The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Ernesto Inarkiev 2650 | #76

Russia

Ernesto Inarkiev is a Russian grandmaster who won the 2016 European Individual Chess Championship. Earlier in his career, he was European U16 Champion (2001) and Russian Junior (under-20) Champion (2002). Inarkiev earned his GM title in 2002, becoming the first-ever from Kalmykia, a republic of Russia....

GM Matthias Bluebaum 2650 | #76

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 Ni Hua 2649 | #78

China

Ni Hua is a Chinese grandmaster and captain of the national team. Ni won the national championship in three consecutive years, and, along with GM Bu Xiangzhi in April 2008, the two became the second and third Chinese players to pass the 2700-rating barrier (after GM Wang Yue). Ni played board four for...

GM Andrei Volokitin 2649 | #78

Ukraine

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 Alexei Shirov 2647 | #80

Spain

Alexei Shirov is a Latvian grandmaster who plays for Spain. In 1994 he was the number-two player in the world. Shirov defeated GM Vladimir Kramnik in a match in 1998 to become the challenger to GM Garry Kasparov for the classical world championship, but this match never took place. Shirov has participated...

GM Aleksandar Indjic 2647 | #80

Serbia

Aleksandar Indjic is a Serbian grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

GM Narayanan S L 2647 | #80

India

The player's full name is Narayanan S.L. In this name, S stands for his father's name Sunilduth, L stands for his mother's name Lyna and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their full name, Narayanan S.L.Narayanan S.L. is an Indian grandmaster who won the Asian U-16 title...

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2646 | #83

Vietnam

Bio coming soon.

GM Ivan Cheparinov 2646 | #83

Bulgaria

Ivan Cheparinov is a Bulgarian grandmaster who has represented Georgia since 2018. He is a four-time Bulgarian champion. In 2018, he reached both his peak rating (2718) and peak world ranking (32) for his career (as of February 2021). Other notable performances came when he won the junior...

GM Sanan Sjugirov 2646 | #83

Hungary

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 Shant Sargsyan 2646 | #83

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 Abhimanyu Puranik 2646 | #83

India

GM Abhimanyu Puranik is an Indian grandmaster who qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. The player's full name is Abhimanyu Puranik and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their first name, Abhimanyu.

GM Etienne Bacrot 2645 | #88

France

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 Max Warmerdam 2643 | #89

Netherlands

Max Warmerdam is a grandmaster from the Netherlands, earning the title in 2021. He seconded GM Anish Giri in the 2021 Candidates Tournament.

GM Vladimir Malakhov 2642 | #90

FIDE

Vladimir Malakhov is a Russian grandmaster. He won the 2009 European Rapid Chess Championship and won gold with Russia at the 2009 World Team Chess Championship. Also that year, he made it to the semifinals of the Chess World Cup. As a youth player, Malakhov won the Under-12 Russian Championship in...

GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre 2642 | #90

Denmark

GM Jonas Bjerre is a Danish chess grandmaster. He began 2024 as the #8 rated junior player in the world, and the second-highest rated in Europe behind only GM Vincent Keymer.

GM Leon Luke Mendonca 2642 | #90

India

GM Leon Luke Mendonca is an Indian chess grandmaster. He earned the title in 2021. In 2024, Leon won the Tata Steel Challengers Tournament. The name Mendonca is a patronymic, Luke is his father's name, and the player should be referred to by his name, Leon.

GM Nils Grandelius 2641 | #93

Sweden

Nils Grandelius is a Swedish grandmaster and the top-ranked player in that country (as of February 2021). He won the Swedish Chess Championship in 2015 and as a junior took the under-18 World Youth Chess Champions in 2010. In 2019, Grandelius spent several months ranked among the world’s top-50...

GM Wang Yue 2640 | #94

China

Wang Yue is a Chinese grandmaster who holds three national championships: 2005, 2013, and 2024. He’s the first Chinese player to make the top 10 of the FIDE world rankings and the first to achieve a rating of 2700. For five years, Wang was the highest-ever rated player in Chinese chess history. Early...

GM Daniil Yuffa 2640 | #94

Spain

Daniil Aleksandrovich Yuffa is a Russian-Spanish chess grandmaster

GM Gawain Jones 2639 | #96

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 Daniel Dardha 2639 | #96

Belgium

Daniel Dardha is a chess grandmaster from Belgium. He is both the youngest-ever Belgian national champion (2019 and again in 2021) and youngest Belglian grandmaster (2021).

GM Francisco Vallejo Pons 2638 | #98

Spain

Francisco Vallejo Pons (nickname “Paco”) is a five-time Spanish chess champion. He won in 2006, 2009, and the three consecutive years of 2014-16. He was also a regular at the Linares super-tournament as the host national favorite. Vallejo is a member of the 2700-rating club and remains...

GM Dmitrij Kollars 2638 | #98

Germany

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 Ma Qun 2638 | #98

China

Bio coming soon.