Grandmaster profiles
Career biographies, rating histories, and playing style analysis for chess's greatest players.
- Players
Alireza Firouzja: The French Prodigy Chasing the Top
Born in Iran in 2003, playing for France since 2020. Alireza Firouzja crossed 2800 FIDE at 18, won the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, and is consistently ranked in the world's top 5. His aggressive style makes every game worth watching.
- Players
Anatoly Karpov: 10 Years as World Chess Champion and the Kasparov Rivalry
Karpov won the title in 1975 without playing Fischer, defended it six times, and held it for a decade before losing to Kasparov in 1985. His positional style defined a generation of professional chess.
- Players
Anish Giri: The Dutch Grandmaster Known for Draws and Self-Deprecating Humor
Anish Giri is consistently ranked in the world's top 10, has been a Candidates Tournament fixture for over a decade, and is one of chess's most visible online personalities. He's also drawn the most games in the most controversial stretch in recent Candidates history.
- Players
Bobby Fischer: The Most Gifted and Troubled Champion in Chess History
From GM at 15 to the 1972 Cold War match in Reykjavik: Bobby Fischer's rise through the US Championship, the 6-0 Candidates sweep, and the Game 6 standing ovation that ended the match.
- Players
Boris Spassky: World Chess Champion and the Man Fischer Had to Beat
Boris Spassky was World Chess Champion from 1969 to 1972. He lost the title to Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik in one of the most dramatic matches in chess history. A biography of a player history mostly remembers as Fischer's opponent: which undersells him significantly.
- Players
The Carlsen-Niemann Affair: Where It Actually Stands Now
In September 2022, Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup after losing to Hans Niemann, implying cheating. The $100M lawsuit was dismissed. The parties settled. Niemann reached a peak rating of 2738 in 2025. Here's the complete timeline of what happened and what it means.
- Players
Ding Liren: China's First World Chess Champion
How Ding Liren won the 2023 World Chess Championship in Astana: the 100-game unbeaten streak, the match against Nepomniachtchi that went to tiebreaks, and what the title means for chess outside Europe.
- Players
Emanuel Lasker: World Chess Champion for 27 Years
Emanuel Lasker held the World Chess Championship from 1894 to 1921: 27 years, the longest reign in history. He was also a mathematician, philosopher, and close friend of Einstein. A biography of chess's most resilient champion.
- Players
Fabiano Caruana: From 2844 to the Draw Match That Defined an Era
Fabiano Caruana's complete biography: his rise from Miami to among the highest ratings in chess history, and the 2018 World Chess Championship against Magnus Carlsen that produced 12 consecutive classical draws.
- Players
Garry Kasparov: 15 Years as World Chess Champion
The complete biography of Garry Kasparov: his rise from Baku, the four Karpov matches, the 2851 peak rating, and why the Topalov game at Wijk aan Zee 1999 is still studied today.
- Players
GothamChess: Who Is Levy Rozman and Why Does He Have Millions of Subscribers?
Levy Rozman is an International Master and the most-watched chess content creator on YouTube. His GothamChess channel runs game analysis, Guess the Elo, and beginner guides that made chess watchable for people who don't play.
- Players
Gukesh Dommaraju: The Youngest World Chess Champion in History
Born May 2006. GM at 12. Candidates winner at 17. World Chess Champion at 18, beating Ding Liren 7.5–6.5 in Singapore in December 2024. How Gukesh Dommaraju got there.
- Players
Hikaru Nakamura: GM at 15, Five-Time US Champion, Chess's Biggest Streamer
Hikaru Nakamura's biography: youngest American GM at the time, five US Championship titles, multiple World Championship Candidates appearances, and the streaming career that brought chess to millions.
- Players
Ian Nepomniachtchi: Two World Championship Finals, Zero Titles
Ian Nepomniachtchi qualified for back-to-back World Chess Championship matches in 2021 and 2023, the first player to do so in decades. He lost both. A biography of the most prominent player of the Carlsen era who never won the title.
- Players
José Raúl Capablanca: The Chess Machine Who Lost Only 34 Games
Capablanca was World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927 and lost just 34 games in his career. His endgame mastery was so complete that opponents called it supernatural. The biography of the most naturally talented player chess has ever seen.
- Players
Judit Polgar: The Best Chess Player Hungary Ever Produced
Judit Polgar broke Fischer's record for youngest grandmaster at 15 years and 5 months, reached a peak of 2735, and beat 11 world champions during her career. She retired in 2014 without ever winning the world championship. A biography.
