List of chess players by peak FIDE rating

This is the list of top-ranked chess grandmasters, ordered by their peak Elo rating. The cut-off value is 2700 for men (players with a rating at or above this value are colloquially known as super grandmasters) and 2600 for women.

Notably, only six players achieved their over-2700 peak before the year 2000 and twenty-one players achieved their respective peak between the years 2000 and 2009 (inclusive).

List[edit]
FIDE players ordered by peak Elo rating[1][2]
 

1
 
Magnus Carlsen
2882
2014-05
1990
 
Highest-ranked player (2013–), world no. 1 (2010, 2011, 2011–), former World Chess Champion (2013–2023)
2
  
Garry Kasparov
2851
1999-07
1963
 
Highest-ranked Russian player, formerly world no. 1 (1984–1993, 1995–2006), former world champion (1985–2000), first player to achieve 2800+ rating, formerly highest-ranked player (1990–2012), highest-ranked Soviet-born player
3
  
Fabiano Caruana
2844
2014-10
1992
 
Highest-ranked American player, formerly the highest-ranked Italian player
4
   
Levon Aronian
2830
2014-03
1982
 
Formerly the highest-ranked Armenian player
5
  
Wesley So
2822
2017-02
1993
 
Highest-ranked Filipino-born player, formerly highest-ranked Filipino player, inaugural, former, and longest reigning FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Champion (2019–2022)
6
 
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2820
2018-09
1985
 
Highest-ranked Azerbaijani player
7
 
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
2819
2016-08
1990
 
Highest-ranked French player
8=
 
Viswanathan Anand
2817
2011-03
1969
 
Highest-ranked Indian player, former world champion (2007–2013, FIDE 2000–2002), formerly world no. 1 (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
8=
  
Vladimir Kramnik
2817
2016-10
1975
 
Former world champion (2000–2007), formerly world no. 1 (2008), formerly youngest player to achieve a 2800+ rating
10=
 
Veselin Topalov
2816
2015-07
1975
 
Highest-ranked Bulgarian player, former world champion (FIDE 2005–2006), formerly world no. 1 (2006–2007, 2009)
10=
 
Hikaru Nakamura
2816
2015-10
1987
 
Highest-ranked Japanese-born player, reigning FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Champion (from 2022)
10=
 
Ding Liren
2816
2018-11
1992
 
Highest-ranked Chinese player, current World Chess Champion (2023–)
13
 
Alexander Grischuk
2810
2014-12
1983
 
 
14
  
Alireza Firouzja
2804
2021-12
2003
 
Highest-ranked Iranian-born player, formerly highest-ranked Iranian player, highest-ranked junior, the youngest player to achieve a 2800+ rating
2775–2799[edit]
15
  
Anish Giri
2798
2015-10
1994
 
Highest-ranked Dutch player
16
 
Ian Nepomniachtchi
2795
2023-03
1990
 
 
17
 
Teimour Radjabov
2793
2012-10
1987
 
 
18=
 
Alexander Morozevich
2788
2008-07
1977
 
 
18=
  
Sergey Karjakin
2788
2011-07
1990
 
Highest-ranked Ukrainian-born player, formerly youngest grandmaster (2002–2021)
20
  
Vassily Ivanchuk
2787
2007-10
1969
 
Highest-ranked Ukrainian player
21
 
Bobby Fischer
2785
1972-07
1943
2008
Former world champion (1972–1975), formerly highest-ranked player (1971–1989), formerly world no. 1 (1971–1975), formerly youngest grandmaster (1958–1991), the first player to achieve 2700+ rating
22
  
Anatoly Karpov
2780
1994-07
1951
 
Former world champion (1975–1985, FIDE 1993–1999), formerly world no. 1 (1976–1983, 1994)
23
   
Boris Gelfand
2777
2013-11
1968
 
Highest-ranked Israeli player, formerly the highest-ranked Belarusian player
24
  
Richard Rapport
2776
2022-04
1996
 
Highest-ranked Romanian player, formerly the highest-ranked Hungarian player
2750–2774[edit]
25
 
