This article examines a number of methodologies that have been suggested for the task of comparing top chess players throughout history, particularly the question of comparing the greatest players of different eras. Statistical methods offer objectivity but, whilst there is agreement on systems to rate the strengths of current players, there is disagreement and controversy on whether such techniques can be applied to players from different generations who never competed against each other.

Statistical methods

Elo System

Main article: Elo rating system

Perhaps the best-known statistical model is that devised by Arpad Elo. In his The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present,^[1] he gave ratings to players corresponding to their performance over the best five-year span of their career. According to this system the highest ratings achieved were: Chess Go The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... . Árpád Élő (1903-1992) is the creator of the ELO rating system. ...

• 2725 – José Raúl Capablanca
• 2720 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Emanuel Lasker
• 2700 – Mikhail Tal
• 2690 – Alexander Alekhine, Paul Morphy, Vasily Smyslov.

(Though published in 1978, Elo's list did not include Fischer and Karpov).^[2] José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German World Chess Champion, mathematician, and philosopher born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... Mikhail Tal (Latvian: ; Russian: , Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal, IPA: ) (November 9, 1936–June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, and the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (sometimes spelled Aljechin or Alechin) (IPA: ; other members of his family pronounce it ; Russian: ; French: Alexandre Alekhine) (October 31 or November 1, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a Russian-born naturalized French chess grandmaster (officially naturalized in 1927 only three days before the World Champion title), and... Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, was an American chess player. ... Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Russian: ) (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. ...

In 1970, FIDE adopted Elo's system for rating current players. So, one way to compare players of different eras is to compare their Elo ratings. The best-ever Elo ratings are tabulated below^[3], including Elo's retrospectively calculated ratings for Capablanca, Botvinnik and Lasker. (However these are one-time peaks, while Elo's list was five year averages). The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ...

The average Elo rating of top players has risen over time. For instance, the average of the top 100 has risen from 2645 in July 2001 to 2665 in July 2006.^[4] Many people believe that this rise is mostly due to a system artifact known as ratings inflation, making it impractical to compare players of different eras. Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Veselin Topalov (IPA: ; Bulgarian: ) (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE world champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Vassily Ivanchuk (Васи́лий Ива́нчук), born March 18, 1969 in Berejiany, Ukraine, is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Peter Svidler (Пётр Свидлер; Pyotr Svidler, born June 17, 1976, in Leningrad) is a Russian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Péter Lékó Péter Lékó (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Alexander Morozevich Alexander Morozevich (Александр Морозе́вич) (born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Levon Aronian (born October 6, 1982) is an Armenian chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Armenia. ... Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was born on the 12th of April 1985 in Sumgait, Azerbaijan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ... Michael Adams (born November 17, 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, England) is an International Grandmaster of chess. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (Aleksejs Širovs, Алексе́й Широв) (born July 4, 1972 in Riga, Latvia), is one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Teimour Radjabov Teimour Radjabov (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ... Gata Kamsky (Tatar:Ğataulla Kamski) (born June 2, 1974) is an American chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukrainian: ; Russian: ) (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE world champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Evgeny Bareev (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Boris Gelfand (born 24 June 1968) is a chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Dmitry Jakovenko (born 1983) is a Russian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Alexander Grischuk Alexander Grischuk (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Etienne Bacrot (born January 22, 1983) is a French chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... David Navara (born March 27, 1985) is an International Grandmaster of chess from the Czech Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cuba. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German World Chess Champion, mathematician, and philosopher born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Evgeny Vladimirovich Alekseev (born November 28, 1985 in Pushkin, Russia) is a Russian chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Valery Salov (born May 26, 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Loek van Wely (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Vladimir Hakobyan (Armenian: ; born December 7, 1971 in Baku) is a leading Armenian chess Grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Armenia. ... Nigel Short MBE (born June 1, 1965 in Leigh, Lancashire) is widely regarded as the strongest British chess player of the 20th century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A. Beliavsky, at 35th chess olympiad Bled 2002 Alexander Beliavsky (born December 17, 1953) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Slovenia. ... Magnus Øen Carlsen (born November 30, 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster who came to international attention after winning the C group of the Corus Chess Tournament in January 2004 at the age of thirteen, and winning the B group of the same tournament two years later at 15. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (born August 1, 1976) is a Romanian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... (Rustam Qosimjonov in Uzbek, Рустам Касымджанов in Russian born December 5, 1979) is a chess grandmaster from Uzbekistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uzbekistan. ... Ivan Sokolov is a chess grandmaster from Yugoslavia, currently playing for the Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Mikhail Tal (Latvian: ; Russian: , Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal, IPA: ) (November 9, 1936–June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, and the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Latvia. ... Alexey Dreev is a chess grandmaster from Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Wang Yue (born March 31, 1987) is a chess Grandmaster from China. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... Polands strongest chess player after World War II, of Russian origin (formerly Mikhail Krasenkov) He was born in Moscow on November, 14, 1963. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... Ilya Smirin (or Ilia) (born January 21, 1968 in Belarus) is a Soviet-Israeli chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (born January 18, 1966, in Leningrad) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former world champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Zurab Azmaiparashvili (born March 16, 1960) is a chess Grandmaster from Georgia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Georgia. ... Pavel Eljanov (born 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Vladimir Malakhov is a chess Grandmaster from Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Victor Viorel Bologan (born December 14, 1971) is a chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Moldova. ... Krishnan Sasikiran (born January 7, 1981) is an Indian chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Chess Go The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ...

