Top Chess Players in United States

MMI Hikaru Nakamura 2792 | #2

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....

MMI Fabiano Caruana 2788 | #3

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...

MMI Wesley So 2754 | #8

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,...

MMI Hans Niemann

Hans Niemann is an American super-grandmaster and chess streamer who, as of May 2026, is the 12th highest-rated chess player in the world. Early Career 2022 Sinquefield Cup Post-2022 Career Netflix Documentary Early Career Niemann quickly rose through the ranks of chess, earning his FIDE master title...

MMI Leinier Dominguez Perez 2732 | #16

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...

MMI Levon Aronian 2724 | #21

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...

MMI Awonder Liang 2704 | #31

Awonder Liang is an American grandmaster and the 2011 World U8 Champion. He’s well-known for being the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster in a standard tournament game when at the age of 9 years, three months, and 20 days, he beat GM Larry Kaufman. Liang is also the second-youngest grandmaster...

MMI Sam Sevian 2696 | #33

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...

MMI Jeffery Xiong 2656 | #51

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...

MMI Ray Robson 2653 | #54

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...

MMI Sam Shankland 2647 | #60

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...

MMI Grigoriy Oparin 2643 | #66

Grigoriy Oparin is a Russian chess player who earned his grandmaster title in 2013. He was Russia's 2014 junior champion. Oparin nearly qualified for the 2022 Candidates Tournament by tying GM Fabiano Caruana for second place at the 2021 Riga Grand Swiss. However, he finished in third place because...

MMI Abhimanyu Mishra

GM Abhimanyu "Abhi" Mishra is an American chess prodigy. In July 2021, Mishra earned his third norm required to become a grandmaster. With his FIDE rating already above 2500, he became the youngest grandmaster in history at the age of 12 years, four months, and 25 days.  Early Milestones Youngest...

MMI Andy Woodward 2635 | #76

IM Andy Woodward is a chess grandmaster from the United States. He earned his IM title in 2022 at the age of 12. On January 30, 2024, he earned his third and final grandmaster norm later becoming one of the youngest GMs in history after FIDE granted him the title at the end of July, 2024. Woodward...

MMI Mikhail Al Antipov

GM Mikhail Antipov is an America chess grandmaster who won the 2026 Saint Louis Masters.

MMI Christopher Yoo 2607 | #110

Christopher Yoo is an American grandmaster and the 2020 U.S. Cadet (U16) Champion. He won that title with an undefeated performance, eclipsing the field by two and a half points. The same year, the 13-year-old finished in fifth place (out of 10) at the U.S. Junior (U21) Championship. Yoo became the...

MMI Brandon Jacobson

Full bio coming soon.

MMI Andrew Z Hong 2592 | #133

Andrew Hong is an American chess player who earned his grandmaster title in 2021. In 2022, he was a participant in both the U.S. Junior Chess Championship and the Chess.com Junior Speed Chess Championship.

MMI Dariusz Swiercz 2579 | #148

GM Dariusz Swiercz is a Polish-born American chess player who began playing for the United States in 2018. He learned chess at age three and became a grandmaster in 2009 at the age of just 14, making him one of the 30 youngest in history to attain the title and the youngest ever from Poland. His excellent...

MMI John M Burke

GM John M. Burke was the 2020 U.S. Junior Chess Champion and a participant in the 2021 U.S. Chess Championship. He became a grandmaster in 2018 and was the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2600 FIDE.

MMI Lazaro Bruzon Batista

Lazaro Bruzon Batista is a Cuban-American grandmaster who switched federations to the United States in 2020. He was World Junior Champion in 2000 and reached the world #26 rating in 2005. Bruzon, a participant in the 2021 U.S. Championship, reached a peak rating of 2717 in 2012.

MMI Varuzhan Akobian

Varuzhan Akobian is an Armenian chess grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

MMI Andrew Tang 2551 | #190

Andrew Tang is an American grandmaster who earned that title in 2017 at the age of 17. Known as "Penguin GM," he is one of the best bullet chess players in the world. Along with GM Hikaru Nakamura, Tang is one of the few players to have achieved a Chess.com bullet rating of 3500. He streams on Twitch...

MMI Vladimir Akopian 2551 | #190

Vladimir Akopian is an Armenian-American grandmaster. As a young player, Akopian enjoyed great success by winning the U16 World Youth Chess Championship in 1986 and the U18 World Youth Chess Championship two years later. In 1999, Akopian surprised by reaching the final of the FIDE Knockout World Championship....

MMI Kirk Ghazarian