Eisspeedway

List of chess players by peak FIDE rating

This list of top-ranked chess grandmasters is ordered by their peak Elo rating. The cut-off value is 2700 for men (players with a rating at or above this value are colloquially known as super grandmasters) and 2500 for women.

Notably, only six players achieved their over-2700 peak before the year 2000 and twenty-one players achieved their respective peak between the years 2000 and 2009 (inclusive).

List

FIDE players ordered by peak Elo rating[1][2]
Country Player Peak rating Achieved Birth year Death year Notes

2800+

1  Norway Magnus Carlsen 2882 2014-05 1990 Highest-ranked player (2013–), world no. 1 (2010, 2011, 2011–), former World Chess Champion (2013–2023), highest-ranked Norwegian player (2006–)
2  Soviet Union
 Russia
Garry Kasparov 2851 1999-07 1963 Highest-ranked Russian player, formerly world no. 1 (1984–1993, 1995–2006), former world champion (1985–2000), first player to achieve 2800+ rating, formerly highest-ranked player (1990–2012), highest-ranked Soviet-born player (since 1986)
3  Italy
 United States
Fabiano Caruana 2844 2014-10 1992 Highest-ranked American player (since 2015), formerly highest-ranked Italian player (2007–2015)
4  Armenia
 Germany
 United States
Levon Aronian 2830 2014-03 1982 Formerly highest-ranked Armenian player (2005–2021)
5  Philippines
 United States
Wesley So 2822 2017-02 1993 Highest-ranked Filipino-born player, formerly highest-ranked Filipino player (2009–2014)
6  Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2820 2018-09 1985 Highest-ranked Azerbaijani player (2006, 2007–2008, 2010–2011, 2017–)
7  France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2819 2016-08 1990 Highest-ranked French player (2013, since 2014)
8  India Viswanathan Anand 2817 2011-03 1969 Highest-ranked Indian player (since 1987), former world champion (2007–2013, FIDE 2000–2002), formerly world no. 1 (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
 Soviet Union
 Russia
Vladimir Kramnik 2817 2016-10 1975 Former world champion (2000–2007), formerly world no. 1 (1996, 2008), formerly youngest player to achieve 2800+ rating
10  Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 2816 2015-07 1975 Highest-ranked Bulgarian player (since 1993), former world champion (FIDE 2005–2006), formerly world no. 1 (2006–2007, 2008–2009)
 United States Hikaru Nakamura 2816 2015-10 1987 Formerly highest-ranked American player (2011–2015)
 China Ding Liren 2816 2018-11 1992 Highest-ranked Chinese player (since 2015), current World Chess Champion (since 2023)
13  Russia Alexander Grischuk 2810 2014-12 1983
14  Iran
 France
Alireza Firouzja 2804 2021-12 2003 Highest-ranked Iranian-born player, formerly highest-ranked Iranian player (2019), highest-ranked junior, youngest player to achieve 2800+ rating

2775–2799

15  India Arjun Erigaisi 2799 2024-11 2003
16  Russia
 Netherlands
Anish Giri 2798 2015-10 1994 Highest-ranked Dutch player (since 2011)
17  Russia Ian Nepomniachtchi 2795 2023-03 1990
18  India Dommaraju Gukesh 2794 2024-10 2006
19  Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov 2793 2012-11 1987 Formerly highest-ranked Azerbaijani player (2002–2005, 2006, 2009–2010, 2011–2017)
20  Russia Alexander Morozevich 2788 2008-07 1977
 Ukraine
 Russia
Sergey Karjakin 2788 2011-07 1990 Highest-ranked Ukrainian-born player, formerly youngest grandmaster (2002–2021)
22  Soviet Union
 Ukraine
Vasyl Ivanchuk 2787 2007-10 1969 Highest-ranked Ukrainian player (1992–2002, since 2005)
23  United States Bobby Fischer 2785 1972-07 1943 2008 Former world champion (1972–1975), formerly highest-ranked player (1971–1989), formerly highest-ranked American player (1971–2008), formerly world no. 1 (1971–1975), formerly youngest grandmaster (1958–1991), first player to achieve 2700+ rating
24  Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2783 2024-10 2004 Highest-ranked Uzbekistani player (since 2023)
25  Soviet Union
 Russia
Anatoly Karpov 2780 1994-07 1951 Former world champion (1975–1985, FIDE 1993–1999), formerly world no. 1 (1976–1983, 1985, 1994), formerly highest-ranked Soviet player (1974–1986)
26  Soviet Union
 Belarus
 Israel
Boris Gelfand 2777 2013-11 1968 Highest-ranked Israeli player (since 1999), formerly highest-ranked Belarusian player (1993–1998)
27  Hungary
 Romania
Richárd Rapport 2776 2022-04 1996 Highest-ranked Hungarian player (2021–2022, since 2024), formerly highest-ranked Romanian player (2022-2024)

