List of chess players

There have been a number of famous chess players; matches between some of these are famous even outside of the chess world. See also World chess champions.

Table of contents

1 Male players 2 Female players 3 Famous people who were/are avid chess players 4 Also of note

Male players

• Michael Adams (England, 1971 - )
• Alexander Alekhine (Russia, 1892 - 1946)
• Viswanathan Anand (India, 1969 - )
• Adolf Anderssen (Germany, 1818 - 1879)
• Konstantin Aseev (Russia, 1960 - )
• As-Suli (Abbasid Caliphate, circa 880 - 946)
• Maurice Ashley (Jamaica, USA, 1966 - )
• Curt von Bardeleben (Germany, 1861 - 1924)
• Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia, 1911 - 1995)
• David Bronstein (Russia, 1924 - )
• José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba, 1888 - 1942)
• Max Euwe (Netherlands, 1901 - 1981)
• Bobby Fischer (USA, 1943 - )
• Boris Gelfand (Belarus, USSR, 1968 - )
• Efim Geller (Ukraine, USSR, 1925 - 1998)
• Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 1969 - )
• Sergey Ivanov (Russia, 1960 - )
• Anatoly Karpov (Russia, 1951 - )
• Garry Kasparov (Russia, 1963 - )
• Paul Keres (Estonia, 1916 - 1975)
• Alexander Khalifman (Russia, 1966 - )
• Viktor Korchnoi (Russia, Switzerland, 1931 - )
• Alexander Kotov (USSR, 1913 - 1981)
• Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 1975 - )
• Bent Larsen (Denmark, 1935 - )
• Emanuel Lasker (Germany, USA, 1868 - 1941)
• Peter Leko (Hungary, 1979 - )
• Luke McShane (England, 1984 - )
• Tony Miles (England, 1955 - 2001)
• Alexander Morozevich (Russia, 1977 - )
• Paul Morphy (USA, 1837 - 1884)
• Aaron Nimzowitsch (Latvia, 1886 - 1935)
• Oscar Panno (Argentina, 1935 - )
• Bruno Parma (Slovenia, 1941 - )
• Tigran Petrosian (Georgia, USSR, 1929 - 1984)
• François-André Danican Philidor (France, 1726 - 1795)
• Harry Nelson Pillsbury (USA, 1872 - 1906)
• Vasja Pirc (Slovenia, 1907 - 1980)
• Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 1983 - )
• Valery Salov (Russia, 1964 - )
• Yasser Seirawan (Syria, USA, 1960 - )
• Alexei Shirov (Latvia, Spain, 1972 - )
• Nigel Short (England, 1965 - )
• Vasily Smyslov (Russia, 1921 - )
• Boris Spassky (Russia, France, 1937 - )
• Howard Staunton (England, 1810 - 1874)
• Wilhelm Steinitz (Bohemia, USA, 1836 - 1900)
• Mark Taimanov (Russia, 1926 - )
• Mikhail Tal (Latvia, USSR, 1936 - 1992)
• Siegbert Tarrasch (Germany, 1962 - 1934)
• Jan Timman (Netherlands, 1951 - )
• Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 1975 - )
• Milan Vidmar (Slovenia, 1885 - 1962)

Female players

• Elizaveta Ivanovna Bykova (Russia, 1913 - 1989)
• Zhu Chen (China, 1976 - )
• Maya Chiburdanidze (Georgia, USSR, 1961 - )
• Pia Cramling (Sweden, 1963 - )
• Nona Gaprindashvili (Georgia, USSR, 1941 - )
• Xie Jun (China, 1970 - )
• Irina Krush (Ukraine, USSR, USA, 1983 - )
• Vera Menchik-Stevenson (Czech Republic, England, 1906 - 1944)
• Judit Polgar (Hungary, 1976 - )
• Zsuzsa Polgar (Hungary, USA, 1969 - )
• Olga Rubtsova (Russia, 1909 - )
• Lyudmila Rudenko (Russia, 1904 - 1986)
• Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia, 1984 - )

Famous people who were/are avid chess players

The people in this list are famous in other areas of activity, but are known to have played chess or maintain a current interest in chess.

• Woody Allen
• Humphrey Bogart
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• John Cage
• Catherine the Great
• Ray Charles
• Marcel Duchamp
• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson
• Stanley Kubrick
• Lennox Lewis
• Sergei Prokofiev (Russian composer & pianist)
• Juan Maria Solare (Argentine composer & pianist)
• Will Smith
• Sting
• Josip Broz Tito
• Leo Tolstoy
• George Washington
• John Wayne

Also of note

In 1997, the IBM chess playing computer Deep Blue was victorious in a match against then-world champion Garry Kasparov.