 12 mo · ≈1/mo
classical only
Occasional
classical only
Occasional
Signature stat
Top 4%
#74 · South African players · of 1,804
Career timeline
11 entries2023
Inactive for 12 months
paused at 1940 → returned at 1963
Oct 2023
2020
Inactive for 33 months
paused at 1978 → returned at 1956
Jan 2020
2018
100 career games
at age 28
Jan 2018
2016
Peak South African rank: #29
at age 26 · rated 2054
Jun 2016
Best 12-month gain (+84 Elo)
1971 → 2055
Jan 2016
All-time peak 2055
at age 26 · −96 from today
Jan 2016
Standard rating history
Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
Inactive period
COVID-19
FIDE recal.
Activity & highlights
Top opponent
Evolution
-4
1963 → 1959
Tournaments
1
7 games
Score
4/ 757.1%
4W0D3L
Top 3 wins
Top 3 losses
Last 12 months — tournaments
1 event| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Jul 2025 | 4/7 | #49 | 1928 | -4.4 |
Most-Played Opponents
vsShabir Hussain BhawoodienFM
🇿🇦RSA·2020
+3 −4 =0
7 games·last met Sep 2025
View head-to-head →
vsMohamed Ozayr BhawoodienFM
🇿🇦RSA·2178
+0 −4 =2
6 games·last met Sep 2025
View head-to-head →
vsMaxwell SolomonCM
🇿🇦RSA·1900
+3 −2 =1
6 games·last met Aug 2022
View head-to-head →
vsWatu KobeseIM
🇿🇦RSA·2237
+0 −5 =1
6 games·last met Dec 2019
View head-to-head →
vsCalvin John KlaasenFM
🇿🇦RSA·2171
+1 −3 =1
5 games·last met Dec 2019
View head-to-head →
Rankings
/
South Africa
#74
out of 1,876 players
Africa
#905
in continent
World
#34,833
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
South Africa
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