Pentala Harikrishna
2770
2016-12
1986
 
 
26
   
Peter Svidler
2769
2013-05
1976
 
 
27
  
Leinier Dominguez Perez
2768
2014-05
1983
 
Highest-ranked Cuban-born player, formerly highest-ranked Cuban player
28=
 
Pavel Eljanov
2765
2016-03
1983
 
 
28=
 
Yu Yangyi
2765
2018-09
1994
 
 
30
 
Ruslan Ponomariov
2764
2011-07
1983
 
Former world chess champion (FIDE 2002–2004), formerly youngest grandmaster (1997–1999)
31=
 
Peter Leko
2763
2005-04
1979
 
Formerly youngest grandmaster (1994–1997)
31=
  
Gata Kamsky
2763
2013-07
1974
 
 
31=
 
Wang Hao
2763
2020-04
1989
 
 
34=
 
Vugar Gashimov
2761
2012-01
1986
2014
 
34=
 
Michael Adams
2761
2013-09
1971
 
Highest-ranked English player
34=
 
Vladislav Artemiev
2761
2019-06
1998
 
 
37=
 
Dmitry Jakovenko
2760
2009-01
1983
 
 
37=
 
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
2760
2021-12
1998
 
Highest-ranked Polish player
39=
 
Evgeny Tomashevsky
2758
2015-09
1987
 
 
39=
 
Li Chao
2758
2016-06
1989
 
 
41
 
Wang Yue
2756
2010-11
1987
 
 
42
   
Alexei Shirov
2755
2008-01
1972
 
Highest-ranked Spanish player, formerly the highest-ranked Latvian player
43
 
Wei Yi
2753
2017-08
1999
 
Youngest player to achieve a 2700+ rating
44=
    
Sergei Movsesian
2751
2009-01
1978
 
Formerly highest-ranked Slovak player
44=
 
David Navara
2751
2015-05
1985
 
Highest-ranked Czech player
44=
 
Nikita Vitiugov
2751
2019-11
1987
 
 
47
 
Radosław Wojtaszek
2750
2017-01
1987
 
 
2725–2749[edit]
48
 
Étienne Bacrot
2749
2013-11
1983
 
Formerly highest-ranked French player, formerly youngest grandmaster (1997)
49
 
Dommaraju Gukesh
2744
2023-06
2006
 
50
 
Dmitry Andreikin
2743
2016-06
1990
 
 
51=
   
Evgeny Bareev
2739
2003-10
1966
 
Highest-ranked Canadian player
51=
 
Lê Quang Liêm
2739
2017-08
1991
 
Highest-ranked Vietnamese player
53
 
Maxim Matlakov
2738
2017-11
1991
 
54
   
Arkadij Naiditsch
2737
2013-12
1985
 
The formerly highest-ranked German player
55
 
Judit Polgár
2735
2005-07
1976
 
Highest-ranked female player; first and only female player to achieve 2700+ rating, formerly youngest grandmaster (1991–1994)
56=
  
