The Top Chess Players in the World - Page 3

GM David Howell
2665 | #44

England

David Howell is an English grandmaster and three-time British chess champion. He set several records as a chess prodigy, including being the youngest Briton to earn the GM title. Howell remains active as a player, columnist, and commentator. Early Chess Career (1996 To 2008) Multiple-Time British Champion...

GM Alexey Sarana
2664 | #46

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,...

GM Nils Grandelius
2662 | #47

Sweden

Nils Grandelius is a Swedish grandmaster and the top-ranked player in that country (as of February 2021). He won the Swedish Chess Championship in 2015 and as a junior took the under-18 World Youth Chess Champions in 2010. In 2019, Grandelius spent several months ranked among the world’s top-50...

GM Bu Xiangzhi
2661 | #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 David Anton Guijarro
2657 | #49

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 Pranav Venkatesh

India

The name Venkatesh is his father's name and the player should be referred to by his name, Pranav. GM Pranav Venkatesh, also known as Buddy Pranav, is an Indian chess grandmaster and one of the youngest grandmasters in the world. Pranav earned the title in 2022 after securing his third norm at the 2022...

GM Ivan Saric
2657 | #49

Croatia

Ivan Saric was born on August 17, 1990, in Split, Croatia. He is currently the highest-rated Croatian grandmaster (as of February 2021) and has been on Croatia's Olympic team since 2010. He reached his peak FIDE rating of 2703 in 2019. Saric won the Under-18 European Championship in 2007, a year before...

GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen

Norway

Bio coming soon.

GM Jeffery Xiong
2656 | #51

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 Kirill Alekseenko
2656 | #51

Austria

Kirill Alekseenko is a young Russian GM who earned his wild card to the 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament after taking third place at FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss in 2019. In 2023, he changed federations to Austria. Early Life And Career Adult Career The Road to Candidates Present And Future Early...

GM Daniil Dubov
2654 | #53

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 Alexander Morozevich
2653 | #54

Russia

GM Alexander Morozevich is one of only a few chess players who can claim to have been the world’s number-two player. In July 2008, his rating of 2788 put him second behind only GM Viswanathan Anand and also made Morozevich Russia’s number-one player. Twice, in 1998 and 2007, he won...

GM Ray Robson
2653 | #54

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 Ernesto Inarkiev

Russia

Ernesto Inarkiev is a Russian grandmaster who won the 2016 European Individual Chess Championship. Earlier in his career, he was European U16 Champion (2001) and Russian Junior (under-20) Champion (2002). Inarkiev earned his GM title in 2002, becoming the first-ever from Kalmykia, a republic of Russia....

GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek
2650 | #56

Poland

GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek is a super GM and six-time Polish chess champion (2005, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2024). He worked closely with GM Viswanathan Anand during Anand’s world championship matches. Wojtaszek is married to fellow chess player IM Alina Kashlinskaya. Early Career Polish Champion...

GM Volodar Murzin

FIDE

Volodar Murzin is a Russian chess grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup. He is from Nizhny Tagil, a town 125 km north of Yekaterinburg, Russia but now lives in Khimki, in the Moscow region. He is the 2018 European U12 champion. In December 2024, Murzin won the World Rapid Championship...

GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara

Mexico

GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara is a Peruvian chess grandmaster and streamer. In 2017 he won the World Youth Championship in the under-18 division. Martinez is a regular presence in Chess.com's Titled Tuesday, usually finishing near the top of the standings, including a victory on October 6, 2020. Martinez...

GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac
2650 | #56

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 Karthikeyan Murali
2648 | #58

India

Bio coming soonThe name Murali is his father's name, and the player should be referred to by his name, Karthikeyan

GM Eltaj Safarli
2648 | #58

Azerbaijan

GM Eltaj Safarli is an Azerbaijani grandmaster who qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup.

GM Sam Shankland
2647 | #60

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. Making IM and GM 2016 Chess Olympiad 2018 U.S. Championship Other Tournaments Present...

GM Frederik Svane
2645 | #61

Germany

GM Frederik Svane is a German grandmaster who qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. He is the brother of GM Rasmus Svane.

GM Alexander Donchenko
2645 | #61

Germany

Alexander Donchenko is a German grandmaster. His two best performances came in 2019, when he first shared second place with GM Gata Kamsky at Biel Masters, one-half point behind GM Amin Tabatabaei. A couple of months later, he went undefeated and won the Barcelona Open, ironically beating out Kamsky...

GM Francisco Vallejo Pons
2644 | #63

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 Shant Sargsyan
2644 | #63

Armenia

Shant Sargsyan is an Armenian grandmaster and the 2018 World U16 Champion. The following year, he won silver in both the World U18 Championship and the World Junior Championship. Sargsyan is ranked within the top-12 players in Armenia (12th) and juniors in the world (11th) (as of April 2021).