40 Famous Chess Players Who Changed the Game

40 Famous Chess Players Who Changed the Game

Chess is a very interesting board game for two players. It requires a high level of concentration in order to first of all understand how to win it. It is also known as black and white where each control an army of chess pieces. The objective is usually to checkmate the opponent’s king. Because it is similar to related board games like xiangqi and shogi, chess is sometimes known as international chess or western chess, so as to be able to make the distinction. The beauty of the game is that it is an abstract strategy game that has no hidden information and no element of chance. It is as it is with this game and it is all about strategy. So who are some of the most famous chess players who managed to change the game and constantly prove that indeed it is an interesting game? Here’s a list.

1. Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen is said to be the best to ever play the game of chess although Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer still remain to be part of the conversation. By the time he was turning 30, he had already earned a spot at the top and this continued to dominate throughout his 30s. In 2013, he won a world title and managed to defend it four times thereafter. That’s in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021. He is indeed pretty good as he managed to achieve this in a span of a short time. In addition, he has won otherworld titles in rapid time control and even achieved the highest rating ever. He has several elite tournament wins including four Norway Chess victories and seven in Wijk aan Zee.

2. Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano is the prodigy who broke the record that was initially held by Hikaru Nakamura for America’s youngest chess grandmaster. He has managed to rise through the ranks and has even had a ranking as high as number two in the world, not to mention the many tournaments he has also been awarded. In 2018 he faced Carlsen but lost in the tiebreak playoffs. Fabiano is also a two-time US chess champion. His portfolio is pretty interesting actually.

3. Hikaru Nakamura

Nakamura has been one of the world’s top players for over a decade now. He was the top American player of most of his career and is now considered a key contributor to one of the strongest chess scenes in the world. He is a five-time US champion having claimed the title in the years 2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2019. To put it plainly, he is a legend in his own right and he keeps defending his title whenever he gets the chance to. He is appreciated as one of the key contributors to one of the strongest chess scenes in the world.

4. Ding Liren

In the 2023 world championship, Ding became the reigning FIDE World Chess Champion after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi. He was all about dominance and his ability to maneuver around close calls has defined him as a world’s champion. What’s even more impressive is that he won his first championship at only age 16 at the Chinese Chess Championship, making him the youngest to ever have achieved that.

5. Alireza Firouzja

This Iranian-born grandmaster plays for France now but he is a world championship candidate and two-time Iranian champion. In early 2020, he impressed everyone when he took second place in the World Rapid Championship, just one point behind Carlsen, the world champion. His 5/7 start at the 2020 Tata Steel tournament is something still talked about to date. His trajectory continued to go even higher in 2021 when he won the Riga Grand Swiss and scored 8/9 then in the European Team Championships, ranked number two in the world’s ranking with a 2804 rating. His victory at the Grand Swiss qualified him for the 2022 candidates tournament at only 18, making him one of the youngest to ever achieve that since he also broke the record for the youngest player to surpass a 2800 rating.

6. Ian Nepomniachtchi

His name is quite a mouthful so he is just referred to as Nepo. He is a Russian super grandmaster who has won the Candidates Tournament twice,  to play for the world championship. After winning the 2020 championship, he challenged Carlsen for the 2021 world championship but lost 11 games. He then redeemed himself and won the 2022 candidates tournament and fell in tiebreaks to DingLiren in the 2023 World Championship. He has a spot in the next Candidates Tournament and thus his chances at becoming world champion are still very much there.

7. Anish Giri

Giri is a four-time Dutch champion and a world-class player. He has ranked high as number three in the world and reached his peak rating of 2802 in 2015. He has represented the Netherlands at the Olympiads since 2010. His skills are quite commendable and it is not a surprise that he won the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament and the 2017 Reykjavik Open. At the summer 2019 Shenzhen Masters tournament, he scored his first major victory and in 2021, he won the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. In 2023, he won the Tata Steel Masters for the very first time.

8. Gukesh Dommaraju

This Indian guru is a young chess prodigy best known for becoming the second youngest grandmaster in history. This accomplishment came about in 2019 when he earned the ‘Grandmaster,’ title at only 12 years old. He narrowly missed the one acknowledged as the youngest by only 17 days. Gukesh has also been recognized as the brightest chess talents. In 2022 for instance, he achieved a live rating of 2700 (fourth youngest chess player to do so) and in 2023, he was ranked 8^th in the world.

9. Viswanathan Anand

Anand is the 15^th undisputed chess champion and the greatest Indian chess player of all time. He competed for the classical championship in 1995 and was also FIDE champion from 2000-2002 before claiming the reunited title in 2007. He actually held that title for 6 straight years until 2013. He has had a productive post-championship career at an age when many of the top players have already retired.

