THE HALL OF FAME | THE 50 GREATEST CHESS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME
Who really are the greatest chess player player of all well it's hard to tell it's because Magnus he became world champion after defeating Vishy Anand in 2013 before that there were chess players who ruled the chess world decades like Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasporov. well now in our modern life Magnus is crowned as world champion
GM Magnus Carlsen
2830 | #1
Norway
To many, GM Magnus Carlsen is the best to ever play the game, although GMs Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer remain in the conversation. At any rate, the clear and remarkable point is that before turning 30 years old, Carlsen had already earned a spot at the top, and he has continued to dominate into...
GM Fabiano Caruana
2804 | #2
United States
The prodigy who broke the record held by GM Hikaru Nakamura for America's youngest chess grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana, has climbed the mountain of chess and reached the summit. This grandmaster has had a ranking as high as number-two in the world and has won numerous tournaments in his career. In 2018...
GM Hikaru Nakamura
2788 | #3
United States
Hikaru Nakamura was born December 9, 1987 in Hirakata, Japan. His family moved to the United States when he was just two years old, and the Stars and Stripes are the only national banner he has known as a chess player. Nakamura has been one of the world’s top players for well over a decade....
GM Ding Liren
2780 | #4
China
Ding Liren is the reigning FIDE World Chess Champion after defeating GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 World Championship. Like most world champions, a combination of dominance and close calls have defined Ding's career leading up to winning the title. Ding won his first Chinese Chess Championship at...
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi
2769 | #5
Russia
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (“Nepo” for short) is a Russian super grandmaster who has twice won the Candidates Tournament to play for the world championship. After winning the 2020-21 Candidates Tournament, he challenged GM Magnus Carlsen for the 2021 World Championship and lost in 11 games. Nepomniachtchi...
GM Alireza Firouzja
2759 | #6
France
Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian-born grandmaster who now plays for France. He is a world championship candidate and two-time Iranian champion. In late 2019 and early 2020, Firouzja electrified the chess world with his second place finish in the World Rapid Championship (one point behind World Champion...
GM Wesley So
2757 | #7
United States
Wesley So is a Filipino-American super grandmaster who is among the world’s best chess players. He began as a chess prodigy who entered tournaments at nine years old. At 14, he became the ninth youngest GM in history. The next year, he became the youngest player to pass the 2600 rating threshold,...
GM Leinier Dominguez Perez
2752 | #8
United States
Leinier Dominguez Perez is a Cuban-American grandmaster who has been a top-10 player in the world and usually sits in the top 15. Born in Havana in 1983, he earned his GM title in 2001, won his first of five Cuban Chess Championships in 2002, and reached a 2700 rating in 2008. Dominguez was also Cuban...
GM Sergey Karjakin
2750 | #9
Russia
Sergey Karjakin is an elite chess player who broke the record of youngest-ever GM at 12 years and seven months of age in 2003. Karjakin held his record until 2021 when GM Abhimanyu Mishra broke his record. Most notably, he pushed GM Magnus Carlsen—typically considered one of the two...
GM Anish Giri
2749 | #10
Netherlands
GM Anish Giri is a four-time Dutch champion and a world-class player. He has been ranked as high as number three in the world and reached his peak rating of 2802 on February 15, 2015. Giri has represented the Netherlands at the Olympiads since 2010. He won the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament and the 2017...
GM Viswanathan Anand
2748 | #11
India
The name Viswanathan is a patronymic, and the player should be referred to by his name, Anand. Viswanathan Anand, the 15th undisputed chess champion and surely the greatest Indian chess player of all time, was born on December 11, 1969, in Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, the southeasternmost state in...
GM Vincent Keymer
2743 | #12
Germany
Vincent Keymer is a German grandmaster and the youngest from his country to earn the title. At the 2018 Grenke Open, the 13-year-old prodigy won the event ahead of 49 GMs (including four rated 2700+) with an 8/9 score, which secured his first GM norm and shocked the chess world. Keymer’s performance...
GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
2743 | #12
India
GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is an Indian grandmaster who had one of the greatest youth careers in chess history. Praggnanandhaa, who only turned 18 years old in 2023, is one of the youngest grandmasters and world championship candidates ever. He is the first of a historic quartet of contemporary young...
GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
2742 | #14
India
The name Gujrathi is a patronymic, and the player should be referred to by his name, Vidit. Vidit Gujrathi is an Indian super GM who has won the under-14 world championship, 2018 Tata Steel Challengers, and the 2019 Biel tournament. In 2023 he became a candidate for the world championship for the first...
GM Wei Yi
2740 | #15
China
Chinese GM Wei Yi is an elite player and one of the greatest chess prodigies in history. At the age of 15, he broke GM Magnus Carlsen’s record for the youngest player to reach a rating of 2700, which Wei still holds. Two years prior, he became the fourth-youngest GM in history at the time (now...
GM Parham Maghsoodloo
2740 | #15
Iran
Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo has achieved an impressive chess career in a short amount of time. He’s a two-time Iranian national champion and the highest-rated player in the country. In 2018, he won the World Junior Chess Championship. Now no longer a junior, Maghsoodloo seems poised to make...
GM Arjun Erigaisi
2738 | #17
India
Arjun Erigaisi is an Indian grandmaster, one of a quartet of star Indian players born between 2003 and 2006—the others being GMs Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, and Nihal Sarin—who all made major leaps into the world elite in the 2022-23 time period. The name Erigaisi is a patronymic, and...
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
2734 | #18
France
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (also known as “MVL”) is a French super grandmaster who, since 2016, has spent plenty of time rated among the top five chess players in the world. His rating peaked at 2819 in August 2016, making him the seventh-highest rated player in history. Vachier-Lagrave is a...
GM Alexander Grischuk
2732 | #19
Russia
Alexander Grischuk is a Russian super grandmaster who is consistently among the world’s best players. While he’s an elite professional chess player, Grischuk is well-known for being one of the top blitz players. He’s a three-time World Blitz Champion, making him only one of two players...
GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda
2732 | #19
Poland
GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda is one of the youngest members of the 2700 club of super grandmasters (reached in 2017), having turned 22 years old in April 2020. The latest in a history of strong GMs from Poland, he plays on Chess.com as Polish_fighter3000. Duda won the 2021 FIDE World Cup, earning himself a...
GM Le Quang Liem
2731 | #21
Vietnam
Le Quang Liem is a Vietnamese grandmaster well known for his speed chess skills. He is best known for winning the World Blitz Chess Championship in 2013 ahead of several elite players. Liem is known to have an extremely sharp tactical eye and many notable games in that area. He has also won several...
GM Veselin Topalov2727 | #22
Bulgaria
GM Veselin Topalov is a Bulgarian super-grandmaster and was the FIDE world champion in 2005. He was the world number-one player from April 2006 through January 2007 and again from October 2008 until January 2010. According to 2700chess.com, he reached his peak rating of 2826 on August 24, 2015—the...
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov
2727 | #22
Uzbekistan
Nodirbek Abdusattorov is an Uzbek grandmaster who won the 2021 World Rapid Championship and played on the first board for team Uzbekistan that won the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad. He did both when 17 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to do so. Abdussatorov's first major success was the...
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2726 | #24
Azerbaijan
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is a super-grandmaster from Azerbaijan. He was the number-two ranked player in the world in the FIDE ratings list of February 2018. According to 2700chess.com, Mamedyarov reached his peak rating of 2826 on September 30, 2018—the sixth-highest rating of all time. Mamedyarov...
GM Levon Aronian
2725 | #25
United States
Levon Aronian is an Armenian-American super grandmaster who has long been among the world’s best players. He first entered the top 20 in 2005 and still hasn’t lost that distinction. Most of those 15 years or so have been spent in the top 10. In 2021, he switched federations from Armenia...
