The Top Chess Players in the World - Page 3

GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2665 | #43

Uzbekistan

Uzbek GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov is perhaps best known as the 2004 FIDE world champion, earning the title in a knockout tournament. Despite being seeded 28th, Kasimdzhanov defeated number-five seed GM Vassily Ivanchuk in round three, number-four GM Alexander Grischuk in the quarterfinal, number-one GM Veselin...

GM Pavel Eljanov 2664 | #45

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 Alexey Sarana 2664 | #45

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 Bu Xiangzhi 2661 | #47

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 Ray Robson 2659 | #48

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 Shankland 2658 | #49

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 Aydin Suleymanli

Azerbaijan

GM Aydin Suleymanli is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster who was the world under-14 champion in 2019.

GM Kirill Alekseenko 2656 | #50

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 Jeffery Xiong 2656 | #50

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 Shamsiddin Vokhidov 2655 | #52

Uzbekistan

Shamsiddin Vokhidov is an Uzbek chess grandmaster. He won the Under-14 World Youth Championship in 2015. In 2018, Vokhidov scored 8.5/15 at the World Rapid Championship, including a victory over GM Magnus Carlsen in round two. Vokhidov played the reserve board for Uzbekistan at the 2022 Chess Olympiad,...

GM Frederik Svane 2655 | #52

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 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2655 | #52

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 Harikrishna Pentala 2655 | #52

India

The player's full name is Harikrishna Pentala and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their first name, Harikrishna. Harikrishna Pentala is an Indian grandmaster and one of the best chess players in that nation’s history. Early Life And Career Grandmaster 2700 Club Recent...

GM Alexander Morozevich 2654 | #56

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 Haik Martirosyan

Armenia

Haik Martirosyan is an Armenian grandmaster. The European under-12 champion in 2011 and under-14 champion in 2013, Martirosyan was the under-16 world youth champion in 2016 and Armenian chess champion in 2018. A strong blitz player, Martirosyan participated in the 2020 Speed Chess Championship...

GM Vladislav Artemiev 2653 | #57

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 Daniil Dubov 2652 | #58

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 Bogdan-Daniel Deac 2651 | #59

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 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 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 Maksim Chigaev 2648 | #60

Spain

Full bio coming soon...

GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen

Norway

Bio coming soon.

GM Shant Sargsyan 2646 | #61

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).

GM Francisco Vallejo Pons 2644 | #62

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 Ediz Gurel

Türkiye

Bio coming soon.