10. Wesley So

This Filipino-American grandmaster is another legend who is ranked among the world’s best chess players. He began this journey at only 9 years old and at 14 years, he became the ninth youngest grandmaster in history. He then became the youngest player to pass the 2600 rating threshold hence breaking the legendary Carlsen’s record. His 2017 rating of 2822 made him the number two player in the world and earned him his place as the fifth-highest-rated player ever. He is a great player and his future looks even brighter.

11. Richard Rapport 

 Richard is a runner-up in the FIDE Grand Prix of 2022 and this secured him a place at the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament of 2022. He also possesses a uniquely creative opening approach combined with an exquisite positional style. His style after 2017 has become more solid and Dubov said, “He transformed from a swashbuckling tactician into a subtle positional player.” His creative opening ideas always manage to set him apart as one of the best players. 

12. Sergey Karjakin

To put it plainly, Sergey is an elite chess player who actually broke the record of the youngest GM at 12 years old in 2003. He held on to the record until 2021 when Mishra broke it. The most notable highlight of his career is when he pushed Carlsen, a player considered one of the greatest in the world, alongside Garry Kasparov. However, in 2022 Sergey received a six-month ban due to his support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has not been invited to any major FIDE tournaments even after the period of the ban came to an end.

13. Leinier Dominguez Perez

The Cuban-American grandmaster has been a top 10 player in the world and he usually sits in the top 15. He earned his GM title in 2001, won his first of the five Cuban Chess Championships in 2002, and even reached a 2700 rating in 2008. To add more to this list of successes, he was also the Cuban champion in 1003, 2006,2012, and 2016. He has been ranked as high as third on FIDE’s rating list.

14. Levon Aronian

Aronian is an Armenian-American player who is a super grandmaster. He has been among the world’s best players having first entered the top 20 in the year 2005. To date, he hasn’t lost that distinction and it’s pretty impressive. He has spent most of these 15 years in the top 10 and in 2021, he officially switched federations from Armenia to America. He is a world champion in Fischer random chess, blitz, and rapids and is also a multiple holder of gold medals for the Armenian national team, an individual  Armenian national title, and two chess World Cup victories among so many others.

15. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Shakhriyar is another super grandmaster hailing from Azerbaijan. He was ranked the number two player in the world in the FIDE rating list of 2018.  He then reached his peak in September, of the same year, with a rating of 2826. This was the sixth-highest rating of all time at the time. He’s had a successful portfolio too having won the Azerbaijan Chess Championship twice and emerging the 2017 FIDE Grand Prix winner and then finishing second place in the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

16. Alexander Grischuk

This Russian grandmaster is consistently known to be one of the world’s best players. He’s not only an elite professional player but also well-known for being among the top blitz players. Having won the World Blitz championship three times, he is now only one of two players to have multiple awards in Blitzsw time control. Moreover, most of his time has been spent in the top 10 and his peak was number three in the year 2014. This is the period he surpassed the 2800 rating threshold and since then he has never really looked back.

17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Also known as MVL, this French super grandmaster has been in play since 2016. He has spent a lot of time being rated among the top five chess players in the world and in this period he surpassed the rating 2819, making him the seventh highest-rated player in history. Overall, he is a three-time French Chess Champion, a five-time winner of the Biel Grandmaster tournament, and also a two-time European Blitz Champion. He then added the World Blitz Champion in 2021. His portfolio is very impressive indeed.

18. Veselin Topalov

Veselin was the FIDE World champion in 2005 and in April 2006 he was the world’s number one player through January 2007 and again in 2008 then in 2010. In 2015, Topalov reached his peak rating of 2826 in 2015, making him the 5^th highest rating of all time. He has played with other legends in the game like Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand and he has consistently been among the world’s greatest players for a period of over two decades. He has participated also in nine Olympics so far.

19. Wei Yi

Wei Yi is another elite player and one of the greatest chess prodigies in history. At only age 15, he broke Magnus Carlsen’s record for the youngest player to reach a rating of 2700 which he still holds to date. Two years before that, he became the fourth youngest grandmaster in history and currently he is the eighth youngest GM ever. His future looks bright and since February 2017, he has been ranked in the top 30 players of the world.

20. Jan-Krzysztof Duda

As of 2017, Duda became one of the youngest members of the 2700club of super grandmasters at only 19 years old. He is actually considered the latest in the history of strong GMs from Poland. Moreover, he won the 2021 FIDE World Cup, hence earning himself a spot in the 2022 Candidates Tournament.