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GM Gukesh Dommaraju
2725 | #25
India
The name Dommarju is a patronymic, and the player should be referred to by his name, Gukesh. Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju is a young chess prodigy. He’s best known for becoming the second-youngest grandmaster in history. The accomplishment came in January 2019, when Gukesh earned the GM title at...
GM Yu Yangyi
2720 | #27
China
Yu Yangyi is a Chinese super-grandmaster and world-class player. He was the World U-10 Champion (2004), the World Junior Champion (2013), the Chinese Champion (2013), as well as the Asian Continental Champion (2014). He has won multiple international events and is a particularly strong rapid and...
GM Richard Rapport
2717 | #28
Romania
Richard Rapport is a Hungarian-Romanian grandmaster and a runner-up in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022, which secured him a place at the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2022. This former chess prodigy also possesses a uniquely creative opening approach combined with an exquisite positional style....
GM Francisco Vallejo Pons
2712 | #29
Spain
Francisco Vallejo Pons (nickname “Paco”) is a five-time Spanish chess champion. He won in 2006, 2009, and the three consecutive years of 2014-16. He was also a regular at the Linares super-tournament as the host national favorite. Vallejo is a member of the 2700-rating club and remains...
GM Vladislav Artemiev
2711 | #30
Russia
Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev is undoubtedly one of the best young chess players. Ranked fourth in the world for all players age 25 and younger at the time of publishing, the 22-year-old and former prodigy broke into the upper echelon of elite chess in 2019 when in June he became one of the top-10 ranked...
GM Samuel Shankland
2708 | #31
United States
Samuel L. “Sam” Shankland was born October 1, 1991 in Berkeley, California. He has represented the country of his birth his entire chess career, a relative rarity for American grandmasters of the past 40 years. Your browser does not support the audio element. Making IM and GM 2016 Chess...
GM Daniil Dubov
2708 | #31
Russia
Daniil Dubov is a Russian grandmaster and world-class player. He finished tied for first place in the 2015 Aeroflot Open and broke onto the international chess scene when he won third place at the 2016 World Blitz Championship. Dubov was one of World Champion Magnus Carlsen's seconds for the 2018 World...
GM Pentala Harikrishna2707 | #33
India
The name Pentala is a patronymic, and the player should be referred to by his name, Harikrishna. Pentala Harikrishna is an Indian grandmaster and one of the best chess players in that nation’s history. Your browser does not support the audio element. Early Life And Career Grandmaster 2700...
GM Nikita Vitiugov
2704 | #34
England
Nikita Vitiugov is a Russian-born grandmaster who plays under the English flag. He was the Russian chess champion in 2021 and coach of GM Ian Nepomniachtchi at two FIDE World Championship matches. He is a two-time winner of World Team Chess Championships and a three-time European Club Cup winner. He...
GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac
2704 | #34
Romania
Bogdan-Daniel Deac is a Romanian grandmaster. He earned the title at 14 years, seven months, and 27 days of age, placing him on the list of the youngest grandmasters in history. At the 2017 Tradewise Gibraltar Tournament, the 15-year-old prodigy finished in the top 25 of the elite, 250-player open event....
GM Jorden van Foreest
2704 | #34
Netherlands
Jorden van Foreest is a Dutch grandmaster and the Dutch Chess Champion of 2016. He is best known for winning the Tata Steel Masters in 2021. He’s the youngest Dutch GM in history and currently ranked second in the country (March 2021). Your browser does not support the audio element. Early...
GM Wang Hao2702 | #37
China
GM Wang Hao is a super grandmaster who was a candidate for the world championship in 2020, which he achieved by winning the 2019 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. He had a fantastic youth career that culminated in winning the seventh Dubai Open at the age of 16, when he topped several dozen GMs and IMs as...
GM Sanan Sjugirov
2702 | #37
Hungary
Sanan Sjugirov is a Russian grandmaster who has won two world youth titles. He won the U10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2003 and claimed the U14 category championship in 2007. Sjugirov also won the U12 European Youth Chess Championships in 2004 and 2005 before adding the U14 category championship...
