How Many Chess Grandmasters are There? (Age, Location, Top 100)

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A Grandmaster in chess is the highest title you can achieve. A grandmaster title is prized but not a prize in itself like a sportsman or team might win a title by beating all opponents in an event.

The number of Grandmasters will be ever changing, so how many are there as of today?

There are 1725 Grandmasters of chess as of February 2021 with a further 5 applications from players achieving grandmaster scores in January 2021. Women make up just 37 of this number, whilst there are currently 318 WGrandmasters in the controversial women’s Grandmaster classification.

The title of Grandmaster is achieved for attaining a minimum Elo ranking from FIDE of 2500 at any point in a career. It is not necessary to stay above 2500 to keep the title once gained. This allows for a growing number.

Read on to find out more about the top 100 Grandmasters right now including ages, where they come from and the top players.

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2864	0	1990
2	Ding, Liren	g	CHN	2806	28	1992
3	Firouzja, Alireza	g	FRA	2804	0	2003
4	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2786	8	1992
5	Rapport, Richard	g	HUN	2776	0	1996
6	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2773	0	1990
7	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2770	8	1985
8	So, Wesley	g	USA	2766	12	1993
9	Aronian, Levon	g	USA	2765	12	1982
10	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2761	6	1994
11	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2760	10	1987
12	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	USA	2753	12	1983
13	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2753	0	1987
14	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2751	0	1969
15	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2750	6	1990
16	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	g	POL	2750	0	1998
17	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2747	0	1990
18	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2744	0	1989
19	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2742	0	1983
20	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2730	0	1975
21	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	FID	2729	0	1990
22	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2727	16	1999
23	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	g	IND	2723	0	1994
24	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	FID	2722	6	1987
25	Shankland, Sam	g	USA	2718	8	1991
26	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2715	1	1999
27	Yu, Yangyi	g	CHN	2710	6	1994
28	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2709	10	1985
29	Esipenko, Andrey	g	FID	2709	6	2002
30	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2708	0	1987
31	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2705	0	1986
32	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2704	0	1982
33	Sevian, Samuel	g	USA	2703	4	2000
34	Dubov, Daniil	g	RUS	2702	6	1996
35	Fedoseev, Vladimir	g	FID	2701	0	1995
36	Artemiev, Vladislav	g	RUS	2700	0	1998
37	Maghsoodloo, Parham	g	IRI	2699	0	2000
38	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2698	0	1971
39	Alekseenko, Kirill	g	FID	2698	0	1997
40	Sjugirov, Sanan	g	RUS	2696	0	1993
41	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2696	0	1987
42	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2695	1	1972
43	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	2694	11	1983
44	Saric, Ivan	g	CRO	2693	17	1990
45	Nyzhnyk, Illya	g	UKR	2692	9	1996
46	Anton Guijarro, David	g	ESP	2691	11	1995
47	Salem, A.R. Saleh	g	UAE	2690	0	1993
48	Predke, Alexandr	g	FID	2688	6	1994
49	Xiong, Jeffery	g	USA	2688	2	2000
50	Amin, Bassem	g	EGY	2686	1	1988
51	Oparin, Grigoriy	g	FID	2685	6	1997
52	Volokitin, Andrei	g	UKR	2684	9	1986
53	Robson, Ray	g	USA	2684	2	1994
54	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2683	0	1976
55	Navara, David	g	CZE	2682	12	1985
56	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2682	11	1986
57	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2682	0	1983
58	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2681	0	1983
59	Li, Chao b	g	CHN	2679	0	1989
60	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2677	0	1976
61	Erigaisi Arjun	g	IND	2675	16	2003
62	Sarana, Alexey	g	FID	2675	0	2000
63	Kryvoruchko, Yuriy	g	UKR	2674	9	1986
64	Kovalenko, Igor	g	UKR	2674	0	1988
65	Matlakov, Maxim	g	RUS	2674	0	1991
66	Santos Latasa, Jaime	g	ESP	2672	18	1996
67	Korobov, Anton	g	UKR	2671	13	1985
68	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	g	ROU	2671	11	2001
69	Jones, Gawain C B	g	ENG	2669	5	1987
70	Guseinov, Gadir	g	AZE	2668	11	1986
71	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2668	2	1968
72	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2668	0	1983
73	Areshchenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2667	11	1986
74	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2667	6	2004
75	Ma, Qun	g	CHN	2666	10	1991
76	Swiercz, Dariusz	g	USA	2665	3	1994
77	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2663	14	1997
78	Narayanan.S.L	g	IND	2662	0	1998
79	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2661	2	1974
80	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2661	0	2004
81	Gukesh D	g	IND	2659	25	2006
82	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2659	1	1979
83	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2659	0	1985
84	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	2659	0	1977
85	Niemann, Hans Moke	g	USA	2656	18	2003
86	Mamedov, Rauf	g	AZE	2656	0	1988
87	Melkumyan, Hrant	g	ARM	2655	9	1989
88	Tari, Aryan	g	NOR	2654	14	1999
89	Berkes, Ferenc	g	HUN	2654	3	1985
90	Demchenko, Anton	g	FID	2654	0	1987
91	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	AZE	2654	0	1985
92	Mareco, Sandro	g	ARG	2653	18	1987
93	Howell, David W L	g	ENG	2653	0	1990
94	Martirosyan, Haik M.	g	ARM	2652	27	2000
95	Pichot, Alan	g	ARG	2652	9	1998
96	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2652	0	1980
97	Moussard, Jules	g	FRA	2651	20	1995
98	Svane, Rasmus	g	GER	2651	14	1997
99	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2651	9	1981
100	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	g	IRI	2650	8	2001
101	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2650	0	1994

