Famous Chess Players
Throughout the history of chess, great players have risen above the competition to become legends. From Paul Morphy, to Bobby Fischer, to Garry Kasparov, each has their own story, style and personality.
Top Five Female Chess Players of All-Time
A list of the top female chess players in the history of the game.
Today's Best Chess Players
A guide to the best chess players today, including the top chess players in the world.
A History of the World Chess Championship
A brief history of the World Chess Championship.
World Chess Champions
A list of the world chess champions throughout history.
US Chess Champions
A list of the US Chess Champions throughout history, including the winner of each US Chess Championship.
Women's World Chess Championship
A history of the Women's World Chess Championship, including a list of all winners.
The Five Best French Chess Players of All-Time
The top French players of all-time, as voted on by our readers.
Vassily Ivanchuk
A profile of grandmaster and famous chess player, Vassily Ivanchuk.
Alexei Shirov
A profile of famous chess player and grandmaster Alexei Shirov.
Vugar Gashimov
A profile of famous chess player, Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov.
Sergei Movsesian
A profile of famous chess player and grandmaster Sergei Movsesian.
Alexander Grischuk
A profile of Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, a famous chess player.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
A profile of famous chess player and French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Ruslan Ponomariov
A profile of Ruslan Ponomariov, a famous chess player and former FIDE World Champion.
Leinier Domínguez Perez
A profile of famous Cuban chess player and grandmaster Leinier Domínguez Perez.
Evgeny Alekseev
A profile of Evgeny Alekseev, a famous chess player and grandmaster.
Fabiano Caruana
A profile of Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, a famous chess player.
Gata Kamsky
A profile of famous chess player and American grandmaster Gata Kamsky.
Boris Gelfand
A profile of famous chess player and Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand.
Magnus Carlsen
A profile of grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, one of the world's top chess players.
Sergey Karjakin
A profile of famous chess player and grandmaster, Sergey Karjakin.
Étienne Bacrot
A profile of famous chess player and French Grandmaster, Étienne Bacrot.
Alexander Morozevich
A profile of Alexander Morozevich, a famous chess player from Russia.
Wang Yue
A profile of famous chess player and Chinese grandmaster, Wang Yue.
Veselin Topalov
A profile of Grandmaster Veselin Topalov, a famous chess player from Bulgaria.
Peter Leko
A profile of famous chess player Grandmaster Peter Leko.
Judit Polgar
A profile of Grandmaster Judit Polgar, a famous chess player.
Vladimir Akopian
A profile of Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian, a famous chess player.
Hikaru Nakamura
A profile of American chess grandmaster and famous chess player, Hikaru Nakamura.
Levon Aronian
A profile of the famous chess player and grandmaster, Levon Aronian.
Anatoly Karpov
A profile of chess player and former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov.
The Top Five American Chess Players of All-Time
About.com readers voted for the top five American chess players of all-time, and here are the results.
Garry Kasparov
A profile of former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
Boris Spassky
A profile of former world chess champion Boris Spassky.
Tigran Petrosian
A profile of former world chess champion Tigran Petrosian.
Samuel Reshevsky
A profile of grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky.
Mikhail Tal
A profile of chess player and former World Chess Champion Mikhail Tal.
Top Ten Chess Players Who Never Won a World Championship
While these players may never have been World Chess Champions, they still left their mark as some of the strongest players to even play the game.
Vasily Smyslov
A profile of former World Chess Champion Vasily Smyslov.
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer
A profile of former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer.
Mikhail Botvinnik
A profile of former World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik.
Max Euwe
A profile of former World Chess Champion Max Euwe.
Alexander Alekhine
A profile of world chess champion Alexander Alekhine.
José Raúl Capablanca
A profile of former World Chess Champion Jose Raul Capablanca.
Emanuel Lasker
A profile of former World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker.
Wilhelm Steinitz
A profile of the first World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz.
Viswanathan Anand
A profile of World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand.
Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy is widely considered the greatest chess player of his era.
Chess Player Biographies
A collection of information on top players past and present.
Chess World Champions
Information on many of the official world champions, from Steinitz to Kasparov.
Famous Chess Player Photos
Susan Polgar's collection of photos of famous chess players.
Kasparov.com
The official site of former world champion Garry Kasparov.
Peter Svidler
A profile of famous chess player and grandmaster, Peter Svidler.
Hou Yifan
A profile of famous Chinese chess player Hou Yifan.
Pavel Eljanov
A profile of famous Ukrainian chess player Pavel Eljanov.
Viktor Laznicka
Profile of 2010 World Open champion and grandmaster Viktor Laznicka.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
A profile of the famous chess player, Azerbaijani grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Wang Hao
A profile of famous chess player, grandmaster Wang Hao.
Dmitry Jakovenko
A profile of Grandmaster Dmitry Jakovenko, a famous Russian chess player.
Vladimir Malakhov
A profile of Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Malakhov, a famous chess player.
Alexander Motylev
A profile of famous chess player Alexander Motylev.
Humpy Koneru
A profile of Humpy Koneru, a famous chess player.
Teimour Radjabov
A profile of Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov, a famous chess player.
Luke McShane
A profile of the famous English chess player, Luke McShane.
Le Quang Liem
A profile of the famous Vietnamese chess player, Le Quang Liem
Anish Giri
A profile of famous chess player Anish Giri.
Vladimir Potkin
A profile of Russian chess player Vladimir Potkin, the winner of the 2011 European Chess Championship.
Larry Christiansen
A profile of American chess grandmaster Larry Christiansen.
Robert Hess
A profile of American chess player Robert Hess.
Ray Robson
A profile of American chess player Ray Robson.
Celebrity Chess Players
For centuries, celebrities and other famous people have been fascinated by the game of chess.
Laurent Fressinet
Laurent Fressinet is one of France's top chess players.
Mir Sultan Khan
Mir Sultan Khan took the chess world by storm in the late 1920s, instantly becoming one of the world's best players.
Baadur Jobava
Grandmaster Baadur Jobava of Georgia, winner of the 2006 Aeroflot Open.
Jan Timman
Jan Timman was one of the world's best players during the 1980's.
Dmitry Andreikin
Grandmaster Dmitry Andreikin won the 2012 Russian Chess Championship.
Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was one of the world's greatest players who never played for the World Championship.
Mikhail Chigorin
Before Russians dominated the world chess scene, Mikhail Chigorin was the first great Russian master.
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort was one of the participants in the first ever World Chess Championship match.
Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen was one of the best players of the 19th century.
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi was one of the greatest players never to win the World Chess Championship.
Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar is one of the greatest female chess players of all time.
World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand is a World Chess Champion who has been one of the world's top players since the 1990's.
World Championship Candidate Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is the world's top-ranked chess player.
World Championship Candidate Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian is a perennial World Chess Championship contender, and one of the world's top players.
World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik is a former World Champion and one of the strongest players of the last two decades.
World Championship Candidate Peter Svidler
Peter Svidler is one of the most successful players in the history of the Russian Chess Championships.