The Top Chess Players in the World

GM Hrant Melkumyan 2636 | #100

Hrant Melkumyan is an Armenian grandmaster who won the European Blitz Championship in 2011. After a strong showing in the 2014 European Individual Championship (7.5/11), he competed in the 2015 World Cup and defeated GM Gata Kamsky in the first round before losing in the next round. Melkumyan placed...

GM Abhimanyu Puranik 2636 | #100

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 Maxim Rodshtein 2635 | #103

Maxim Rodshtein is an Israeli Grandmaster.

GM Aram Hakobyan 2634 | #104

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 Hou Yifan 2633 | #105

Despite being in only her mid-20s, Hou Yifan is widely considered to be the second-strongest female chess player in history (behind Judit Polgar). Among her top accomplishments are the four Women’s World Chess Championships Hou won before declining to participate in the event. She’s also...

GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko 2633 | #105

Yuriy Kryvoruchko is a Ukrainian grandmaster and the 2013 Ukrainian Chess Champion. That victory came after he defeated GM and former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov on tiebreaks. The same year, Kryvoruchko made it to the third round of the World Cup after a surprising win against GM Michael Adams...

GM Jaime Santos Latasa 2632 | #107

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 Alexander Donchenko 2632 | #107

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 Maksim Chigaev 2632 | #107

Full bio coming soon...

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2632 | #107

Bio coming soon.

GM Alexandr Predke 2631 | #111

Alexandr Predke is a Russian grandmaster who won the U16 Russian Youth Chess Championship in 2010. He placed third in the 2014 Russian Junior Championship (U20), and then in 2017, finished second in the Lev Polugaevsky Memorial tournament. In September 2019, he made his first appearance in the world’s...

GM Saleh Salem 2631 | #111

Salem Saleh is a grandmaster from the United Arab Emirates. He has four national Emirati Chess Championships, three international Arab Chess Championships, and two Arab Individual Blitz Chess Championships. In 2015, he won the Asian Chess and Asian Blitz Championships. He has currently matched his peak...

GM Arkadij Naiditsch 2630 | #113

Arkadij Naiditsch is a German-Azerbaijani grandmaster and a former top-20 player in the world. He won the Dortmund Sparkassen 2005 tournament ahead of GMs like Veselin Topalov, Peter Svidler, and Vladimir Kramnik. In 2007, Naiditsch won the German Chess Championship while playing for the country. He...

GM Ruslan Ponomariov 2628 | #114

Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov is a former FIDE world champion and one of the greatest chess prodigies in history. He earned the world title at the age of 18 and in 1997 became the youngest person at the time to become a grandmaster—only 17 days after turning 14 years old. The same year, he won...

GM Konstantin Landa

Bio coming soon

GM Gabriel Sargissian 2628 | #114

Gabriel Sargissian is an Armenian grandmaster who won three Olympic gold medals with his national team.  As a young player, Sargissian won the Under-14 World Youth Chess Championship in 1996. He won bronze at the European Junior Chess Championship in 1998 and the individual European championship...

GM Anton Korobov 2627 | #116

Anton Korobov is a Ukrainian grandmaster and four-time national champion. He won individual gold at the 43rd Chess Olympiad as the best player on the reserve board, won the 2013 European Blitz Chess Championship, and is an exceptional rapid player—ranked fifth in the world (as of February 2021)....

GM Robert Hovhannisyan 2626 | #117

Robert Hovhannisyan is an Armenian grandmaster and the 2011 national champion.     In 2008 and 2009, Hovhannisyan won the national Under-18 championship. He won the national championship in 2011 and was a runner-up three more times, in 2012, 2014, and 2016.  Hovhannisyan won the...

GM Ioannis Papaioannou 2626 | #117

GM Luka Lenic 2626 | #117

Luka Lenic is a Slovenian grandmaster.

GM Mateusz Bartel 2625 | #120

GM Mateusz Bartel is a Polish grandmaster and one of the top 100 players in the world (as of January 2024). Bartel often represents Poland at the Chess Olympiad and won the individual gold medal on the fourth board in 2010.

GM Li Chao 2624 | #121

Li Chao is a Chinese grandmaster. He won the 2013 Asian Chess Championship and has had several top finishes in high-level tournaments around the world, such as his undefeated win at the Reykjavik Open in 2014. Li spent a considerable amount of time in 2015 and 2016 ranked in the world’s top-15...

GM Ediz Gurel 2624 | #121

Bio coming soon.

GM Rasmus Svane 2624 | #121

Rasmus Svane is a German chess grandmaster who qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup.

GM Maxim Matlakov 2623 | #124

Maxim Matlakov is a Russian grandmaster and currently one of the top-15 players in his country (as of February 2021). He also acted as GM Peter Svidler's second during the Candidates Tournaments of 2013, 2014, and 2016. Matlakov won the U18 section of the World Youth Chess Championship in 2009. That...