Grandmasters are ranked using the Elo system, given its name by its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian physicist and master chess player (talk about multi-talented!). Rather than a basic linear ranking system, this relies on statistical distribution to give an indicator of how likely a player is to succeed against opponents with similar or different rankings.

This system is seen as a touch outdated when measuring new players, as they typically have a higher chance of success that Elo’s system would allow, but it works quite well for grandmasters. This has been adopted by FIDE with a few adjustments, and you need a FIDE rating of over 2500 in order to be recognized as a grandmaster in chess.

How Many Women Chess Grandmasters Are There?

In February 2021, just 29 of the 1725 Grandmasters are women, The highest rated of them, Hou Yifan of China, the youngest ever female grandmaster, holding a standard rating of 2658. A rating that does not grab her a position in the top 100 Grandmasters right now.

Alongside the Grandmaster title, there is also a sometimes controversial, “Women’s Grandmaster [WGM] title, for which the qualification is around 200 points less than the official GM rating.

In some cases, and in particular, those of Antoaneta Stefanova [2470] and Pia Cramling [2459] the Women’s Grandmaster title is not a title they hold.

In the case of Cramling, a long-time proponent of the very top of chess’s elite insisted on playing in men’s tournaments and gained Grandmaster status in 1992, the Swede remains just behind Stefanova in the overall rankings. The Bulgarian only gained her Grandmaster status some 10 years later in 2002, becoming Women’s World Champion 2 years later in 2004 and peaking at #2 woman in 2003

The First Female Grandmaster

The first woman to be awarded the title of grandmaster by the FIDE was Nona Gaprindashvili, who achieved this rank at age 37. She has talked at length about people not taking women players seriously, and that in order to gain recognition like a man would you have to put in a lot more work.

This may have an unexpected impact on the Elo rating of female chess grandmasters, as you may have less peers at your level willing to take you seriously and accept your challenge as an opponent, causing your rating to stagnate.

FIDE has a different list of female grandmasters (WGM) as a separate title, which allows for more immediate recognition for women players (although these players are able to rank in the main list as well). Here are the FIDE’s top ranking female players as of 2021.

Rank	Name	Country	FIDE Rank
1	Hou Yifan	CHN	2658
2	Aleksandra Goryachkina	RUS	2593
3	Humpy Koneru	IND	2586
4	Wenjun Ju	CHN	2560
5	Kateryna Lagno	RUS	2546
6	Mariya Muzychuk	UKR	2544
7	Viktorija Cmilyte	LTU	2538
8	Anna Muzychuk	UKR	2535
9	Nana Dzagnidze	GEO	2524
10	Dronavalli Harika	IND	2515

In some lists, you will find female players with both GM and WGM suffixes to indicate both titles. on occasion, and as is the case with Antoaneta Stefanova [2470] and Pia Cramling [2459], you’ll find GM only.

