Great chess players of the world. Chess players rating

Chess is the most famous strategy game that develops memory and thinking abilities. That's why millions of people around the world love her so much.

Our ranking of chess players of all time is based on many data: chess Oscar, FIDE and ELO organizations, but not everyone can agree with the placement on the list. Moreover, not all great chess players of the past have such a rating, since until the middle of the 20th century there were no objective tournaments that could fully evaluate the strongest. But this in no way detracts from the merits of those who were not included in this list.

At the moment he has no competitors, he is a chess genius and the best chess player in the world. Moreover, Carlsen is not a unique strategist; he is always saved by his skill in finding a way out where no one sees him and the ability to sense the psychological state of his opponents.

Unsurpassed world record holder in blitz, rapid and classic. He has the highest ELO rating in the world - 2877, and has won the chess Oscar for 5 years in a row.

Another undisputed child prodigy, who at the age of 13 became the champion of the USSR, and at the age of 17 he already had the title of grandmaster. At 22 he won the world title and held it for a decade and a half.

For a very long time, for 13 years, he had the highest ELO rating in the world - 2851, but now this record has been broken by Carlsen.

He held the world title for 6 years and became Man of the Year the same number of times. The maximum rating is 2817, the current one is 2779.

He learned the wisdom of chess at the age of 6 from his mother, and at 14 he won the youth championship. To date, he holds unbroken records in various styles of play: in knockouts, round-robin tournaments and points with challengers. The strongest in rapid chess.

The maximum ELO rating is 2817, the current one is 2809. He holds the title of the most erudite chess player of our time, he defeated Kasparov and Topalov. A student of Botvinnik's school, his playing style can be described as persistent and pragmatic.

Twice he was the best chess player of the year.

At the age of 14 he became a grandmaster. He does not have a world title, but in 2011 Giri Anish managed to defeat Carlsen. Therefore, we will definitely hear about this young chess player.

At one time, Fischer made a revolution - his rivals did not see him as a mature master; for them, a 14-year-old teenager was a child with elementary thinking. But at the age of 15 he is already an international grandmaster, at 16 he claims the world title, which he wins at the age of 29, taking the title from Spassky in Reykjavik.

And after 3 years he refused to confirm the title with Karpov, becoming the only one of his kind. Many professionals argue that if Fischer had beaten Karpov, he would have remained at the top for a long time and the entire history of chess would have taken a different path.

Fischer has remarkable athletic performance throughout all tournaments. His unique records - 12:00 in matches with Taimanov and Larsen and 20 victories in a row over the strongest in the world have not yet been broken.

The maximum rating was 2780, the current rating is 2624. He started playing at the age of 4, became a grandmaster at 19. He was a champion for ten years (he defended the title twice, the first time he got it without a tournament) and still, at the age of 65, participates in professional tournaments

Nine times recognized as the best chess player of the year. Achievement - in the 20th century, Karpov won the largest number of tournaments.

He learned to play chess at the age of 12, despite the fact that his parents did not support his son’s interest and he studied books on his own. At the age of 14, Mikhail already had the first category, having won against Capablanca.

He was the world champion for 5 whole years, and regained the title 3 times, more than anyone else. Worked on creating a chess computer.

He learned to play at the age of 4, watching his father play. He had the nickname “chess machine”, thanks to his brilliant playing technique. For eight long years, from 1914 to 21, the legendary Cuban was invincible, losing only 4 games out of 126.

Analyzing his moves, one can see that even 100 years ago Capablanca played at the level of modern grandmasters, despite the fact that he did not have the same access to chess theory as today.

In last place in our ranking of chess players of all time, but not among professionals. Alexander has already participated in tournaments since he was 10 years old. And he achieved his first success at the age of 16, at an all-Russian tournament. In 1927 he took the championship title from Capablanca. The only one who left undefeated, due to his sudden death in 1946.

He was a very versatile chess player - known for his deep combinations and high endgame technique.

A rating system is used to express the relative strength of chess players. The most popular rating system, which is used by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), most other chess federations and gaming chess sites, is the Elo rating system. The method for calculating such a rating was developed and proposed by the American physics professor Arpad Elo (1903 – 1992).