Viktor Bologan
2734
2012-08
1971
 
Highest-ranked Moldovan player
56=
 
Baadur Jobava
2734
2012-09
1983
 
Highest-ranked Georgian player
56=
 
Nodirbek Abdusattorov
2734
2023-02
2004
 
Highest-ranked Uzbek player
56=
 
Parham Maghsoodloo
2734
2023-05
2000
 
Highest-ranked Iranian player
60
 
Vladimir Fedoseev
2733
2017-10
1995
 
 
61=
 
Vladimir Malakhov
2732
2010-07
1980
 
 
61=
  
Ernesto Inarkiev
2732
2016-09
1985
 
 
63=
 
Bu Xiangzhi
2731
2019-02
1985
 
Formerly youngest grandmaster (1999–2002)
63=
 
Samuel Shankland
2731
2019-02
1991
 
 
63=
 
Vidit Gujrathi
2731
2023-04
1994
 
 
66
 
Arjun Erigaisi
2728
2022-10
2003
 
 
67=
 
Zoltán Almási
2726
2011-07
1976
 
 
67=
 
Alexander Moiseenko
2726
2011-09
1980
 
 
69=
 
Evgeny Alekseev
2725
2009-09
1985
 
 
69=
 
Andrei Volokitin
2725
2013-03
1986
 
 
2700–2724[edit]
71=
 
Ni Hua
2724
2009-04
1983
 
 
71=
 
Francisco Vallejo Pons
2724
2011-07
1982
 
Formerly highest-ranked Spanish player (when Shirov represented Latvia)
73=
 
Anton Korobov
2723
2014-01
1985
 
 
73=
 
Andrey Esipenko
2723
2022-02
2002
 
 
75=
 
Krishnan Sasikiran
2720
2012-05
1981
 
 
75=
 
Alexander Riazantsev
2720
2012-07
1985
 
 
77=
 
Alexander Areshchenko
2720
2012-12
1986
 
 
77=
 
Laurent Fressinet
2720
2015-06
1981
 
 
77=
 
Daniil Dubov
2720
2021-12
1996
 
 
80
  
Ivan Cheparinov
2718
2018-08
1986
 
 
81=
  
Lazaro Bruzon Batista
2717
2012-10
1982
 
 
81=
 
Yuriy Kryvoruchko
2717
2015-11
1986
 
 
83=
  
Valery Salov
2715
1995-01
1964
 
 
83=
 
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
2715
2015-05
1979
 
Former world chess champion (FIDE 2004–2005)
83=
 
Kirill Alekseenko
2715
2019-11
1997
 
 
83=
 
Jorden van Foreest
2715
2022-05
1999
 
 
87=
 
Loek van Wely
2714
2001-10
1972
 
 
87=
 
Denis Khismatullin
2714
2014-03
1984
 
89=
   
Vladimir Akopian
2713
2006-07
1971
 
 
89=
 
Luke McShane
2713
2012-07
1984
 
 
91=
 
Nigel Short
2712
2004-04
1965
 
 
91=
 
David Howell
2712
2015-08
1990
 
 
91=
 
Bassem Amin
2712
2019-01
1988
 
Highest-ranked Egyptian player, highest-ranked African player
91=
 
Jeffery Xiong
2712
2019-11
2000
 
 
91=
 
Sanan Sjugirov
2712
2022-11
1993
 
 
96=
  
Alexey Dreev
2711
2011-07
1969
 
 
96=
 
Gabriel Sargissian
2711
2015-12
1983
 
 
98=
   
Alexander Beliavsky
2710
1997-07
1953
 
Highest-ranked Slovenian player
98=
 
Alexander Motylev
2710
2009-07
1979
 
 
98=
 
Maxim Rodshtein
2710
2016-03
1989
 
 
98=
 
Bogdan-Daniel Deac
2710
2022-09
2001
 
102=
 
Rauf Mamedov
2709
2017-12
1988
 
 
102=
 
Gawain Jones
2709
2019-06
1987
 
 
104=
 
Zahar Efimenko
2708
2011-03
1985
 
 
104=
 
Hans Niemann
2708
2023-05
2003
 
 
106=
  
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
2707
2005-10
1976
 
Highest-ranked German player, formerly the highest-ranked Romanian player
106=
 
Evgeny Najer
2707
2017-08
1977
 
 
106=
   
Ivan Sokolov
2706
2004-01
1968
 
Formerly highest-ranked Bosnian player
106=
 
Ferenc Berkes
2706
2011-09
1985
 
 
106=
  
Sergei Rublevsky
2706
2013-11
1974
 
 
111=
  
Mikhail Tal
2705
1980-01
1936
1992
Former world champion (1960–1961)
111=
    
Vadim Milov
2705
2008-07
1972
 
Highest-ranked Swiss player
111=
 
Boris Grachev
2705
2012-03
1986
 
 
111=
 
Jon Ludvig Hammer
2705
2016-02
1990
 
 
115=
 
Viktor Láznička
2704
2012-01
1989
 
 
115=
 
Ray Robson
2704
2023-04
1994
 