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21. Yu Yangyi

The Chinese super grandmaster and world-class player was the World U-10 Champion in 2004, the World Junior Champion in 2013, the Chinese Champion in 2013, and also the Asian Continental Champion in 2014. He has won so many international events and is a strong rapid and blitz player. In 2016 and 2019 for instance, he finished in the top six of the same competition. Yu has represented China in many international events, including the 2014 Chess Olympia where China actually won the gold medal and individually, Yu earned the gold medal for board three. He represented China in the 2020 FIDE competitions and scored 7.5/10 which helped China win the cup.

22. Vincent Keymer

Keymar is a grandmaster from Germany and the youngest from his country to actually earn that title. At only 13 years old, he won the event ahead of 49 GMs, including those who had a rating of 2700 plus. He had an 8/9 score that secured him his first GM norm and managed to shock the whole chess world. His performance of 2798 was the highest in history by an under-14 player. At 16 years old, he was ranked in the top 15 juniors (under 21) in the world.

23. Pentala Harikrishna

Pentala was still very young when he became a grandmaster in 2001. This made him to be the seventh youngest ever, at the time. He played in FIDE’s knockout world championship events in 2002 and 2004 although for the 2002 game, he lost to Alexander Beliavsky. The 2004 game on the other hand went great after a nice first-round victory over Xu Jun. He also won the World Junior Championship and entered the world’s top 100 ratings. He has stayed in this position ever since.

24. Nodirbek Abdusattorov

He is a super grandmaster who won the 2021 World Rapid Championship and even played on the first board for the Uzbekistan team that won the 44^th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Mind you, he was only 17 years old at the time, hence becoming the youngest player to ever do so. His first major success was the 2012 World Youth Championships under-8 division which he actually won. Then two years later, he shocked everyone by defeating two formidable GMs Andrey Zhigalko and Rustam Khusnutdinov in only a single tournament. Then in 2015, he got listed on the FIDE rating list at only 11 years old hence becoming the youngest player to enter the top 100 juniors.

25. Nikita Vitiugov

Nikita learned how to play chess at only age 5. His first coach was Alexey Yuneev who actually won the Russian under-18 championship in 2005. The next year he became an international master and shared second place with GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko. He became a grandmaster in 2007 and in 2009, he won the World Team Chess Championship, scoring a 5.5/6 at the second reserve board for the Russian team. In 2013, he and the Russian team repeated the same achievement. He surpassed the 2700 rating in 2010 and since then he has consistently been among the world’s strongest players. He reached his peak rating of 2751 in 2019. His career has been a successful one and looks promising.

26. Francisco Vallejo Pons

Popularly known as Paco, he is a five-time Spanish chess champion who won in 2006 and 2009 then consecutively in 2014, 2015, and 2016. He was a regular at the Linares super-tournament as the host favorite and is also a member of the 2700 rating club where he remained a top 40 player until 2020. His highest world ranking and rating came six years apart and he ranked 18^th in 2005 and even hit a 2724 rating in 2011.

27. Daniil Dubov

As a grandmaster and world-class player, Daniil in 2015 finished first place and broke onto the international chess scene. He then won third place at the 2016 World Blitz Championship and in 2018, he was one of, Magnus Carlsen’s seconds for the 2018 World Championship match. He was also the winner of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Masters tournament and also the 2018 World Rapid Championship.

28. Jorden van Foreest

Foreest is a Dutch grandmaster and the Dutch Chess Champion of 2016 and is popularly known for winning the Tata Steel Masters in 2021. He’s actually the youngest Dutch GM in history and is currently ranked second in the country as of March 2021. He has had several top finishes to round out in his young career, including placing fifth in the 2017 World Junior Chess Championship, fifth in the 2018 Tata Steel Challengers, first in the 2019 Dutch Chess Championship, and fourth in the 2020 Tata Steel Masters. In other words, his career has been quite colourful. Moreover, he managed to shock the chess world and even put the crowning achievement by winning the 2021 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. It was a dramatic win as he managed to defeat Giri in the playoffs, hence winning on time in an Armageddon tiebreaker.

29. Samuel Shankland

Samuel made the international Master in 2008 at only 17 years old with his performance in the under-18 division of the World Youth Championship. He made his debut in the U.S Championship but didn’t score too well. He has played in the U.S. Championship every year since 2012. Prior year in 2011, he participated in the Chess World Cup as the 11^th seed but that didn’t stop him from beating the 18th-seeded Peter Leko, in the first round despite entering with a rating of 178 points lower than the Hungarian grandmaster.

30. Parham Maghsoodloo

Parham played his very first event as an only 11-year-old in the under-12 Iranian Chess Championship. He finished with 6/9 points and even scored well the following year in the under-12 World Chess Championship. He placed fifth with 8/11 points, which was just one point behind the joint leaders. In 2013, the 13-year-old scored 4/11 points and managed to add a nice boost to his rating. The following year he finished in joint place at the 2014 Mazandaran Chess Championship where he fared well in his return to the national championship in 2014, scoring 7/11 points. This placed him in fourth place. He continues to shine thanks to his talent and skills.