- Players
Levon Aronian: Armenia's Chess Legend and One of the World's Longest-Serving Top 10 Players
Levon Aronian has been ranked in the world's top 10 for over 15 years. The Armenian grandmaster won the 2014 Candidates, has represented two countries, and plays an attacking style built on deep opening preparation and tactical creativity.
- Players
Magnus Carlsen: The Greatest Chess Player of All Time
A complete profile of Magnus Carlsen: his record GM title at 13, five world championship cycles, the 2882 peak that no one has matched, and why he walked away from the title in 2023.
- Players
Max Euwe: The Only Amateur World Chess Champion
Max Euwe defeated Alexander Alekhine in 1935 to become World Chess Champion, the only amateur to win the title, while holding a full-time job as a mathematics professor. He lost the rematch in 1937. His second career as FIDE President shaped modern chess.
- Players
Mikhail Botvinnik: The Soviet Chess Patriarch Who Won the Title Three Times
Mikhail Botvinnik was World Chess Champion from 1948 to 1963, with two interruptions. The only champion to lose the title, win it back, lose it again, and win it back again. A biography of the man who built Soviet chess and the modern approach to chess preparation.
- Players
Mikhail Tal: The Magician from Riga
Mikhail Tal became World Chess Champion in 1960 at 23 by playing chess no one could calculate. His sacrifices were often unprovable. They won anyway. A biography of the most unpredictable attacking player in chess history.
- Players
Nodirbek Abdusattorov: Uzbekistan's World Rapid Champion at 17
Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2021 at 17 years old, beating Magnus Carlsen in a playoff. He became the first Uzbek player to break 2700 FIDE and is consistently ranked in the world's top 20.
- Players
Paul Morphy and the Opera Game: Chess's First Genius
Paul Morphy dominated European chess in 1858–1859 at age 21 and retired before 25. His Opera Game, 17 moves of punishment for bad development, is still the clearest explanation of why piece activity beats material. A biography.
- Players
R. Praggnanandhaa: India's Chess Prodigy With the Hard-to-Spell Name
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became the youngest International Master at 10 and one of the youngest grandmasters at 12. He reached the World Cup final in 2023 and is among the world's top 15 players at 19. The complete biography.
- Players
Sergey Karjakin: The Youngest Grandmaster Ever Who Nearly Beat Carlsen in 2016
Karjakin set the youngest grandmaster record at 12 years, 7 months in 2002, challenged Magnus Carlsen for the world title in 2016, and tied the classical match 6–6 before losing the rapid tiebreaks. His career since 2022 has been complicated by public statements about Russia's war in Ukraine.
- Players
Javokhir Sindarov Won the 2025 Chess World Cup at 19. Then He Won the Candidates.
In November 2025, Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan became the youngest FIDE World Cup winner in history at age 19, beating Wei Yi in tiebreaks in Goa. Five months later he won the 2026 Candidates Tournament with a record score. A breakdown of chess's most alarming new force.
- Players
Tigran Petrosian: Iron Tigran, the World Champion Who Never Lost a Match
Tigran Petrosian was World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He won the title from Botvinnik without a rematch clause, defended it against Spassky in 1966, and lost it to Spassky in 1969. His prophylactic, defensive style was unique in chess history.
- Players
Vasily Smyslov: World Chess Champion and Master of the Endgame
Vasily Smyslov was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958, beating Botvinnik and then losing the rematch. His endgame technique was considered the finest of any player except Capablanca. He played at world class level into his 60s.
- Players
Viswanathan Anand: India's First World Chess Champion
Anand won the unified World Chess Championship in 2007 and defended it four times. Peak rating 2817. His speed of calculation, he processes positions faster than almost anyone who has ever played, is why he held the title through his mid-40s.
- Players
Vladimir Kramnik: The Player Who Solved Kasparov
The complete biography of Vladimir Kramnik: his rise in Tuapse, the Berlin Defense that ended Kasparov's 15-year reign, the toilet scandal in 2006, and why his contribution to chess theory is permanent.
- Players
Wesley So: The Quiet Champion Who Won the First Fischer Random World Championship
Wesley So was born in the Philippines, became a US grandmaster in 2014, won the US Chess Championship twice, and won the inaugural Fischer Random (Chess960) World Championship in 2019. His solid, precise style keeps him in the world's top 15.
- Players
Wilhelm Steinitz: The First World Chess Champion and Father of Positional Chess
Wilhelm Steinitz won the first World Chess Championship in 1886 at age 50 and held it until 1894. He also invented modern positional chess theory, the idea that small advantages accumulate and that sound defense beats reckless attack.