GM Ray Robson
2701 | #39
United States
Ray Robson is an American grandmaster from Guam who had one of the country’s most successful youth careers, achieving his GM norms and 2500 rating in 2009 when he was still just 14 years old. As an adult, Robson’s tournament highlights include the 2015 U.S. Championship, where he finished...
GM Sam Sevian
2698 | #40
United States
Samuel Sevian is an American grandmaster who gained notoriety as a chess prodigy. In 2014, he became the youngest ever-American to earn his GM title at 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days—and still retains a top spot on the list of the youngest chess grandmasters overall. He’s also the youngest...
GM Amin Tabatabaei
2696 | #41
Iran
Amin Tabatabaei is an Iranian grandmaster and the winner of the 2019 Biel Master Open tournament. His win came by half a point over a group of seven players in second place, including GMs Jeffery Xiong and Gata Kamsky. Earlier in his career, Tabatabaei won silver at the 2014 World U14 Championship....
GM David Navara2695 | #42
Czech Republic
David Navara may be the strongest Czech player ever. Not only is he the country’s highest rated player, but he has won nine national titles, which is more than anyone in the tournament’s 114-year history. Navara became an IM at 14 and a GM at 16. At Wijk aan Zee in 2007, he beat Magnus Carlsen...
GM Pavel Eljanov
2695 | #42
Ukraine
Pavel Eljanov is a Ukrainian grandmaster who has served as a second (assistant) for many elite players, including GMs Magnus Carlsen, Boris Gelfand, and Mariya Muzychuk. Early in his career, Eljanov was on the team that won the U16 Chess Olympiad in 1999. Years later, he won two team...
GM Evgeny Tomashevsky
2694 | #44
Russia
Nicknamed "the Professor" among his colleagues, Evgeny Tomashevsky is a Russian super GM and two-time national champion. Your browser does not support the audio element. Early Life And Career GM World Championship Cycle Russian Champion Early Life And Career Born on July 1, 1987 in Saratov on...
GM David Anton Guijarro
2693 | #45
Spain
David Anton Guijarro is a grandmaster and one of the best players in Spain. In March 2020 he crossed the 2700-rating mark, a feat that only a few players ever achieve. Anton Guijarro won the bronze medal at the 2012 U-16 European Championship and silver at the 2013 U-18 World Championship. He has won...
GM Jeffery Xiong
2693 | #45
United States
American GM Jeffery Xiong has completed an impressive career as an elite junior chess player. For starters, he’s the third-youngest U.S. player to qualify for the grandmaster title. His array of accomplishments spans winning the world under-10 championship in 2010, taking the world junior championship...
GM Gabriel Sargissian
2692 | #47
Armenia
Gabriel Sargissian is an Armenian grandmaster who won three Olympic gold medals with his national team. As a young player, Sargissian won the Under-14 World Youth Chess Championship in 1996. He won bronze at the European Junior Chess Championship in 1998 and the individual European championship...
GM Bu Xiangzhi
2690 | #48
China
Bu Xiangzhi is a Chinese chess champion and was for a time the youngest GM in history; as of June 2020, he is still the 10th-youngest player to ever become GM. He was also China’s 10th-ever GM. Bu has been a member of the 2700-rating club off and on since April 2008 and every month since June...
GM Peter Svidler
2688 | #49
FIDE
Peter Svidler is an eight-time chess champion of Russia and a three-time candidate for the world championship. He came closest to becoming world champion with a second-place finish in FIDE’s 2005 championship tournament. Your browser does not support the audio element. Early Life And Career The...
GM Alexey Sarana
2685 | #50
Serbia
Alexey Sarana is a Russian grandmaster who has represented Serbia since April 2023. In 2018, the 18-year-old won the Russian Championship Higher League after sharing first place with GM Grigoriy Oparin and beating him on tiebreaks. Sarana shared first place at the same tournament yet again in 2019,...