The Elo rating system is also used to calculate the strength of players in shogi and go. At the same time, the principles of calculation can be used for other sports, including team sports. The method is based on the assumption that the strength of a chess player can be represented as a probabilistic variable subject to a normal distribution (currently a logistic distribution). In a tournament, a chess player's rating is calculated by comparing the number of points he has scored with the likely number of points predicted based on his current rating. If, according to the results of the tournament, it turns out that a player has scored more points than the predicted value, then his rating increases; if less, his rating decreases.

In Russia, from March 31, 2016, an alternative rating system of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) was introduced for Russian chess players. However, she has not yet found great popularity. You can view the rating lists of the Russian Chess Federation on the official website of the organization at the link http://ratings.ruchess.ru/. This article will focus on FIDE ratings.

FIDE Chess Player Rating

For men:

2500 and above – international grandmaster (GM)

2400 – 2499 – international master (IM)

2 200 – 2399 – FIDE master (FM)

2,000 – 2,199 – candidate master (CM)

For women:

2300 and above – women's grandmaster (WGM)

2200 – 2299 – Women’s International Master (WIM)

2100 – 2199 – Women's FIDE Master (WFM)

2000 – 2099 – candidate master among women (WCM)

For categories, gender is not taken into account:

1800-2000 - first category

1600-1800 - second category

1400-1600 - third category

1000-1400 - fourth category

A chess player who has achieved a high Elo rating by playing on Internet platforms cannot, on this basis, claim the corresponding chess title or rank, since qualifications are awarded to a chess player based on the fulfillment of certain standards (participation in certain tournaments, etc.).

Chess players with a rating of 2700 or higher are informally called "super grandmasters". Among women, the only chess player to achieve such a rating was Judit Polgar (2735 in 2005). Every year, a number of tournaments, so-called “super tournaments,” are held for super grandmasters. Only super grandmasters are invited to such tournaments, with the exception of a few players from the host side. These are tournaments in Wijk aan Zee, Linares, Dortmund. The number of participants in super tournaments does not exceed 15 people.

Rating of Russian chess players

As of April 2019, the top 10 chess players (in classical chess) from Russia look like this:

#1: 2773. Ian Nepomniachtchi(07/14/1990). European champion (2010), Russian champion (2010). Winner of many Russian and international championships in various age categories.

#2: 2771. Behind him in second place is Alexander Grischuk(31.10.1983). Three-time world blitz champion (2006, 2012, 2015), Russian champion (2009) and winner of other elite chess competitions.

#3: 2754. Next is Vladislav Artemyev(03/05/1998). European champion in blitz (2018), winner of the World Team Championship as part of the national team (2019), European champion in classical chess (2019).

#4: 2753. Takes fourth place Vladimir Kramnik(06/25/1975), 14th world champion. In addition to the former championship, Kramnik has many victories at various international tournaments and competitions.

#5: 2743. The youngest grandmaster in the history of chess Sergey Karyakin(01/12/1990), who earned this title at the age of 12 - in 5th position. World champion contender (2016).

#6: 2735. Peter Svidler(06/17/1976) ranks sixth. World Cup winner (2011), eight-time Russian champion (1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017), three-time world Fischer chess champion (2003, 2004, 2005).

#7: 2734. Nikita Vitiugov (4.02.1987)

#8: 2721. Dmitry Andreikin (5.02.1990)

#9: 2719. Dmitry Yakovenko (28.06.1983)

#10: 2702. Evgeny Tomashevsky (1.07.1987)

#10: 2702. Vladimir Fedoseev (16.02.1995)

#1: 2554. The strongest chess player in Russia at the moment Ekaterina Lagno(December 27, 1989) is a former Ukrainian athlete who has been competing for Russia since 2010. Having fulfilled the grandmaster norm among women at 12 years and 4 months, Ekaterina was noted by the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest grandmaster among women. Grandmaster (2007), vice world champion (2018).

#2: 2546. Second place Alexandra Kosteniuk(04/23/1984) – 12th world champion (2008 – 2010). In addition to the title of world champion among women, Alexandra, who has dual citizenship: Russian and Swiss, in 2013 became the absolute (i.e., including among men) champion of Switzerland. Grandmaster (2004).

