The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Maxime Lagarde
2622 | #123

France

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...

GM Nijat Abasov
2620 | #126

Azerbaijan

Nijat Abasov is an Azerbaijani grandmaster and the 2017 Azerbaijani Chess Champion. That year he won the Baku Open tournament, and another notable tournament win came at the 2016 Zurich Christmas Open. Abasov became a GM at the age of 15 and entered the list of the top-100 players in the world in November...

GM Aryan Chopra
2620 | #126

India

Bio coming soonThe name Chopra is a patronymic, and the player should be referred to by his name, Aryan.

GM Aram Hakobyan
2620 | #126

Armenia

Aram Hakobyan is an Armenian grandmaster and the 2012 World U12 Champion. He also won the Armenian Youth Championship in four different age groups (U10, U12, U14, and U18) and became vice-champion of the 2014 U14 European Chess Championship. Hakobyan is ranked in the top-15 players in Armenia (13th)...

GM Anton Demchenko
2619 | #129

Slovenia

Anton Demchenko is a Slovenian grandmaster who was born in Russia. He completed his federation transfer in July 2023. He won the European Individual Chess Championship in 2021.

GM Erwin l'Ami
2618 | #130

Netherlands

GM Erwin L'Ami is a Dutch grandmaster who has been a regular at the Tata Steel tournament (previously Corus) since 2003, missing only 2004 and 2014 (and the not-held 2021). Usually in the Challengers Tournament (previously Group B), his best result was a tie for second with 8/13 in 2020. In 2022,...

GM Pouya Idani
2618 | #130

Iran

Pouya Idani as a grandmaster from Iran who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
2618 | #130

Türkiye

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is a Turkish chess grandmaster, one of the youngest grandmasters ever, and the youngest player ever to reach a 2600 FIDE rating. Erdogmus won the U-8 European Chess Championship in 2019, a year before he had to stop playing over-the-board chess due to the COVID-19 pandemic....

GM Lu Shanglei
2618 | #130

China

Bio coming soon

GM Alexander Donchenko
2617 | #134

Germany

Alexander Donchenko is a German grandmaster. His two best performances came in 2019, when he first shared second place with GM Gata Kamsky at Biel Masters, one-half point behind GM Amin Tabatabaei. A couple of months later, he went undefeated and won the Barcelona Open, ironically beating out Kamsky...

GM Aydin Suleymanli
2617 | #134

Azerbaijan

GM Aydin Suleymanli is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster who was the world under-14 champion in 2019.

GM Peter Heine Nielsen 2617 | #134

Denmark

GM Peter Heine Nielsen is a Danish grandmaster living in Lithuania who is the longtime lead second for World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Prior to working with Carlsen, Nielsen was a second for the previous world champion, GM Viswanathan Anand. After earning the GM title in 1994, Nielsen became five-time...

GM Eltaj Safarli 2617 | #134

Azerbaijan

GM Eltaj Safarli is an Azerbaijani grandmaster who qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup.

GM Jaime Santos Latasa
2616 | #138

Spain

GM Jaime Santos Latasa is a Spanish grandmaster who earned the title in 2018. His peak in the world rankings as of February 2024 is 59th, set in September 2022.

GM Bardiya Daneshvar
2616 | #138

Iran

GM Bardiya Daneshvar is an Iranian chess grandmaster. He won the Iranian Chess Championship in 2022 and became a grandmaster in 2023.

GM Luke McShane
2615 | #140

England

Luke McShane is an English grandmaster and finance professional. He is often referred to as the "world's strongest amateur player" because he plays at elite chess tournaments although he has a full-time job. McShane has beaten some of the best players in the world, including GMs Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir...

GM Tamir Nabaty
2613 | #141

Israel

bio

GM Ferenc Berkes
2613 | #141

Hungary

Ferenc Berkes is a Hungarian grandmaster and eight-time national champion. His impressive list of Hungarian Chess Championships took place in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018. Two years before winning his first national championship, he was the 2002 World Under 18 World Champion. He’s...

GM Ivan Popov
2613 | #141

Russia

Bio coming soon.

GM Vasif Durarbayli
2612 | #144

Azerbaijan

GM Vasif Durarbayli is a grandmaster from Azerbaijan who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup. He is a two-time Azerbaijani Chess Champion (2021, 2023).

GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan
2611 | #146

Armenia

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan is an Armenian grandmaster and the 2020 national champion. He won the Under-10 and the Under-18 European Youth Chess Championships in 2003 and 2009 respectively as well as the World U-18 Chess Championship in 2011. Ter-Sahakyan won the PRO Chess League with the Armenian Eagles...

GM Nikolas Theodorou
2611 | #146

Greece

Nikolas Theodorou is a Greek grandmaster. According to the St. Louis Chess Club, he won his age group five times at the Greek Chess Championships. On July 22, 2022, Theodorou qualified for the 2022 Chess.com Global Championship Knockout.

GM Eric Hansen
2609 | #148

Canada

Eric Hansen is a Canadian grandmaster, commentator, and chess streaming superstar. He is the main host of ChessBrah—one of the most popular chess channels on Twitch and YouTube. An incredibly talented bullet and blitz player, Hansen was the highest-rated bullet player on Chess.com in April...

GM Jon Ludvig Hammer
2608 | #149

Norway

Jon Ludvig Hammer is a Norwegian grandmaster, streamer, commentator, and content creator. He has won the Norwegian Championship multiple times and was GM Magnus Carlsen's second in the 2013 and 2014 World Championship matches. His peak rating of 2705 was achieved in 2016. Chess Career Twitch Channel Chess.com...

GM Loek van Wely
2608 | #149

Netherlands

Loek van Wely is a Dutch grandmaster and currently the fifth-best player in the Netherlands (as of March 2021). Van Wely is an eight-time Dutch champion, winning six consecutive times from 2000 to 2005, and again in 2014 and 2017. Other successes include winning the 2005 European Team Championship while...