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Greatest Chess Players of All Time
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Greatest Chess Players of All Time

64 squares, infinite depth — who are the minds that have elevated chess to an art form?

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12 items
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01
Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand

Five-time World Champion and India's chess patriarch — the man who inspired a billion people to learn the game.

▲ Rising·Score +22
02
Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

America's greatest modern chess talent — five-time US Champion and Twitch's most popular chess personality.

▲ Steady·Score +15
03
M

Mikhail Tal

The Magician from Riga — Tal's wild sacrifices and complications terrified opponents and delighted fans.

▲ Steady·Score +15
04
Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen

World Champion from 2013–2023, peak ELO 2882 — the Norwegian has dominated chess like no one before him.

▲ Steady·Score +13
05
Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik

The man who dethroned Kasparov — Kramnik's Berlin Defense revolutionised opening theory for decades.

▲ Steady·Score +11
06
Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker

World Champion for 27 consecutive years — the longest-reigning champion in chess history.

▲ Steady·Score +9
07
Ding Liren

Ding Liren

China's reigning World Champion — proved that Asian players could claim the ultimate crown in classical chess.

▲ Steady·Score +9
08
F

Fabiano Caruana

The only player to push Carlsen to rapid tiebreaks in a World Championship match — elite classical champion.

▲ Steady·Score +7
09
José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca

World Champion 1921–27 — the Cuban's endgame technique was so pure it seemed effortless and inevitable.

▲ Steady·Score +7
10
A

Anatoly Karpov

World Champion from 1975–1985 — Karpov's positional mastery squeezed victories from seemingly equal positions.

▲ Steady·Score +7
11
Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer

The American genius who single-handedly challenged Soviet supremacy — his 1972 Spassky match was the Cold War on a board.

▲ Steady·Score +4
12
G

Garry Kasparov

World Champion for 15 years — Kasparov's aggressive attacking chess and preparation were decades ahead.

▲ Steady·Score +2
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“Viswanathan Anand”

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