#3: 2534. On the third line is Alexandra Goryachkina(09/28/1998), the youngest of the five. Alexandra is 20 years old. The chess player was awarded the title of female grandmaster at the age of 13. Grandmaster (2018).

#4: 2506. Valentina Gunina(02/04/1989) takes fourth place. Three times Russian champion (2011, 2013, 2014), twice European champion (2012, 2014), world blitz champion (2012) and European blitz champion (2012). Grandmaster (2013).

#5: 2477. Closes the top five Alina Kashlinskaya(28.10.1993). Winner of the Russian Championship among girls under 10 years old (2003) and vice-champion of Europe under 10 years old in classical and rapid chess. International Master (2014).

#6: 2461. Sixth position – Olga Girya(06/04/1991). Olga is the winner of the Russian Cup 2014. Women's Grandmaster (2009).

#7: 2457. Polina Shuvalova (12.03.2001)

#8: 2455. Natalia Pogonina (9.03.1985)

#9: 2444. Alisa Gallyamova (18.01.1972)

#10: 2427. Anastasia Bodnaruk (30.03.1992)

Rating of world chess players

As of April 2019, the world's chess elite is represented by the following chess players:

#1: 2845. Current world champion Magnus Carlsen(11/30/1990) rightfully heads the top 10 world chess. In January 2013, the 16th world champion scored 2861 points, and then in February - 2872 points and broke Garry Kasparov's Elo rating record of 2851, which held it for 13 years. Magnus' maximum rating was recorded in May 2014 - 2882. Currently, the Norwegian grandmaster is firmly entrenched in first place, 26 points ahead of the closest Fabiano Caruana.

#2: 2819. Magnus Carlsen’s opponent in the 2018 World Championship match is an American Fabiano Caruana(07/30/1992) – second number in the rating. US champion (2016), winner and prize-winner of a number of major international tournaments.

#3: 2809. The leader of Chinese chess grandmaster closes the top three Ding Liren(24.10.1992). Champion of China (2009, 2011, 2012), the first Chinese chess player to qualify for the Candidates Tournament (2018). From July 2017 to November 2018, he played exactly 100 games and did not lose even once.

#4: 2797. In fourth position is a Dutch chess player Anish Giri(06/28/1994). Born in St. Petersburg, a student of the local youth sports school. Represents the Netherlands since 2009. Almost repeated his personal rating record - 2798 (October 2015).

#5: 2793. Azerbaijani chess player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov(04/12/1985) takes fifth place. Three times European champion (2009, 2013, 2017) as part of the Azerbaijani national team, world champion in rapid chess (2013), twice world junior champion.

#6: 2774. Indian grandmaster, fifteenth world champion Viswanathan Anand(12/11/1969) ranked 6th. Anand was the universally recognized champion in the period 2007-2013, as well as the FIDE champion in the period 2000-2002.

#7: 2773. Ian Nepomniachtchi(07/14/1990, Russia) – No. 1 in the Russian rating

#8: 2773. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave(21.10.1990, France)

#9: 2771. Alexander Grischuk(October 31, 1983, Russia) – No. 2 in the Russian rating

#10: 2763. Levon Aronyan(6.10.1982, Armenia)

Russian grandmasters from the top 5 of the Russian rating in the world rating list are currently ranked as follows: Vladislav Artemyev – No. 13, Vladimir Kramnik – No. 14, Sergey Karyakin – No. 17.

#2: 2587. Hou Yifan is followed by her compatriot – Ju Wenjun(December 31, 1991). Current world champion. Grandmaster (2014). A literal abyss currently separates the top-ranking chess player and her closest pursuers.

#3: 2563. Third place – Maria Muzychuk(21.09.1992). Ukrainian chess player, champion of Ukraine (2012, 2013), world champion (2015), grandmaster (2015), younger sister of Anna Muzychuk.

