The Top Chess Players in the World

GM David Howell 2668 | #51

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 Pavel Eljanov 2668 | #51

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 Bogdan-Daniel Deac 2668 | #51

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 Frederik Svane 2668 | #51

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 Thai Dai Van Nguyen 2668 | #51

Czech Republic

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

GM Peter Leko 2666 | #56

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 Shant Sargsyan 2666 | #56

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 Benjamin Gledura 2666 | #56

Hungary

Bio coming soon.

GM David Navara 2665 | #59

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 Raunak Sadhwani 2665 | #59

India

The player's full name is Raunak Sadhwani and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their first name, Raunak.Raunak Sadhwani is an Indian chess grandmaster. A prodigy, he earned the GM title at the age of just 13, making him the ninth-youngest in history as (of April 2021). Raunak...

GM Nodirbek Yakubboev 2665 | #59

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 Matthias Bluebaum 2662 | #62

Germany

Matthias Bluebaum is a German grandmaster, the 2022 European Champion, and the 2020 German Chess Champion. Earlier in his career, he had several top-10 finishes in major tournaments, including the 2011 German U18 Chess Championship, 2011 World U14 Chess Championship, 2014 World U18 Chess Championship,...

GM Michael Adams 2661 | #63

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 Amin Tabatabaei 2661 | #63

Iran

Amin Tabatabaei is an Iranian grandmaster and the winner of the 2019 Biel Master Open tournament. His win came by half a point over a group of seven players in second place, including GMs Jeffery Xiong and Gata Kamsky. Earlier in his career, Tabatabaei won silver at the 2014 World U14 Championship....

GM Grigoriy Oparin 2660 | #65

United States

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...

GM Ivan Saric 2659 | #66

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 2658 | #67

Norway

Bio coming soon.

GM Volodar Murzin 2658 | #67

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 Rauf Mamedov 2657 | #69

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 Alexander Morozevich 2656 | #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 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2655 | #71

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 Kirill Alekseenko 2654 | #72

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 Gawain Jones 2654 | #72

England

Gawain Jones is an English grandmaster and two-time British Chess Champion. He had an illustrious youth career. At nine years old, he became the youngest player ever at the time to defeat an international master in an official tournament game. A few years later, at the age of 12, he won the British...

GM Kirill Shevchenko 2653 | #74

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...

GM Boris Gelfand 2652 | #75

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...