31. Sanan Sjugirov

Sanan is a Russian grandmaster who has won two world youth titles. He first won the U-10 World Youth Chess Championship in 2003 and then claimed the U-14 category championship in 2007. He also won the U 12 European Youth Chess Championships in 2004 and 2005 before adding the U14 category championship in 2007. His other notable performances are the 2011 European Rapid Chess Championship, becoming the winner of the Cappelle-la-Grande Open in 2013, and taking the 2015 Abu Dhabi Blitz tournament.

32. Ray Robson

This GM from Guam is another very skillful player who has always had quite a success in the chess world. In his country, he has had one of the most successful youth careers, managing to achieve his GM norms and a 2500 rating in 2009. He was just 14 years old at the time and then as an adult, his tournament highlights became inclusive of the 2015 U.S. Championship where he finished second, the 2019 Group A of the Saint Louis Fall Classic, and the 2021 Wijk aan Zee Champion. In 2023, he established his FIDE rating of 2704 and in June, he won the Prague Masters.

33. Wang Hao

Hao is another GM who was a candidate for the world championship in 202 which he got by winning the 2019 FIDE championship. He has had a fantastic youth career according to Chess.com and this culminated in winning the seventh Dubai Open at only age 16 where he topped a dozen GMs as an untitled player. He then climbed the rankings from there onwards and within no time became a top-level player. He however struggled during the 2020/2021 Candidates Tournament, especially during the second half. He really shocked the chess world when he announced his retirement from the competitive aspects of the game. He however stated that he was open to coaching and participating in casual chess events hence he wasn’t completely out of the picture in this game.

34. Sam Sevian

He gained notoriety as a chess prodigy and in 2014, he became the youngest ever American to earn his GM title at only 13 years old. He still retains a top spot on the list of the youngest chess grandmasters. He is the youngest American national master and international master who became the world U-12 Champion in 2012.

35. Vladislav Artemiev

Vladislav is appreciated as one of the best young chess players, having been ranked fourth in the world for all players at the age of 25. He broke into the upper echelon of elite chess in 2019 when he became one of the top ten-ranked chess players in the world. He won the Gibraltar Masters and the European Individual Championship that same year and helped Russia win a gold medal at the 2019 World Rapid Championship. He is for sure a player to watch out for as he looks very promising.

36. Amin Tabatabaei

Amin is an Iranian GM and the winner of the 2019 Biel Master Open tournament. His win came over a group of seven players in second place, including the GMs, Jeffrey Xiong and Gata Kamsky. He won silver at the 2014 World U-14 Championship and as of April 2021, he was the third highest-rated junior in the world and the second-best ranked player overall, in Iran.

37. David Navara

David Navara is Czech’s highest-rated player but he has won nine national titles which is actually more than anyone in the tournament’s 114th-year history. He became a grandmaster at only 16 and at the Wijk aan Zee tournament in 2007, he managed to beat the legendary Magnus Carlsen and Ruslan Ponomariov, the very first time he faced them. That in itself was very impressive hence why he got the respect of the world. He remains an active competitor at the highest level and is one of the top 30 players in the world.

38. Pavel Eljanov

Hailing from Ukraine, Pavel has served as an assistant for many elite players, including, Magnus, Boros, and Mariya. In the early stages of his career, he was on the team that won the U16 Chess Olympiad in 1999, and years later, he won two team gold medals in the 2004 and 2010 Olympiads. Moreover, he has won many strong tournaments like the 11th Aeroflot Open, the 2013 Reykjavik Open, and the 14^th Anatoly Karpov International Tournament. His career looks bright and promising presently.

39. Jeffery Xiong

Jeffrey is an American chess player who has completed an impressive career as an elite junior chess player. He is the third youngest U.S. Player to qualify for the Grandmaster title. He has an array of success, spanning between winning the world Under 10 championship in 2010 and taking the world junior championship in 2016. This put the chess world on notice as the 31^st seed at the Chess World Cup. His career is just but beginning and from the look of things, he looks, like he will keep pulling surprises.

40. David Anton Guijarro

Davin Anton is one of the best players in Spain and in March 2020, he crossed the 2700 rating mark. This is something that only a few players have managed to achieve. At the 2012 U16 European Championship, he won the bronze medal, and a silver medal at the 2013 U-18 World Championship. Furthermore, he has won the Spanish Championship eight times indifferent age sections and also won the 2020 Tata Steel Challengers tournament.

Chess is a complicated game. One that can really give you a hard time especially if you are not familiar with it. These players however prove that it is doable and even very much competitive.

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