#4: 2554.Ekaterina Lagno(December 27, 1989, Russia) – No. 1 in the Russian women’s ranking

#5: 2549. Indian chess player takes fifth place Humpy Koneru(03/31/1987). Champion among girls in several age categories, one of the strongest chess players in history (maximum rating - 2623 as of July 2009). Grandmaster (2002).

#6: 2546. Alexandra Kosteniuk(04/23/1984, Russia) – No. 2 in the Russian women’s ranking

#7: 2539. Anna Muzychuk(02/28/1990, Ukraine). Grandmaster (2015).

#8: 2538. Victoria Cmilyte-Nielsen(6.08.1983, Lithuania). Grandmaster (2010).

#9: 2534. Alexandra Goryachkina(09/28/1998, Russia) – No. 3 in the Russian women’s ranking

#10: 2528. Tan Zhongyi(05/29/1991, China). Grandmaster (2017).

Chess players from the top 5 Russian women's list in the world rating list: Valentina Gunina - #12, Alina Kashlinskaya - #18.

The highest rating among women in history was held by the Hungarian chess player Judit Polgar. Already in 1989, at the age of 12, she topped the FIDE women's ranking. And in 2005 she scored a record 2735 points and was in the top 10 of the FIDE world rating list. This indicator corresponds to the level of a super grandmaster. Interestingly, Judit has never been a women's champion, playing only in men's tournaments. In 2014, the uncrowned champion announced her retirement.

The ELO rating in chess is the FIDE rating. You can get it in the tournament (more details). At first, elo was calculated only for classical chess, but in 2012 it was also introduced for rapid and blitz chess. Now many chess federations and gaming portals have their own ratings.

Approximate correspondence between elo and male and female ranks, as well as ranks.

Having examined the table, you can see that the transition to the next class of the game occurs after approximately 200 elo points.

A chess player who has a high rating on any gaming portal cannot on this basis assign himself the corresponding title or rank, because they are awarded based on the fulfillment of certain standards not related to the rating (participation in certain tournaments, etc.). The titles of international or simple grandmaster and master are awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

RCF rating

More recently, the Russian chess rating appeared, namely on March 31, 2016. It is intended only for chess players who are citizens of the Russian Federation.

Official website - ratings.ruchess.ru.

Calculated based on the results of participation in Russian and international competitions in three disciplines: classical chess, rapid chess and blitz.

Good luck!

What is the source of the live ratings?
. The algorithm on this page takes the available rating data and would display a live rating number with the following priority: 2700chess, top40chess, chess-db, fide. Then it would show as "source" all websites who's live rating calculation is the same as the leading one.

More about our live rating sources:

Who are the great chess players? How to identify them and by what criteria to select them? The question is very difficult, because there are actually a lot of “great” people. The most relevant and fair criterion is a comparison of current modern players, because historical chess players such as Paul Morphy, Emanuel Lasker and others cannot compete with the grandmasters of our time such as Carlsen, Nakamura, Karjakin, Anand, Kramnik.

Why modern chess players are better than historical ones

Today's athletes have access to tons of books and databases, can exchange experiences on forums and use ready-made computerized algorithms. The age of information technology has significantly transformed the level of chess playing. The current rating of chess players significantly exceeds the indicators of historical grandmasters. However, chess players of yesteryear started this game. Aron Nimzowitsch, David Bronstein and many others are people who were champions in their time and, in addition, are the authors of the most famous chess textbooks. Without the past there would be no present!

Undisputed world chess leaders of all times and peoples

Some chess critics single out a dozen grandmasters who have been or remain undisputed world champions for many years. Strong superiority and epoch-making dominance over others are noticed by the following chess players of all times: Emanuel Lasker, Jose Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Robert Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen.

The world's great chess players are foreigners

Magnus Carlsen is a chess player from Norway who needs no special introduction. He is the world champion (from 2013 to present), the person who was the first to reach a chess rating of 2872 points. This is the best result of all time, and therefore undoubtedly falls into the list of great chess players on the planet. The current champion has an incredible mentality, which has a pathological function of highly skilled tactical lines at the chessboard.

K. Magnus is the strongest chess player, that's a fact! Experts and critics believe that the Norwegian could beat any chess player in the world who has ever existed.

