Format
BJ
Benson, James
🇳🇿FIDE 4305965· Male· New Zealand· Born in 1952
Follow James BensonTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
James Benson, a 74-year-old player, is rated 1720. He plays occasionally (2 games in the last 12 months) and had 5 career breaks: 29 months (2015–2017), 20 months (2017–2019), 38 months (2019–2022, COVID-19 included), 14 months (2023–2024) and 18 months (2024–2025). Recent appearance: NZ Seniors & Veterans Chess Championships 2025. Also played 1 rapid event (including 14th Hawkes Bay Rapid A Grade) recently. His peak of 1800 was reached at age 63 (May 2015); he also reached #82 nationally in Oct 2015.
Current rating
1720
Standard
Rpd1765·Blz1882
All-time high
1800
−80 pts below
May 2015 · age 63
May 2015 · age 63
Activity
1
games / yr avg.
2 past 12 mo
classical only
Occasional
classical only
Occasional
Signature stat
#102,783
#102,783 · players worldwide · of 218,279
Career timeline
17 entries2024
Inactive for 18 months
paused at 1735 → returned at 1720
May 2024
Re-crossed 1600
at age 72
Mar 2024
2023
K-factor lowered to 20
at age 71
Feb 2023
Inactive for 14 months
paused at 1560 → returned at 1735
Feb 2023
6th 70-75 player nationally
at age 71 · rated 1604
Jan 2023
2019
3rd 65-70 player nationally
at age 67 · rated 1754
Nov 2019
Standard rating history
Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
Inactive period
COVID-19
FIDE recal.
Activity & highlights
Evolution
-15
1735 → 1720
Tournaments
1
4 games
Score
0.5/ 412.5%
0W1D3L
Top wins
No noteworthy wins (no Elo gained on any game).
Top 1 loss
Last 12 months — tournaments
1 event| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swiss | Nov 2025 | 0.5/2 | #23 | 1459 | -14.6 |
Rankings
/
New Zealand
#185
out of 648 players
Asia-Pacific
#13,566
in continent
World
#102,781
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
New Zealand
| 1 | 🇳🇿Follow Felix XieTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,389 |
| 2 | 🇳🇿Follow Alphaeus Wei Ern AngTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,367 |
| 3 | 🇳🇿Follow Tom MiddelburgTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,344 |
| 4 | 🇳🇿Follow Sravan RenjithTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,333 |
| 5 | 🇳🇿Follow Daniel Hanwen GongTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,248 |
| 6 | 🇳🇿Follow Peter D McKenzieTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,237 |
| 7 | 🇳🇿Follow Daqi MaoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,232 |
| 8 | 🇳🇿Follow Michael Roy FreemanTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,202 |
| 9 | 🇳🇿Follow Nicolas CroadTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,180 |
| 10 | 🇳🇿Follow Anthony F KerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,177 |
| ... | ||
| 185 | 1,720 | |
Asia-Pacific
| 1 | 🇺🇿Follow Nodirbek AbdusattorovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 1 | 🇺🇿Follow Javokhir SindarovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 3 | 🇮🇳Follow Erigaisi ArjunTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,761 |
| 4 | 🇨🇳Follow Yi WeiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,753 |
| 5 | 🇮🇳Follow Viswanathan AnandTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,739 |
| 6 | 🇨🇳Follow Liren DingTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,738 |
| 7 | 🇮🇳Follow Praggnanandhaa RTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,735 |
| 8 | 🇷🇺Follow Ian NepomniachtchiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,733 |
| 9 | 🇮🇳Follow Gukesh DTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,732 |
| 10 | 🇻🇳Follow Quang Liem LeTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,731 |
| ... | ||
| 13566 | 1,720 | |
World
| 1 | 🇳🇴Follow Magnus CarlsenTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,841 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸Follow Hikaru NakamuraTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,792 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸Follow Fabiano CaruanaTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,792 |
| 4 | 🇺🇿Follow Nodirbek AbdusattorovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 4 | 🇺🇿Follow Javokhir SindarovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 6 | 🇩🇪Follow Vincent KeymerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,767 |
| 7 | 🇳🇱Follow Anish GiriTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,764 |
| 8 | 🇮🇳Follow Erigaisi ArjunTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,761 |
| 9 | 🇺🇸Follow Wesley SoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,753 |
| 9 | 🇨🇳Follow Yi WeiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,753 |
| ... | ||
| 102781 | 1,720 | |