Who is The Youngest Grandmaster in Chess?

The youngest Grandmaster is a title that doesn’t change very often. In the male class, it is a very close call whilst in the female grandmaster class, the current highest-rated woman Hou Yifan replaced Judit Polgár for that honor.

Current Youngest Grandmaster

The Youngest current Grandmaster is Abhimanyu Mishra from New Jersey in the USA, who in 2021 became the youngest ever.

Youngest Ever to Become Chess Grandmaster

Abhimanyu Mishra the American chess prodigy from New Jersey has become the youngest ever grandmaster in chess in 2021 aged just 12 years, 4 months, 25 days, beating Sergey Karjakin who had held the title of youngest since 2002

Sergey Karjakin was the youngest ever player to be attributed with Chess Grandmaster status having achieved the feat at the age of 12 years, 7 months and 0 days. Just 17 days quicker than Gukesh Dommaraju but has lost that title after hanging onto it for some 19 years with Abhimanyu Mishra now the proud owner of the label.

There is some evidence to suggest that chess players play the best between 35-45 years of age, but players are getting better younger and younger.

The average age of a Grandmaster is 32.9 years old

List of Youngest Chess GMs In History

1950 David Bronstein Soviet Union 26 years
1952 Tigran Petrosian Soviet Union 23 years
1955 Boris Spassky Soviet Union 18 years
1958 Bobby Fischer United States 15 years, 6 months, 1 day
1991 Judit Polgár Hungary 15 years, 4 months, 28 days
1994 Péter Lékó Hungary 14 years, 4 months, 22 days
1997 Étienne Bacrot France 14 years, 2 months, 0 days
1997 Ruslan Ponomariov Ukraine 14 years, 0 months, 17 days
1999 Bu Xiangzhi China 13 years, 10 months, 13 days
2002 Sergey Karjakin Ukraine 12 years, 7 months, 0 days
2021 Abhimanyu Mishra United States 12 years, 4 months, 25 days

Which Country has the most Chess Grandmasters?

With 108 Russia has the greatest number of Active Chess Grandmasters followed by The United States and Germany filling the third spot. If considering the populace the Czech Republic, Armenia and Georgie have more Grandmasters per capita than any other country.