Viswanathan Anand is the strongest player from India who became the first grandmaster in his country. Anand is a phenomenal chess player with an analytical mind. Viswanathan became the FIDE (International Chess Federation) World Champion in 2000 and maintained his dominance until 2002. During the period of his championship, an incredible interest in chess was raised in India, which captured the whole of Asia.

Viswanathan Anand was never profiled as a blitz player, but he managed to become the world blitz champion in 2003, thereby confirming his status as the strongest chess player. Further more! The Indian grandmaster was the undisputed world champion from 2007 to 2013. During this period, Anand's main rival was Vladimir Kramnik, but the Indian was always stronger. Viswanathan's achievements deserve to be rightfully considered the strongest chess player on the planet.

Kasparov - Karpov - the best chess players of the USSR

Garry Kasparov is definitely the best player of the 20th century! Many chess connoisseurs can argue with this, saying that Garry Kasparov is on a par with Anatoly Karpov. However, the statistics and facts speak for themselves.

• Became the youngest world champion at 22 years old.
• He was the unsurpassed world champion for 15 years.
• In the period from 1984 until his retirement in 2005, he had the highest rating according to the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
• Holds the record for the most consecutive professional tournament victories - 15 tournaments over 9 years (1981-1999). The white streak was interrupted by Vasily Ivanchuk in Linares (1991), where Kasparov took second place, half a point behind the leader.
• Became the best player of the year a record number of times (11 Chess Oscars).

Anatoly Karpov is another chess king of the 20th century. In 1975, Anatoly Karpov managed to win the Candidates Tournament. This allowed him to enter the match for the world title against Robert Fischer, but the current champion refused to defend his title.

According to chess regulations, the title of world chess champion was awarded to Karpov. Realizing that the title was given, roughly speaking, “in vain,” Anatoly Karpov took radical measures - he took part in every world chess championship of different categories. Karpov sought to fulfill his mission - to prove to everyone that his title of “world champion” was deserved. And this is what came out of it:

• World champion 1975-1985.
• Nine-time Chess Oscar winner.
• Six-time winner of the Chess Olympiad.
• Considering the fact that at one time there was an intense rivalry between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov more than once spoke about Karpov as the strongest player. The chess players played 144 games among themselves, and all were within , Kasparov won 21 times, and Karpov - 19. All other games were drawn. These two are the great chess players of the world, whose rivalry has always aroused maximum interest among fans of the old game.

FIDE rating

1. Carlsen Magnus, born in 1990, Norway, 2872 points.
2. Caruano Fabiano, born 1992, USA, 2827 points.
3. Wesley So, born in 1993, USA, 2822 points.
4. Kramnik Vladimir, born in 1975, Russia, 2811 points.
5. Vachier-Lagrave Maxim, born in 1990, France, 2796 points.
6. Anand Viswanathan, born 1969, India, 2786 points.
7. Levon Aronyan, born in 1982, Armenia, 2785 points.
8. Nakamura Hikaru, born in 1987, USA, 2785 points.
9. Karyakin Sergey, born in 1990, Russia, 2783 points.
10. Born 1994, the Netherlands, 2769 points.

A player who managed to cross the rating level of 2800+ points. Kramnik has the best level of performance among all the strongest chess leaders. In 2000, he became the world champion, beating Garry Kasparov himself. Vladimir Kramnik is the best chess methodologist, whose potential is endowed with computer accuracy and stress resistance.

Sergey Karyakin is the only chess player who has not yet become a world champion in classical chess. He is the youngest grandmaster on the planet; Sergei received this title at the age of 12 years and 7 months. In addition, in 2002, twelve-year-old Sergey Karyakin was the official tactics coach of grandmaster Ruslan Ponomorev (FIDE world champion 2002-2004). There has never been anything like this in the world!

In 2016, he won the Candidates Tournament and became Magnus Carlsen's opponent, but was unable to win. Sergey Karjakin still remains the main rival of the current champion. In 2012 and 2016 he became the world blitz champion. Karjakin is the best chess dominant, strategist and blitz player.

Experts believe that the rivalry between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin will surpass the famous Kasparov-Karpov pairing.