117=
  
Emil Sutovsky
2703
2012-01
1977
 
 
117=
 
Markus Ragger
2703
2017-02
1988
 
Highest-ranked Austrian player
117=
 
Vladislav Kovalev
2703
2019-02
1994
 
Highest-ranked Belarusian player
117=
 
Ivan Šarić
2703
2019-03
1990
 
Highest-ranked Croatian player
117=
 
David Antón Guijarro
2703
2020-03
1995
 
 
117=
 
Samuel Sevian
2703
2022-05
2000
 
 
123=
   
Michał Krasenkow
2702
2000-07
1963
 
 
123=
  
Ilia Smirin
2702
2001-07
1968
 
 
123=
   
Alexander Khalifman
2702
2001-10
1966
 
Former world chess champion (FIDE 1999–2000)
123=
    
Zurab Azmaiparashvili
2702
2003-07
1960
 
 
123=
 
Romain Edouard
2702
2014-06
1990
 
 
123=
  
Igor Kovalenko
2702
2015-08
1988
 
 
129=
  
Alexander Onischuk
2701
2010-07
1975
 
 
129=
 
Adhiban Baskaran
2701
2019-04
1992
 
 
131=
 
Peter Heine Nielsen
2700
2010-07
1973
 
Highest-ranked Danish player
131=
 
Igor Lysyj
2700
2015-01
1987
 
 
131=
 
Vincent Keymer
2700
2022-10
2004
 
 

Highest female ratings[edit]
FIDE women players ordered by peak Elo rating
 
Country
Player
Peak rating
Achieved
Birth year
Death year
Notes
2700+[edit]
1
 
Judit Polgár
2735
2005-07
1976
 
 
2600-2699[edit]
2
 
Hou Yifan
2686
2015-03
1994
 
 
3
 
Koneru Humpy
2623
2009-07
1987
 
 
4
 
Aleksandra Goryachkina
2611
2021-08
1998
 
 
5
  
Anna Muzychuk
2606
2012-07
1990
 
 
6
 
Ju Wenjun
2604
2017-03
1991
 
 

Highest ratings by decade[edit]
This section lists the top 20 active[] players by peak FIDE rating achieved in every decade since 1971 when FIDE started officially publishing rating lists.

1970s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 1970s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 1970s
Achieved
1
 
Bobby Fischer
2785
1972-07
2
 
Anatoly Karpov
2725
1978-01
3
  
Viktor Korchnoi
2695
1979-01
4
 
Boris Spassky
2690
1971-07
5=
 
Bent Larsen
2660
1971-07
5=
 
Mikhail Tal
2660
1973-07
7
 
Lajos Portisch
2650
1973-07
8=
 
Tigran Petrosian
2645
1972-07
8=
 
Lev Polugaevsky
2645
1972-07
10
 
Henrique Mecking
2635
1977-01
11
 
Mikhail Botvinnik
2630
1971-07
12=
  
Lubomir Kavalek
2625
1974-05
12=
 
Jan Timman
2625
1979-01
14=
 
Vassily Smyslov
2620
1971-07
14=
 
Leonid Stein
2620
1972-07
14=
 
Ljubomir Ljubojević
2620
1976-01
14=
 
Efim Geller
2620
1976-01
14=
 
Vlastimil Hort
2620
1977-01
19=
  
Paul Keres
2615
1971-07
19=
 
Robert Hübner
2615
1974-05
19=
 
Jan Smejkal
2615
1976-01

1980s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 1980s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 1980s
Achieved
1
 
Garry Kasparov
2775
1989-01
2
 
Anatoly Karpov
2755
1989-07
3
 
Mikhail Tal
2705
1980-01
4
 
Viktor Korchnoi
2695
1980-01
5
 
Jan Timman
2675
1988-01
6
 
Nigel Short
2665
1988-07
7=
 
Artur Yusupov
2660
1986-07
7=
 
Vassily Ivanchuk
2660
1989-07
9=
 
Lajos Portisch
2655
1980-01
9=
 
Alexander Beliavsky
2655
1988-07
11=
 
Ljubomir Ljubojević
2645
1983-01
11=
 
Rafael Vaganian
2645
1986-01
11=
 
Andrei Sokolov
2645
1987-01
11=
 
Jonathan Speelman
2645
1988-07
11=
 
Valery Salov
2645
1989-07
16=
 
Robert Hübner
2640
1981-07
16=
 
Ulf Andersson
2640
1983-07
16=
 
Mikhail Gurevich
2640
1989-07
19=
 
Lev Polugaevsky
2635
1980-01
19=
  
Boris Spassky
2635
1981-01

1990s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 1990s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 1990s
Achieved
1
  
