The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Haik Martirosyan 2635 | #99

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 Hou Yifan 2633 | #102

Despite being in only her mid-20s, Hou Yifan is widely considered to be the second-strongest female chess player in history (behind Judit Polgar). Among her top accomplishments are the four Women’s World Chess Championships Hou won before declining to participate in the event. She’s also...

GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko 2633 | #102

Yuriy Kryvoruchko is a Ukrainian grandmaster and the 2013 Ukrainian Chess Champion. That victory came after he defeated GM and former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov on tiebreaks. The same year, Kryvoruchko made it to the third round of the World Cup after a surprising win against GM Michael Adams...

GM Etienne Bacrot 2633 | #102

Etienne Bacrot is a French grandmaster. He won his first French championship at 16 years of age, which is the youngest in history. That was the first of five consecutive national titles, and Bacrot has accumulated eight in total—more than any other player. He made a name for himself in chess as...

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2632 | #105

Bio coming soon.

GM Alexandr Predke 2631 | #106

Alexandr Predke is a Russian grandmaster who won the U16 Russian Youth Chess Championship in 2010. He placed third in the 2014 Russian Junior Championship (U20), and then in 2017, finished second in the Lev Polugaevsky Memorial tournament. In September 2019, he made his first appearance in the world’s...

GM Saleh Salem 2631 | #106

Salem Saleh is a grandmaster from the United Arab Emirates. He has four national Emirati Chess Championships, three international Arab Chess Championships, and two Arab Individual Blitz Chess Championships. In 2015, he won the Asian Chess and Asian Blitz Championships. He has currently matched his peak...

GM Ma Qun 2630 | #108

Bio coming soon.

GM Arkadij Naiditsch 2630 | #108

Arkadij Naiditsch is a German-Azerbaijani grandmaster and a former top-20 player in the world. He won the Dortmund Sparkassen 2005 tournament ahead of GMs like Veselin Topalov, Peter Svidler, and Vladimir Kramnik. In 2007, Naiditsch won the German Chess Championship while playing for the country. He...

GM Konstantin Landa

Bio coming soon

GM Pranav Venkatesh 2628 | #110

The name Venkatesh is his father's name and the player should be referred to by his name, Pranav. GM Pranav Venkatesh, also known as Buddy Pranav, is an Indian chess grandmaster and one of the youngest grandmasters in the world. Pranav earned the title in 2022 after securing his third norm at the 2022...

GM Sanan Sjugirov 2627 | #111

Sanan Sjugirov is a Russian grandmaster who has won two world youth titles. He won the U10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2003 and claimed the U14 category championship in 2007. Sjugirov also won the U12 European Youth Chess Championships in 2004 and 2005 before adding the U14 category championship...

GM Luka Lenic 2626 | #112

Luka Lenic is a Slovenian grandmaster.

GM Maxim Matlakov 2626 | #112

Maxim Matlakov is a Russian grandmaster and currently one of the top-15 players in his country (as of February 2021). He also acted as GM Peter Svidler's second during the Candidates Tournaments of 2013, 2014, and 2016. Matlakov won the U18 section of the World Youth Chess Championship in 2009. That...

GM Anton Korobov 2626 | #112

Anton Korobov is a Ukrainian grandmaster and four-time national champion. He won individual gold at the 43rd Chess Olympiad as the best player on the reserve board, won the 2013 European Blitz Chess Championship, and is an exceptional rapid player—ranked fifth in the world (as of February 2021)....

GM Andrei Volokitin 2626 | #112

Andrei Volokitin is a Ukrainian grandmaster and two-time national champion. He won silver and bronze medals at the World Chess Championship in the under-12 and under-14 categories, and was part of the gold-medal winning Ukrainian national youth team at the Under-16 Chess Olympiad in 1999. Two years...

GM Ioannis Papaioannou 2626 | #112

GM Rasmus Svane 2625 | #117

Rasmus Svane is a German chess grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

GM Li Chao 2624 | #118

Li Chao is a Chinese grandmaster. He won the 2013 Asian Chess Championship and has had several top finishes in high-level tournaments around the world, such as his undefeated win at the Reykjavik Open in 2014. Li spent a considerable amount of time in 2015 and 2016 ranked in the world’s top-15...

GM Evgeniy Najer 2623 | #119

Evgeniy Najer is a Russian grandmaster who became the European champion in 2015. In August 2017, he achieved his peak rating of 2707 and peak world ranking of 39. He’s had several open tournament wins, perhaps most notably back-to-back victories at the World Open in Philadelphia in 2008 and 2009....

GM Dmitrij Kollars 2623 | #119

GM Dmitrij Kollars is a German chess grandmaster who earned that title in 2017 at the age of 17 years old. In 2021 he tied for first place at the Sunway Sitges Open tournament. Kollars is a regular in Chess.com events, including Titled Tuesday which he won on January 3, 2023. He also reached Division...

GM Velimir Ivic 2623 | #119

Full bio coming soon...

GM Xu Xiangyu 2623 | #119

Full bio coming soon.

GM Ruslan Ponomariov 2622 | #123

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 Maxime Lagarde 2622 | #123

Maxime Lagarde is a French grandmaster and one of the top players in France. As of February 2021, he's the third strongest player in his country, behind only GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Etienne Bacrot. Lagarde earned his international master title in 2011 and became a grandmaster in 2013. He won...