2750–2774

28  India Pentala Harikrishna 2770 2016-12 1986
29  Soviet Union
 Russia
Peter Svidler 2769 2013-05 1976
30  Cuba
 United States
Leinier Domínguez 2768 2014-05 1983 Highest-ranked Cuban-born player, formerly highest-ranked Cuban player (1998–2001, 2001–2003, 2004–2005, 2007–2018)
31  Ukraine Pavel Eljanov 2765 2016-03 1983
 China Yu Yangyi 2765 2018-09 1994
33  Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov 2764 2011-07 1983 Former world chess champion (FIDE 2002–2004), formerly youngest grandmaster (1997–1999), formerly highest-ranked Ukrainian player (2002–2005)
34  Hungary Peter Leko 2763 2005-04 1979 Formerly youngest grandmaster (1994–1997), formerly highest-ranked Hungarian player (1999–2021, 2022–2024)
 Soviet Union
 United States
Gata Kamsky 2763 2013-07 1974 Formerly highest-ranked American player (2008–2010)
 China Wang Hao 2763 2020-04 1989
 China Wei Yi 2763 2024-10 1999 Youngest player to achieve 2700+ rating
38  Azerbaijan Vugar Gashimov 2761 2012-01 1986 2014
 England Michael Adams 2761 2013-09 1971 Highest-ranked English player (since 1998)
 Russia Vladislav Artemiev 2761 2019-06 1998
41  Russia Dmitry Jakovenko 2760 2009-01 1983
 Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2760 2021-12 1998 Highest-ranked Polish player (since 2019)
43  Russia Evgeny Tomashevsky 2758 2015-09 1987
 China Li Chao 2758 2016-06 1989
45  India Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa 2757 2024-07 2005
46  China Wang Yue 2756 2010-11 1987 Formerly highest-ranked Chinese player (2007–2008, 2008–2015)
47  Soviet Union
 Latvia
 Spain
Alexei Shirov 2755 2008-01 1972 Highest-ranked Spanish player (1995–2011, since 2018), formerly highest-ranked Latvian player (1992–1994, 2011–2018)
48  Georgia
 Czech Republic
 Slovakia
 Armenia
Sergei Movsesian 2751 2009-01 1978 Formerely highest-ranked Czech player (1999–2002), formerly highest-ranked Slovak player (2002–2010), highest-ranked Armenian player (since 2021)
 Czech Republic David Navara 2751 2015-05 1985 Highest-ranked Czech player (since 2005)
 Russia
 England
Nikita Vitiugov 2751 2019-11 1987
51  Poland Radosław Wojtaszek 2750 2017-01 1987 Formerly highest-ranked Polish player (2010–2019)