Name	Title	Tr.T.	Fed	Std.	Rpd.	Blz.	B-Year
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	GM		RUS	2773	2821	2740	1990
Karjakin, Sergey	GM		RUS	2747	2736	2611	1990
Grischuk, Alexander	GM		RUS	2742	2759	2762	1983
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	GM		RUS	2708	2631	2695	1987
Dubov, Daniil	GM		RUS	2702	2712	2791	1996
Artemiev, Vladislav	GM		RUS	2700	2690	2811	1998
Sjugirov, Sanan	GM		RUS	2696	2578	2602	1993
Svidler, Peter	GM		RUS	2683	2752	2725	1976
Jakovenko, Dmitry	GM		RUS	2682	2684	2625	1983
Matlakov, Maxim	GM		RUS	2674	2671	2669	1991
Najer, Evgeniy	GM	FST	RUS	2659	2590	2562	1977
Inarkiev, Ernesto	GM		RUS	2659	2678	2639	1985
Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	GM	FT	RUS	2640	2633	2500	1989
Rublevsky, Sergei	GM	FST	RUS	2637	2630	2591	1974
Riazantsev, Alexander	GM		RUS	2634	2573	2595	1985
Popov, Ivan	GM		RUS	2629	2616	2578	1990
Ponkratov, Pavel	GM		RUS	2624	2493	2487	1988
Dreev, Aleksey	GM		RUS	2623	2596	2625	1969
Paravyan, David	GM		RUS	2617	2636	2569	1998
Khismatullin, Denis	GM		RUS	2616	2532	2543	1984
Grachev, Boris	GM		RUS	2615	2638	2555	1986
Khairullin, Ildar	GM		RUS	2615	2671	2657	1990
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	GM WGM		RUS	2610	2473	2426	1998
Sakaev, Konstantin	GM		RUS	2603	2510	2632	1974
Lysyj, Igor	GM	FST	RUS	2603	2524	2611	1987
Zvjaginsev, Vadim	GM		RUS	2599	2488	2601	1976
Kobalia, Mikhail	GM	FST	RUS	2596	2507	2667	1978
Alekseev, Evgeny	GM		RUS	2591	2600	2606	1985
Shimanov, Aleksandr	GM		RUS	2581	2616	2605	1992
Shomoev, Anton	GM		RUS	2576	2555	2499	1981
Kokarev, Dmitry	GM		RUS	2576	2546	2595	1982
Timofeev, Artyom	GM		RUS	2574	2571	2594	1985
Bocharov, Ivan	GM		RUS	2571	2570	2620	1990
Lintchevski, Daniil	GM		RUS	2571	2525	2583	1990
Demidov, Mikhail	GM		RUS	2571	2525	2525	1992
Potkin, Vladimir	GM	FST	RUS	2571	2547	2430	1982
Afanasiev, Nikita	GM		RUS	2567	2558	2504	2000
Goganov, Aleksey	GM		RUS	2561	2522	2552	1991
Petrov, Nikita	GM		RUS	2560	2507	2529	1996
Kryakvin, Dmitry	GM		RUS	2556	2410	2422	1984
Lagno, Kateryna	GM WGM		RUS	2550	2531	2522	1989
Vavulin, Maxim	GM		RUS	2550	2479	2544	1998
Rychagov, Andrey	GM		RUS	2549	2479	2500	1979
Pridorozhni, Aleksei	GM		RUS	2549	2547	2581	1981
Stukopin, Andrey	GM		RUS	2546	2561	2450	1994
Moiseenko, Vadim	GM		RUS	2542	2496	2478	1994
Lomasov, Semyon	GM		RUS	2542	2576	2445	2002
Kharitonov, Alexandr	GM		RUS	2542	2573	2465	1986
Shariyazdanov, Andrey	GM		RUS	2541	2360	2407	1976
Iljiushenok, Ilia	GM		RUS	2540	2451	2489	1993
Popov, Valerij	GM		RUS	2537	2521	2523	1974
Sychev, Klementy	GM		RUS	2537	2489	2564	1996
Sorokin, Aleksey	GM		RUS	2535	2561	2476	2000
Tsydypov, Zhamsaran	GM		RUS	2533	2574	2614	1996
Matsenko, Sergei	GM		RUS	2530	2505	2481	1990
Novikov, Stanislav	GM		RUS	2528	2403	2370	1985
Yemelin, Vasily	GM		RUS	2526	2511	2456	1976
Belous, Vladimir	GM		RUS	2525	2623	2534	1993
Lobanov, Sergei	GM		RUS	2524	2433	2524	2001
Savchenko, Boris	GM		RUS	2524	2605	2557	1986
Khegay, Dmitriy	GM		RUS	2523	2480	2457	1997
Rozum, Ivan	GM		RUS	2522	2550	2524	1991
Frolyanov, Dmitry	GM		RUS	2521	2453	2378	1986
Mozharov, Mikhail	GM		RUS	2521	2462	2305	1990
Epishin, Vladimir	GM		RUS	2517	2479	2473	1965
Shaposhnikov, Evgeny	GM		RUS	2517	2511	2573	1981
Bocharov, Dmitry	GM		RUS	2516	2566	2541	1982
Drygalov, Andrey	GM		RUS	2510	2461	2540	1999
Volkov, Sergey	GM		RUS	2510	2568	2475	1974
Moskalenko, Alexander	GM		RUS	2508	2511	2434	1988
Kornev, Alexei	GM		RUS	2500	2523	2492	1976
Burmakin, Vladimir	GM		RUS	2495	2404	2513	1967
Levin, Evgeny A.	GM		RUS	2495	2556	2460	1990
Zakhartsov, Vladimir	GM		RUS	2487	2533	2428	1997
Chernobay, Artem	GM		RUS	2484	2461	2473	1989
Potapov, Pavel	GM		RUS	2481	2459	2344	1990
Gabrielian, Artur	GM		RUS	2480	2450	2440	1982
Gunina, Valentina	GM WGM		RUS	2471	2421	2381	1989
Yudin, Sergei	GM		RUS	2469	2460	2600	1986
Kabanov, Nikolai	GM		RUS	2467	2372	2304	1980
Belozerov, Andrei	GM		RUS	2462	2437	2320	1977
Vorobiov, Evgeny E.	GM		RUS	2457	2475	2476	1976
Bryakin, Mikhail	GM		RUS	2456	2416	2417	1997
Sveshnikov, Evgeny	GM		RUS	2456	2327	2255	1950
Novikov, Maxim	GM		RUS	2443	2474	2409	1972
Iskusnyh, Sergei	GM		RUS	2443	2434	2492	1974
Iljushin, Alexei	GM		RUS	2442	2477	2462	1980
Rashkovsky, Nukhim N	GM		RUS	2441	2398	2486	1946
Dvoirys, Semen I.	GM		RUS	2439	2371	2337	1958
Matinian, Nikita	GM		RUS	2435	2341	2422	1992
Bezgodov, Alexei	GM		RUS	2431	2387	2383	1969
Potapov, Alexander	GM		RUS	2425	2315	2255	1969
Ulybin, Mikhail	GM		RUS	2423	2336	2226	1971
Balashov, Yuri S	GM	FST	RUS	2417	2345	2283	1949
Chernyshov, Konstantin	GM		RUS	2409	2488		1967
Girya, Olga	GM WGM		RUS	2408	2297	2275	1991
Gleizerov, Evgeny	GM		RUS	2408	2406	2377	1963
Lugovskoy, Maxim	GM		RUS	2400	2473	2429	1996
Tishin, Petr	GM		RUS	2396	2325	2265	1976
Karpatchev, Aleksandr	GM		RUS	2393	2458	2338	1967
Nevostrujev, Vladimir	GM		RUS	2392	2396	2474	1966
Raetsky, Alexander	GM	FT	RUS	2384	2344	2201	1961
Solozhenkin, Evgeniy	GM		RUS	2373	2328	2433	1966
Alavkin, Arseny	GM		RUS	2373	2385	2380	1969
Yagupov, Igor	GM	FT	RUS	2303	2272	2153	1965
Naumkin, Igor	GM		RUS	2266	2253	2070	1965
Pushkov, Nikolai	GM		RUS	2232	2035	2187	1946
Vul, Arkadi Eremeevich	GM		RUS	2181	1959	2057	1953