Garry Kasparov
2851
1999-07
2
 
Viswanathan Anand
2795
1998-07
3
  
Vladimir Kramnik
2790
1998-01
4
  
Anatoly Karpov
2780
1994-07
5
 
Alexander Morozevich
2758
1999-07
6
 
Veselin Topalov
2750
1996-07
7
 
Gata Kamsky
2745
1996-07
8
   
Alexei Shirov
2740
1994-07
8=
  
Vassily Ivanchuk
2740
1995-07
10
 
Michael Adams
2716
1999-01
11
  
Valery Salov
2715
1995-01
12
  
Peter Svidler
2713
1999-01
12=
   
Boris Gelfand
2713
1999-07
14
   
Alexander Beliavsky
2710
1997-07
15
 
Peter Leko
2701
1999-07
16
  
Evgeny Bareev
2698
1999-07
17
 
Nigel Short
2697
1999-01
18
  
Sergei Rublevsky
2685
1998-07
19
   
Zurab Azmaiparashvili
2681
1999-01
20=
 
Jan Timman
2680
1990-01
20=
   
Artur Yusupov
2680
1995-07

2000s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 2000s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 2000s
Achieved
1
 
Garry Kasparov
2851
2000-01
2
 
Veselin Topalov
2813
2006-07
3
 
Vladimir Kramnik
2811[b]
2002-01
4
 
Viswanathan Anand
2803
2006-04
5
 
Magnus Carlsen
2801
2009-11
6
 
Alexander Morozevich
2788
2008-07
7
 
Vassily Ivanchuk
2787
2007-10
8
  
Levon Aronian
2786
2009-11
9
 
Peter Svidler
2765
2006-01
10
 
Peter Leko
2763
2005-04
11
 
Teimour Radjabov
2761
2009-01
12=
 
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2760
2008-01
12=
 
Dmitry Jakovenko
2760
2009-01
14
 
Vugar Gashimov
2758
2009-11
14=
 
Boris Gelfand
2758
2009-11
16=
 
Alexei Shirov
2755
2008-01
16=
 
Michael Adams
2755
2000-07
18
  
Sergei Movsesian
2751
2009-01
19
 
Alexander Grischuk
2748
2009-04
20
 
Ruslan Ponomariov
2743
2002-04

2010s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 2010s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 2010s
Achieved
1
 
Magnus Carlsen
2882
2014-05
2
  
Fabiano Caruana
2844
2014-10
3
 
Levon Aronian
2830
2014-03
4
  
Wesley So
2822
2017-02
5
 
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2820
2018-09
6
 
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
2819
2016-08
7=
 
Viswanathan Anand
2817
2011-03
7=
 
Vladimir Kramnik
2817
2016-10
9=
 
Veselin Topalov
2816
2015-07
9=
 
Hikaru Nakamura
2816
2015-10
9=
 
Ding Liren
2816
2018-11
12
 
Alexander Grischuk
2810
2014-12
13
 
Anish Giri
2798
2015-10
14
 
Teimour Radjabov
2793
2012-11
15
 
Sergey Karjakin
2788
2011-07
16
 
Vassily Ivanchuk
2779
2011-03
17
 
Boris Gelfand
2777
2013-11
18
 
Ian Nepomniachtchi
2776
2019-09
19=
 
Alexander Morozevich
2770
2012-07
19=
 
Pentala Harikrishna
2770
2016-12

2020s[edit]
Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in the 2020s
 
Country
Player
Peak rating in the 2020s
Achieved
1
 
Magnus Carlsen
2872
2020-02
2
 
Fabiano Caruana
2842
2020-02
3
 
Ding Liren
2811
2022-10
4
 
Alireza Firouzja
2804
2021-12
5
 
Ian Nepomniachtchi
2795
2023-03
6
  
Levon Aronian
2785
2022-03
7
 
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
2784
2020-10
8
 
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2782
2021-07
9
 
Anish Giri
2780
2021-05
10=
 
Alexander Grischuk
2778
2021-07
10=
 
Wesley So
2778
2021-09
12
  
Richard Rapport
2776
2022-04
13
 
Hikaru Nakamura
2775
2023-04
14
 
Teimour Radjabov
2765
2020-01
15
 
Wang Hao
2763
2020-04
16=
 
Leinier Dominguez Perez
2760
2021-09
16=
 
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
2760
2021-12
18=
 
Viswanathan Anand
2758
2020-01
18=
 
Sergey Karjakin
2758
2021-09
20
 
Vladimir Kramnik
2753
2020-01