2725–2749

52  France Étienne Bacrot 2749 2013-11 1983 Formerly highest-ranked French player (2004–2013, 2013–2014), formerly youngest grandmaster (1997)
53  India Vidit Gujrathi 2747 2024-02 1994
54  Russia Dmitry Andreikin 2743 2016-06 1990
 Germany Vincent Keymer 2743 2024-01 2004 Highest-ranked German player (since 2023)
56  Iran Parham Maghsoodloo 2742 2023-12 2000 Highest-ranked Iranian player (2018–2019, since 2019)
57  Vietnam Lê Quang Liêm 2741 2024-08 1991 Highest-ranked Vietnamese player (since 2009)
58  Soviet Union
 Russia
 Canada
Evgeny Bareev 2739 2003-10 1966 Highest-ranked Canadian player (since 2015)
59  Russia Maxim Matlakov 2738 2017-11 1991
60  Latvia
 Germany
 Azerbaijan
 Bulgaria
Arkadij Naiditsch 2737 2013-12 1985 Formerly highest-ranked German player (2006–2008, 2009–2015)
61  Hungary Judit Polgár 2735 2005-07 1976 Highest-ranked female player; first and only female player to achieve 2700+ rating, only female player to be ranked in the world's top 10, formerly youngest grandmaster (1991–1994), formerly highest-ranked Hungarian player (1996–1998)
62  Soviet Union
 Moldova
Viktor Bologan 2734 2012-08 1971 Highest-ranked Moldovan player
 Georgia Baadur Jobava 2734 2012-09 1983 Highest-ranked Georgian player (since 2010)
 United States Hans Niemann 2734 2024-11 2003
65  Russia
 Slovenia
Vladimir Fedoseev 2733 2017-10 1995 Highest-ranked Slovenian player (since 2023)
66  Russia Vladimir Malakhov 2732 2010-07 1980
 Kyrgyzstan
 Russia
Ernesto Inarkiev 2732 2016-09 1985
68  China Bu Xiangzhi 2731 2019-02 1985 Formerly youngest grandmaster (1999–2002), formerly highest-ranked Chinese player (2008)
 United States Samuel Shankland 2731 2019-02 1991
70  Hungary Zoltán Almási 2726 2011-07 1976
 Ukraine Alexander Moiseenko 2726 2011-09 1980
72  Russia
 Israel
Evgeny Alekseev 2725 2009-09 1985
 Ukraine Andrei Volokitin 2725 2013-03 1986

