Curbing the glut of grandmasters

The chess world is suffering from a glut of grandmasters. The January rating list issued by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) contains 1,188 grandmasters, including 66 representing the U.S. Some FIDE officials want to introduce a new title to distinguish "elite" grandmasters from the pack. More than a century ago, the term "grandmaster" was used informally to describe leading chess players. Chess lore credits Czar Nicholas II with awarding the first "official" grandmaster titles to the top five finishers in the great St. Petersburg chess tournament of 1914. However, no international organization sanctioned titles until FIDE took charge in 1950 and deemed 27 living chess players ...