The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Vincent Keymer 2718 | #26

Germany

Vincent Keymer is a German grandmaster, the youngest player from Germany to earn the title, and one of the best players in the world. By 2015, when not yet even a teenager, he was already being hailed as Germany's greatest chess talent since Emanuel Lasker. At the 2018 Grenke Open, the 13-year-old...

GM Veselin Topalov 2717 | #27

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 Yu Yangyi 2714 | #28

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 Harikrishna Pentala 2707 | #29

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 Javokhir Sindarov 2706 | #30

Uzbekistan

GM Javokhir Sindarov is a grandmaster from Uzbekistan. One of the youngest grandmasters in history, in 2018 he earned his GM title at the age of 12 years, 10 months, and 5 days. He is one of just five players to earn the title before turning 13 years old (as of August 2022). Sindarov is also a two-time...

GM Wang Hao 2701 | #31

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 Peter Svidler 2698 | #32

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. Early Life And Career The Next Decade (2000-09) The 2010s Legacy Early...

GM Andrey Esipenko 2696 | #33

FIDE

Andrey Esipenko is a Russian grandmaster. He won the European U10 Chess Championship in 2012. In 2017, he won the European U16 Chess Championship and the World U16 Chess Championship. At the 2021 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, the 18-year-old beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in their first encounter,...

GM Dmitry Andreikin 2695 | #34

FIDE

Dmitry Andreikin is a Russian super GM and a two-time Russian champion. He had a highly successful early career and became a GM at age 17. Andreikin’s top success, as of 2020, came at the 2013 World Cup where he was a finalist and qualified as a candidate for the world championship. A top-30 player...

GM Sam Sevian 2694 | #35

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 Daniil Dubov 2693 | #36

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 Ray Robson 2692 | #37

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 Awonder Liang 2692 | #37

United States

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...

GM Teimour Radjabov 2692 | #37

Azerbaijan

Teimur Radjabov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan—the same city as former world champion Garry Kasparov—on March 12, 1987. Radjabov’s promising youth career translated into runs at the FIDE world championship in his teens and the reunified championship in the 2010’s. Radjabov’s...

GM Nihal Sarin 2687 | #40

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 Bu Xiangzhi 2684 | #41

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 Parham Maghsoodloo 2684 | #41

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 Alexander Grischuk 2682 | #43

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 Jorden van Foreest 2681 | #44

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). Early Chess Career (2005 To 2015) Dutch Champion (2016 To...

GM Vladislav Artemiev 2679 | #45

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 Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2678 | #46

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 Igor Kovalenko 2676 | #47

Ukraine

Igor Kovalenko is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He earned his title in 2011 and from 2013-21 represented Latvia, where he won the national championship in 2013 and 2014. Kovalenko has been volunteering in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2022.

GM Alexey Sarana 2672 | #48

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 Nikita Vitiugov 2670 | #49

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 Samuel Shankland 2670 | #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...