Elo was of the opinion that it was futile to attempt to use ratings to compare players from different eras; in his view, they could only possibly measure the strength of a player as compared to his or her contemporaries. He also stated that the process of rating players was in any case rather approximate; he compared it to "the measurement of the position of a cork bobbing up and down on the surface of agitated water with a yard stick tied to a rope and which is swaying in the wind".^[5]

Chessmetrics

Main article: Chessmetrics

Many statisticians since Elo have devised similar methods to retrospectively rate players. Jeff Sonas, for example, calls his system Chessmetrics. This system takes account of many games played after the publication of Elo's book, and claims to take account of the rating inflation that the Elo system has apparently suffered. The players with the highest five-year Chessmetrics averages are:^[6] Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. ... Statisticians are mathematicians who work with theoretical and applied statistics in the both the private and public sectors. ... Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. ...

1. Garry Kasparov (2875)
2. Emanuel Lasker (2854)
3. José Raúl Capablanca (2843)
4. Mikhail Botvinnik (2843)
5. Bobby Fischer (2841)

Looking at the one-year peak of players, Chessmetrics gives these same five players, but in a different order: Fischer, Kasparov, Botvinnik, Capablanca, and Lasker.^[7] Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German World Chess Champion, mathematician, and philosopher born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ...

One caveat is that a Chessmetrics rating takes into account the frequency of play. According to Sonas, "As soon as you go a month without playing, your Chessmetrics rating will start to drop".^[8] While it may be in the best interest of the fans for chess-players to remain active, it is not clear why a person's rating, which reflects his/her skill at chess, should drop if the player is inactive for a period of time.

Sonas, like Elo, acknowledges that it is useless to try and compare the strength of players from different eras. In his explanation of the Chessmetrics system ^[9], he says:

Of course, a rating always indicates the level of dominance of a particular player against contemporary peers; it says nothing about whether the player is stronger/weaker in their actual technical chess skill than a player far removed from them in time. So while we cannot say that Bobby Fischer in the early 1970's or Jose Capablanca in the early 1920's were the "strongest" players of all time, we can say with a certain amount of confidence that they were the two most dominant players of all time. That is the extent of what these ratings can tell us.

In a 2005 ChessBase article,^[10] Sonas uses Chessmetrics to evaluate historical annual performance ratings and comes to the conclusion that Kasparov was dominant for the most number of years, followed closely by Lasker and Karpov. ChessBase is the dominant commercial database program for storing and searching records of games of chess. ...

Warriors of the Mind

In contrast to Elo and Sonas's systems, Raymond Keene and Nathan Divinsky's book Warriors of the Mind^[11] is a rare example of a rating system which claims to directly compare the strength of players active in different eras and so determine the strongest player of all time. Considering games played between sixty-four of the strongest players in history, they come up with the following top-ten: Raymond Dennis Keene OBE (born 29 January 1948) is a chess grandmaster, but is better known as a chess organiser, columnist and author. ... Nathan Joseph Divinsky (born October 29, 1925) is a mathematician and chess enthusiast who is also known for being the former husband of the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Campbell. ...

1. Garry Kasparov, 3096
2. Anatoly Karpov, 2876
3. Bobby Fischer, 2690
4. Mikhail Botvinnik, 2616
5. José Raúl Capablanca, 2552
6. Emanuel Lasker, 2550
7. Viktor Korchnoi, 2535
8. Boris Spassky, 2480
9. Vasily Smyslov, 2413
10. Tigran Petrosian, 2363

These "Divinsky numbers" are not on the same scale as Elo ratings (the last person on the list, Johann Zukertort, has a Divinsky number of 873). Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German World Chess Champion, mathematician, and philosopher born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (also Korchnoy, Kortchnoy, Kortschnoi, etc. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij) (Russian: ) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ... Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Russian: ) (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. ... Tigran Petrosian (Armenian: ) (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a former World Chess Champion. ... Zukertort, early 1880s Johannes Hermann Zukertort (7 September 1842 Lublin – 20 June 1888 London) was a leading Polish-Jewish chess master. ...

Computer analysis of actual moves played

One of the latest methods of analyzing chess abilities across history has come from Matej Guid and Ivan Bratko from the Department of Computer and Information Science of Ljubljana University.^[12] The basis for their evaluation was the difference between the position values resulting from the moves played by the human chess player and the moves chosen as best by a chess program, Crafty. They also compared the average number of errors in the player's game. According to their analysis, the leader was José Raúl Capablanca, followed closely by Vladimir Kramnik. Ivan Bratko, Slovenian computer scientist, * 10 June 1946, Ljubljana. ... Crafty is a term used in World Of Warcraft to describe someone who plays the game 24/7 - sometimes longer. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. ...