2700–2724

74  China Ni Hua 2724 2009-04 1983
 Spain Francisco Vallejo Pons 2724 2011-07 1982 Formerly highest-ranked Spanish player (2012–2018)
76  Ukraine Anton Korobov 2723 2014-01 1985
 Russia Andrey Esipenko 2723 2022-03 2002
78  India Krishnan Sasikiran 2720 2012-05 1981
 Russia Alexander Riazantsev 2720 2012-07 1985
 Ukraine Alexander Areshchenko 2720 2012-12 1986
 France Laurent Fressinet 2720 2015-06 1981
 Russia Daniil Dubov 2720 2021-12 1996
83  Bulgaria
 Georgia
Ivan Cheparinov 2718 2018-08 1986
 Iran Amin Tabatabaei 2718 2024-07 2001
85  Cuba
 United States
Lázaro Bruzón 2717 2012-10 1982 Formerly highest-ranked Cuban player (2001, 2003–2004, 2005–2007, 2018–2020)
 Ukraine Yuriy Kryvoruchko 2717 2015-11 1986
 Russia
 Serbia
Alexey Sarana 2717 2024-07 2000 Highest-ranked Serbian player (since 2023)
88  Soviet Union
 Russia
Valery Salov 2715 1995-01 1964
 Uzbekistan Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2715 2015-05 1979 Former world chess champion (FIDE 2004–2005), formerly highest-ranked Uzbekistani player (2000–2023)
 Russia
 Austria
Kirill Alekseenko 2715 2019-11 1997 Highest-ranked Austrian player (since 2023)
 Netherlands Jorden van Foreest 2715 2022-05 1999
92  Netherlands Loek van Wely 2714 2001-10 1972 Formerly highest-ranked Dutch player (2001–2011)
 Russia Denis Khismatullin 2714 2014-03 1984
94  Soviet Union
 Armenia
 United States
Vladimir Akopian 2713 2006-07 1971 Formerly highest-ranked Armenian player (1995–2005)
 England Luke McShane 2713 2012-07 1984
96  England Nigel Short 2712 2004-04 1965 Formerly highest-ranked English player (1987–1998)
 England David Howell 2712 2015-08 1990
 Egypt Bassem Amin 2712 2019-01 1988 Highest-ranked Egyptian player (since 2012), highest-ranked African player (since 2012)
 United States Jeffery Xiong 2712 2019-11 2000
 Russia
 Hungary
Sanan Sjugirov 2712 2022-11 1993
101  Soviet Union
 Russia
Alexey Dreev 2711 2011-07 1969
 Armenia Gabriel Sargissian 2711 2022-09 1983
103  Soviet Union
 Ukraine
 Slovenia
Alexander Beliavsky 2710 1997-07 1953 Formerly highest-ranked Slovenian player (1996–2023)
 Russia
 Romania
Alexander Motylev 2710 2009-07 1979
 Israel Maxim Rodshtein 2710 2016-03 1989
 Romania Bogdan-Daniel Deac 2710 2022-09 2001 Highest-ranked Romanian player (2021–2022, since 2024)
107  Azerbaijan Rauf Mamedov 2709 2017-12 1988
 England Gawain Jones 2709 2019-06 1987
109  Ukraine Zahar Efimenko 2708 2011-03 1985
 Armenia Haik M. Martirosyan 2708 2023-11 2000
111  Romania
 Germany
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 2707 2005-10 1976 Formerly highest-ranked Romanian player (1998–2000, 2003–2014), formerly highest-ranked German player (2015–2023)
 Russia Evgeny Najer 2707 2017-08 1977
113  Yugoslavia
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Netherlands
Ivan Sokolov 2706 2004-01 1968 Formerly highest-ranked Bosnian-Herzegovinian player (1993–1994, 1996–2002, 2009–2010)
 Hungary Ferenc Berkes 2706 2011-09 1985
 Soviet Union
 Russia
Sergei Rublevsky 2706 2013-11 1974
 India Aravindh Chithambaram 2706 2024-11 1999
117  Soviet Union
 Latvia
Mikhail Tal 2705 1980-01 1936 1992 Former world champion (1960–1961), formerly highest-ranked Latvian player (1992)
 Soviet Union
 Russia
 Israel
  Switzerland
Vadim Milov 2705 2008-07 1972 Highest-ranked Swiss player (since 2008)
 Russia Boris Grachev 2705 2012-03 1986
 Norway Jon Ludvig Hammer 2705 2016-02 1990
121  Czech Republic Viktor Láznička 2704 2012-01 1989
 United States Ray Robson 2704 2023-04 1994
123  Soviet Union
 Israel
Emil Sutovsky 2703 2012-01 1977
 Austria Markus Ragger 2703 2017-02 1988 Formerly highest-ranked Austrian player (2010–2023)
 Belarus Vladislav Kovalev 2703 2019-02 1994 Highest-ranked Belarusian player (since 2019)
 Croatia Ivan Šarić 2703 2019-03 1990 Highest-ranked Croatian player (since 2011)
 Spain David Antón Guijarro 2703 2020-03 1995
 United States Samuel Sevian 2703 2022-05 2000
129  Soviet Union
 Russia
 Poland
Michał Krasenkow 2702 2000-07 1963 Formerly highest-ranked Polish player (1996–2010)
 Soviet Union
 Israel
Ilya Smirin 2702 2001-07 1968
 Soviet Union
 Germany
 Russia
Alexander Khalifman 2702 2001-10 1966 Former world chess champion (FIDE 1999–2000), formerly highest-ranked German player (1991–1992)
 Soviet Union
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Georgia
Zurab Azmaiparashvili 2702 2003-07 1960 Formerly highest-ranked Georgian player (1992–1994, 1996–2009)
 France Romain Edouard 2702 2014-06 1990
 Ukraine
 Latvia
Igor Kovalenko 2702 2015-08 1988 Formerly highest-ranked Latvian player (2018–2021)
135  Soviet Union
 Ukraine
 United States
Alexander Onischuk 2701 2010-07 1975
 India Adhiban Baskaran 2701 2019-04 1992
 Uzbekistan Javokhir Sindarov 2701 2023-12 2005
138  Denmark Peter Heine Nielsen 2700 2010-07 1973 Highest-ranked Danish player (since 2004)
 Russia Igor Lysyj 2700 2015-01 1987

