The 10 Best Chess Players of All Time
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 24 September 2024
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
Greatest Chess Players
You may not even know it, but there are numerous online sportsbooks with chess markets available, and with that, there are opportunities to wager on the best chess players of all time.
Have you ever wondered who the greatest chess player of all time is? I know I have. This isn’t a sport in the traditional format, but this is a game of mental fortitude that requires a lot of strategy and preparation, making it one of the most fascinating games out there.
Right now, the primary system used to compare players strengths, known as the Elo system and here, I’ll use that to help with the rankings.
Below, I’ll list the top chess players of all time. Let’s check it out.
- 10. Veselin Topalov
- 9. Vladimir Kramnik
- 8. Viswanathan Anand
- 7. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
- 6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
- 5. Wesley So
- 4. Levon Aronian
- 3. Fabiano Caruana
- 2. Garry Kasparov
- 1. Magnus Carlsen
10. Veselin Topalov
Kicking off my list of the top 10 chess players of all time is Topalov.
Topalov, 49, earned Grandmaster status in chess in 1992 at just 17 years old. From there, he went on to become world champion in 2005-06. He was the No. 1 rated player in the world from April 2006 to January 2007. He achieved that status again in October 2008 and held it through January 2010.
Additionally, Topalov won key tournaments such as Linares, Corus, Dortmund, Stavanger, and Pearl Spring.
Topalov also appeared in the 2006 World Championship but lost to Vladimir Kramnik. He went back in 2010 but lost to Viswanathan Anand.
He posted a peak rating in the Elo system of 2816 and is considered one of the greatest chess players of all time.
9. Vladimir Kramnik
Kramnik, also 49, earned Grandmaster status in 1992. In 2000 and in 2006, he was named the Classical World Chess Champion. He then became the undisputed champion from 2006 to 2007. He reached No. 1 status in January 1996.
At the Chess Olympiads, he won six gold medals: three on a team and three by himself.
He became the undisputed champion over Topalov but lost in 2007 to Anand.
Kramnik posted a peak rating of 2817, just one point ahead of Topalov.
Kramnik retired in 2019 to focus on his family and is one of my top 10 chess players of all time.
8. Viswanathan Anand
India native Anand, 54, earned Grandmaster status in 1988. He’s been world champion 10 times, including 2000 to 2002 and was again, but for a much longer streak of 2007 to 2013. He reached a peak rating of 2817, tying Kramnik.
He reached No. 1 in April 2007 and today sits at No. 11.
In 2022, he was elected the deputy president of FIDE.
He lost in the world championship game in 2013 and 2014, both to Magnus Carlsen. In 2014, he won the Candidates Tournament.
Anand, known for his play speed, was nicknamed “Lightning Kid” during the 1980s. He’s considered one of the best rapid chess players of all time. Anand also earned the Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92, the highest sporting honor in India.
7. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Hailing from France, Vachier-Lagrave is currently ranked No. 25 in the world and reached a peak of No. 2 in August 2016.
Vachier-Lagrave, 33, earned Grandmaster status in 2005 at just 14 years old.
He became a World Blitz Champion and managed a 2819 rating, the seventh-highest of all time.
Vachier-Lagrave, also known as MVL, won the French Chess Championship in 2007. In 2009, he won the World Junior Chess Championship and Biel Grandmaster Tournament.
Vachier-Lagrave was the French Chess Champion twice (2011 and 2012) and won the Biel Grandmaster Tournament again from 2013 to 2016.
Other wins include the following:
- Sinquefield Cup in 2017 and 2021
- Competed in the Candidates Tournament from 2020 to 2021
MVL represented France on a couple of notable occasions, including the Chess Olympiad.
6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Hailing from Azerbaijan, Mamedyarov, 39, reached a peak rating of 2820 and is currently ranked No. 19 in the world.
His peak ranking was No. 2 in February 2018. He received Grandmaster status in 2002.
From there, he participated in the Candidates Tournament in 2011, 2014, and 2018, finishing second in 2018.
He was a two-time World Junior Champion in 2003 and 2005 and was the World Rapid Champion in 2013.
Mamedyarov was a gold medalist at the 2012 Chess Olympiad and was a three-time European Team Champion in 2009, 2013, and 2017.
Other wins for Mamedyarov include the Tal Memorial twice, Shamkir Chess twice, and the Biel Chess Festival, including a win over Carlsen.
5. Wesley So
The 30-year-old So, from the Philippines, is No. 5 on the list of the best chess players of all time. So earned Grandmaster status in 2008 and has a peak rating of 2822, which came in February 2017.
Today, he’s the No. 9 player in the world and hit a high of No. 2 in March 2017.
Representing the Philippines, So won gold at the 2013 Kezan at Summer Universiade, silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, gold at the 2011 Jakarta/Palembang Southeast Asian Games (Men’s Blitz), and silver at those same games for Men’s Standard.
Other accolades for So include the following:
- Three-time U.S. Chess Champion
- World Fischer Random Chess Champion
- Three-time Philippine Chess Champion
- Bilbao Chess Masters
- Grand Chess Tour (2016 and 2021)
- Sinquefield Cup
- Tata Steel Masters
4. Levon Aronian
Aronian is an Armenian-American who became a Grandmaster in 2000 at 17. He reached a 2830 rating in March 2014. He’s currently rated as the No. 18 player in the world, and his highest rating was No. 2 in January 2012.
In 2005 and 2017, he won the FIDE World Cup. Aronian also won gold at the Olympiads in 2006 (Turin), 2008 (Desden), and 2012 (Istanbul).
Aronian qualified for the 2012 Candidates Tournament after winning the FIDE Grand Prix three straight years (2008 to 2010).
He was also named world champion in Chess960 in 2006 and 2007, Rapid Chess in 2007, and Blitz Chess in 2010.
Aronian officially changed his allegiance from the Armenian Chess Federation to the United States Federation in 2021.
3. Fabiano Caruana
Next up, I have Caruana at No. 3. This is the first American to make the cut.
Caruana, who hails from Miami, Florida, earned Grandmaster status in 2007 when he was 14. That same year, he also won the Italian Chess Championship. He then won that tournament again in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
He won the Sinquefield Cup in 2014. His peak rating was 2844 in October 2014, when he was 22 years old.
Today, Caruana is No. 3 in the world and was No. 2 in October 2014.
He attended the Candidates Tournament in 2016, placing second to Sergey Karjakin. Then, in 2018, he returned to the tournament and won it, becoming the first American to challenge for the undisputed World Chess Championship since Bobby Fischer in 1972.
Caruana won gold at the 42nd Chess Olympiad as part of a team and individually.
2. Garry Kasparov
Regarded as a chess genius, Kasparov retired from chess at 42. However, he returned in 2016, but only plays speed chess.
He earned Grandmaster status in 1980 and was named undisputed world champion from 1985 to 1993 and classic world champion from 1993 to 2000.
Kasparov reached a peak rating of 2851 in July 1999 and was the world’s No. 1 player in January 1984.
1. Magnus Carlsen
To answer the question, “Who is the best chess player of all time?” it’s quite simple: Magnus Carlsen.
Hailing from Norway, Carlsen, 33, is the current No. 1 player in the world and reached No. 1 for the first time in January 2010.
He achieved Grandmaster status in 2004 at just 14 years old.
Carlsen has won every world championship since 2013. He won his first by defeating Anand and retained it in 2014 against him.
He won the World Rapid Championship and World Blitz Championship that same year.
No one will ever top Carlsen’s standing. He posted a rating of 2882 in May 2014 and is the highest-rated chess player ever.