The "Classical" World Chess Championship matches were analyzed, and the results for the fourteen Classical World Champions were presented.

Players with fewest average errors:

1. José Raúl Capablanca
2. Vladimir Kramnik
3. Anatoly Karpov
4. Garry Kasparov
5. Boris Spassky
6. Tigran Petrosian
7. Emmanuel Lasker
8. Bobby Fischer
9. Alexander Alekhine
10. Vassily Smyslov
11. Mikhail Tal
12. Mikhail Botvinnik
13. Max Euwe
14. Wilhelm Steinitz

The method received a number of criticisms, one of them being that Crafty was not strong enough to evaluate the world champions' play.^[13] José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij) (Russian: ) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ... Tigran Petrosian (Armenian: ) (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a former World Chess Champion. ... Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player and mathematician, born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (sometimes spelled Aljechin or Alechin) (IPA: ; other members of his family pronounce it ; Russian: ; French: Alexandre Alekhine) (October 31 or November 1, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a Russian-born naturalized French chess grandmaster (officially naturalized in 1927 only three days before the World Champion title), and... Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Смысло́в) (born March 24, 1921) is a chess player. ... Mikhail Tal (Latvian: ; Russian: , Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal, IPA: ) (November 9, 1936–June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, and the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Machgielis (Max) Euwe (last name is pronounced /ø:wÉ™/) (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess Grandmaster and Mathematician. ... Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague–August 12, 1900, New York) was a Jewish-Austrian-American chess player and the first official world chess champion. ...

Subjective lists

A number of prominent players and writers have attempted to rank the greatest players. Generally these lists attempt to combine the two methods above - performance, and analysis of games.

Bobby Fischer

In 1964 Bobby Fischer listed his top 10 in the magazine Chess Life: Morphy, Staunton, Steinitz, Tarrasch, Tchigorin, Alekhine, Capablanca, Spassky, Tal, Reshevsky.^[14] Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, was an American chess player. ... Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810–June 22, 1874) was an English chess master and unofficial World Chess Champion. ... Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (March 5, 1862 – February 17, 1934) was one of the strongest chess players of the late 19th century and early 20th century. ... Mikhail Chigorin (12 November 1850–25 January 1908) was a leading Russian chess player and the first grandmaster from Russia. ... Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków, (then German Empire, today Poland) - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster. ...

Irving Chernev

In 1976 chess author Irving Chernev published the book Golden Dozen, in which he ranked his all-time top 12: 1. Capablanca, 2. Alekhine, 3. Lasker, 4. Fischer, 5. Botvinnik, 6. Petrosian, 7. Tal, 8. Smyslov, 9. Spassky, 10. Bronstein, 11. Rubinstein 12. Nimzowitsch^[15] Irving Chernev (1900-1981) was a prolific Russian-American chess author. ... David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн) (February 19, 1924, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine – December 5, 2006, Minsk, Belarus) was renowned as a leading chess grandmaster and writer. ... Akiba Rubinstein (born 12 December 1882, died 15 March 1961 in Antwerp) was a brilliant Polish chess master and a famous grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Aron Nimzowitsch (also Nimzovich or Niemzowitsch) (November 7, 1886, Riga - March 16, 1935, Denmark) was a Latvian chess grandmaster. ...

World Champions by world title reigns

The number of world championship wins, or world championship reigns, can be considered as a guide to player greatness. The table below organises the world champions in order of championship wins. (For the purpose of this table, a successful defence counts as a win, even if the match was drawn.) The table is made more complicated by the split between the "Classical" and FIDE world titles between 1993 and 2006. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ...

Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German World Chess Champion, mathematician, and philosopher born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (sometimes spelled Aljechin or Alechin) (IPA: ; other members of his family pronounce it ; Russian: ; French: Alexandre Alekhine) (October 31 or November 1, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a Russian-born naturalized French chess grandmaster (officially naturalized in 1927 only three days before the World Champion title), and... Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague–August 12, 1900, New York) was a Jewish-Austrian-American chess player and the first official world chess champion. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. ... Tigran Petrosian (Armenian: ) (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a former World Chess Champion. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij) (Russian: ) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Machgielis (Max) Euwe (last name is pronounced /ø:wə/) (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess Grandmaster and Mathematician. ... Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Russian: ) (born March 24, 1921, in Moscow) is a Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. ... Mikhail Tal (Latvian: ; Russian: , Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal, IPA: ) (November 9, 1936–June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, and the eighth World Chess Champion. ... This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. ... Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukrainian: ; Russian: ) (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE world champion. ... Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (born January 18, 1966, in Leningrad) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former world champion. ... (Rustam Qosimjonov in Uzbek, Рустам Касымджанов in Russian born December 5, 1979) is a chess grandmaster from Uzbekistan. ... Veselin Topalov (IPA: ; Bulgarian: ) (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE world champion. ...

References