With chess part of the national curriculum in schools in Russia and many of the former Soviet states it is no wonder we find them at the top and the former states in lofty positions within the Top 100 Countries for Grandmasters.

So there is 1 Chess Grandmaster for every 562500 Russians.

That is fairly good density when looking at India for instance. 5th in terms of number of Grandmasters, against their colossal 1366,000,000 population, which equate to just 1 in 21million!

Most Grandmasters in Chess per Capita?

Iceland produces the most chess grandmasters per capita with 14 grandmasters accounting for 1 in every 25,000 Icelanders. They are 44th in the table of top grandmaster nations, and just beat Czech Republic in 14th in the top 100, with 36 GM’s, accounting for 1 in 27,733. The Czechs have the highest density in the top 20 list.

These figures were sourced in February 2021, an up to date list of grandmasters by country can be found on the Federations Ranking Page on the FIDE website.

Become a Grandmaster Yourself

So, now it is time for you to work towards gaining a 2500 ranking and becoming a Grandmaster. It’s no easy feat. It takes more than 3 years to become a Grandmaster in Chess once you are on the radar and many more years to get to that level.

As we have seen, the Grandmaster title has been achieved as young as Twelve, but according to PNAS, who produced a paper called, ‘Life cycle patterns of cognitive performance over the long run‘ using chess for its research, Grandmasters show peak performance between the ages of 35-45.