The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Nihal Sarin 2676 | #51

India

GM Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess prodigy who became a grandmaster at the age of 14. He won several youth championships on his way, including the the U-10 World Blitz Championship in 2013 and the U-10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2014, where he scored 9/11. He was also the world under-18 champion,...

GM David Navara 2674 | #52

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 David Anton Guijarro 2673 | #53

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 Kirill Alekseenko 2673 | #53

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 David Howell 2673 | #53

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 Samuel Shankland 2672 | #56

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 Thai Dai Van Nguyen 2670 | #57

Czech Republic

Thai Dai Van Nguyen is a Czech chess grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

GM Nikita Vitiugov 2668 | #58

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 Ivan Saric 2668 | #58

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 Nodirbek Yakubboev 2668 | #58

Uzbekistan

Nodirbek Yakubboev is an Uzbek grandmaster and three-time national champion. His Uzbekistani Chess Championships came in 2016, 2018, and 2020. At the 2018 World Youth Chess Olympiad, Yakubboev won gold with Uzbekistan and took individual gold as well for his performance on the second board. In...

GM Pavel Eljanov 2667 | #61

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 Peter Leko 2666 | #62

Hungary

GM Peter Leko is a Hungarian super grandmaster who played for the classical world championship in 2004, losing to GM Vladimir Kramnik (under the terms of the match, despite drawing it by score). Born in 1979, he was already an IM by 1992. GM came two years later, making him the youngest ever. Early...

GM Volodar Murzin 2664 | #63

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.

GM Michael Adams 2662 | #64

England

Michael “Mickey” Adams is a British chess grandmaster, one of the United Kingdom's and England’s greatest-ever players, with eight national championships. Per his website, he has finished first or tied for first in at least 60 events in his chess career. Early Life And Career Early...

GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen 2661 | #65

Norway

Bio coming soon.

GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2658 | #66

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 Boris Gelfand 2657 | #67

Israel

Soviet-born Israeli GM Boris Gelfand is a longtime elite chess player. His staying power as a top player is legendary, as he has spent most of his life ranked among the top-20 players in the world. He was ranked in the top 30 for nearly 27 years (January 1990 to October 2017). Gelfand nearly defeated...

GM Rauf Mamedov 2656 | #68

Azerbaijan

Rauf Mamedov is an Azerbaijani grandmaster. Early in his career, Mamedov's most notable success came when he won first place in the U16 European Youth Championship in 1999. Five years later, he became a grandmaster in 2004 and won the Dubai Open. Mamedov went on to win the Azerbaijani Chess Championship...

GM Haik Martirosyan 2656 | #68

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 Alexander Morozevich 2655 | #70

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 Shant Sargsyan 2655 | #70

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 Frederik Svane 2654 | #72

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 Ruslan Ponomariov 2653 | #73

Ukraine

Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov is a former FIDE world champion and one of the greatest chess prodigies in history. He earned the world title at the age of 18 and in 1997 became the youngest person at the time to become a grandmaster—only 17 days after turning 14 years old. The same year, he won...

GM Max Warmerdam 2653 | #73

Netherlands

Max Warmerdam is a grandmaster from the Netherlands, earning the title in 2021. He seconded GM Anish Giri in the 2021 Candidates Tournament.

GM Kirill Shevchenko 2653 | #73

Romania

Kirill Shevchenko is a Ukrainian grandmaster and a top-10 junior player in the world (as of April 2021). He earned his GM title when 14 years, nine months, and 23 days old, placing him on the list of the youngest grandmasters in history. At the 2019 Najdorf Memorial Open A Tournament, Shevchenko finished...