{"id":1568,"date":"2021-09-21T15:27:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T15:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chessquestions.com\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2021-09-21T15:31:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T15:31:03","slug":"top-ten-chess-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chessquestions.com\/top-ten-chess-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Chess Players: FIDE Rating, World Champs & Longevity"},"content":{"rendered":"
⭐⭐⭐ Take 10 minutes to read and improve your chess game ➡️ : This article was first published on, and is Copyright of Chessquestions.com<\/p>\n
Who are the best chess players? That is a difficult question to answer. Best in what sense? Best by FIDE rating<\/a>, best by the number of world championships won, or best by years being rated as the top player? It depends on which measure you prefer. In this article, I will look at all three measures and make our own list of who are the ten best chess players ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FIDE rating is a ranking system for chess players, which has been in place since 1970. It’s calculated based on an average of all their games played over the last few years (the more recent games are weighted more heavily). This list includes only active players as of May 2018 with ratings greater than 2700:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This list is based on the number of world championship<\/a> wins and successful defenses of the titles. There was a split between the FIDE and Classical World Titles<\/a> for around 13 years between 1993 and 2006 and this is taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who are the best chess players in the world? How have they contributed to the game? What were\/are their achievements? You’ll find out the answers to all these questions along with some fascinating stories. Every player on the list has been ranked on a mix of their achievements, chess strength and their contribution to the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This list is presented in Alphabetical order rather than any rating, or reference to lists above<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alexander Alekhine was the 4th World Champion known for his fierce attacking play, along with great positional and endgame skills. He became a world champion from 1927-1935, and once again from 1937-1946.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He dominated his rivals during the 1930s, often winning important tournaments by a huge margin. Also, the story of him becoming a world champion is quite fascinating. In 1927, no one had expected Alekhine to win against Capablanca. Capablanca was too strong during that period. However, Alekhine surprised everyone with his great preparation and managed to beat Capablanca. Soon, the relationship between the two world champions became strained. As a result, an exciting official rematch never happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1936, Alekhine lost the World Championship to Max Euwe (remember the Mathematician<\/a>?). However, he soon regained the title in the rematch in the following year. Alekhine was also a highly respected writer and he made important contributions in that regard as well. One of his biggest gifts to chess is the Alekhine opening<\/a>. It perfectly combines the elements of the hypermodern school of chess. Because of his contribution to chess and his domination during the 1930s, he’s considered to be one of the best chess players by many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vishwanathan Anand is a five time former world champion from India who holds a very unique record to his name. He is the only player to have won the numerous reputed titles apart from the World Championship title. They include the World Junior Champion(1987), the World Rapid Chess Champion(2003, 2017) and the World Blitz Cup(2000). Apart from that, he has also won a lot of prestigious chess tournaments over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the period 2008-2013, Anand was at his best, dominating the top level chess scene. No wonder he was a world champion during that time. It was Carlsen who dethroned Anand as the World Champion in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One cannot forget Anand’s contribution to the game, off the board. He alone has inspired a whole nation to pick up the sport. Today, India is one of the upcoming powerhouses in chess. The main catalyst for this is no one other than Anand. His contribution to chess on the board and off the board make undoubtedly one of the best players for chess in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Botvinnik was a true genius. He was a man who made immense contributions to the development of chess in a lot of different aspects. If you’ve read our article about chess and mathematics<\/a>, you might have a glimpse of his mathematical brilliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Botvinnik was a World Champion during different periods in history, from 1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963. Apart from that, he was also the man who coached 3 other world champions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you read that right – 3 other world champions including Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, all of them who are considered to be the strongest chess players of their era. Botvinnik is often credited for the dominance of the Soviet Union in chess. For that, he’s popularly known as the ‘Patriarch of Soviet Chess School’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But apart from that, Botvinnik was also a computer scientist by profession. He was the first person to develop a computer algorithm that could play chess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there’s one person who has been dominating the chess world in recent times, it is none other than Magnus Carlsen. After defeating Anand in 2013, he has proven time and time again why he’s the best chess player in the world. He successfully defended his World Championship title against players like Anand(2014), Karjakin(2016), Caruana(2018). In 2021, he’ll be defending the same title against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Carlsen’s domination in all formats of the game is well known. He has been a World Champion in Rapid and Blitz a lot of times as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the story doesn’t stop here. Carlsen is the only player to have achieved the highest elo rating in chess<\/a> of 2882. He became a world no.1 at the age<\/a> of 19. From July 2011 to the current date, Carlsen has been the number one ranked player in the world. It’s been 10 years that he has been at that spot, proving his mettle against other strong players. At one point, the difference between Carlsen and the second ranked player in the world was more than 50 elo points. It’s a huge gap at that level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people attribute his success to his immense fighting spirit and physical stamina. He consistently wins top events, often dominating his rivals. The records speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jose Raul Capablanca was the third World Champion. He was considered to be one of the most gifted players in the world. Capablanca became a world chess champion in 1921, defeating Emmanuel Lasker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endgame play was his specialty. He had the ability to outplay his rivals in equal endgames<\/a>. A lot of the future world champions have praised him for this, and modeled his style of play. Anatoly Karpov is one such player who comes to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that’s not to say Capablanca didn’t pay enough attention to other aspects of the game. He was also sharp and alert in tactics. When his play was evaluated by modern engines, it was found that his accuracy score was amongst the best when compared with other greats. In that sense, Capablanca had a very universal style. Another quality he was known for was his fast play, often taking very little time to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His dominance during his prime makes him one of the greatest chess players to have ever lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fabiano Caruana is a modern-day chess player. With the third-highest peak rating of all time, 2844, Fabiano is there at the top behind Carlsen. Over the years, he has dominated certain events against a world-class opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One such event which comes to mind is the 2014 Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. In that tournament, Fabiano had a perfect score in the first 7 rounds – 7\/7! The opposition? Magnus Calrsen, Levon Aronian, Veslin Topalov, Hiakru Nakamura and Maxime Vaicher Lagrave. No easy feat by any means, and it was truly a historic event in chess<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the board, Caruana is known for his ability to calculate like a machine and his immense fighting spirit. With a solid track record of victories in important top-level events, Caruana’s achievements are only behind that of Magnus Carlsen. Even though Caruana is renowned only for Classical time control<\/a>, he falls under the category of being one of the best players in the world currently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fischer was undoubtedly one of the strongest chess players in the world during his prime. He was an official world champion for only 3 years 1972-1975. You might wonder then why he was considered the best?<\/p>\n\n\n\nBest Chess Players by FIDE Rating:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Best Chess Players by World Championships:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
10 Best Chess Players in the World<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Alekhine, Alexander<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Anand, Vishwanathan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Botvinnik, Mikhail<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Carlsen, Magnus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Capablanca, Jose Raul<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Caruana, Fabiano<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Fischer, Robert James<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n