Highest-rated female players

FIDE women players ordered by peak Elo rating
Country Player Peak rating Achieved Birth year Death year Notes

2700+

1  Hungary Judit Polgár 2735 2005-07 1976 Highest-ranked female player (since 1992), highest-ranked Hungarian female player (since 1989), formerly youngest grandmaster (1991–1994), formerly youngest female grandmaster (1991–2002), formerly female world no. 1 (1989–2015)

2600-2699

2  China Hou Yifan 2686 2015-03 1994 Youngest female grandmaster (since 2008), female world no. 1 (since 2015), highest-ranked Chinese female player (since 2008)
3  India Koneru Humpy 2623 2009-07 1987 Highest-ranked Indian female player (since 2001), formerly youngest female grandmaster (2002–2008)
4  Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina 2611 2021-08 1998 Formerly highest-ranked Russian female player (2020–2023)
5  Ukraine
 Slovenia
Anna Muzychuk 2606 2012-07 1990 Highest-ranked Ukrainian female player (since 2014), formerly highest-ranked Slovenian female player (2004–2014)
6  China Ju Wenjun 2604 2017-03 1991

2500-2599

7  Russia Tatiana Kosintseva 2581 2010-11 1986 Highest-ranked Russian female player (2010–2020, since 2023)
8  China Zhao Xue 2579 2013-09 1985
9  Hungary
 United States
Susan Polgar 2577 2005-01 1969 Formerly youngest female grandmaster (1991), formerly female world no. 1 (1984–1985, 1986), formerly highest-ranked Hungarian female player (1984–1988), formerly highest-ranked American female player (2003–2019)
10  Russia Nadezhda Kosintseva 2576 2010-11 1985
11  China Xie Jun 2574 2008-01 1970 Formerly highest-ranked Chinese female player (1990–2008)
12  Georgia Nana Dzagnidze 2573 2015-06 1987 Highest-ranked Georgian female player (since 2011)
13  Ukraine Mariya Muzychuk 2563 2016-03 1992
 Ukraine
 Russia
Kateryna Lagno 2563 2022-10 1989 Formerly highest-ranked Ukrainian female player (2003–2014)
15  Russia
  Switzerland
Alexandra Kosteniuk 2561 2018-01 1984 Highest-ranked Swiss female player (since 2023)
16  Soviet Union
 Georgia
Maia Chiburdanidze 2560 1988-01 1961 Formerly highest-ranked female player (1985–1992), formerly youngest female grandmaster (1984–1991), formerly female world no. 1 (1980–1982, 1983, 1985–1986, 1987–1988), formerly highest-ranked Soviet female player (1985–1992), formerly highest-ranked Georgian female player (1992–2011)
 Soviet Union
 Ukraine
 Russia
Alisa Galliamova 2560 1998-07 1972 Formerly highest-ranked Ukrainian female player (1992–1996), formerly highest-ranked Russian female player (1996–2010)
 Bulgaria Antoaneta Stefanova 2560 2003-01 1979 Highest-ranked Bulgarian female player (1994, since 1995)
19  China Lei Tingjie 2554 2023-05 1997
20  China Tan Zhongyi 2551 2024-09 1991
21  Sweden Pia Cramling 2550 2008-10 1963 Formerly female world no. 1 (1983, 1984), highest-ranked Swedish female player (since 1981)
22  China
 Qatar
Zhu Chen 2548 2008-01 1976 Highest-ranked Qatari female player (since 2006)
 Russia Valentina Gunina 2548 2015-06 1989
24  India Harika Dronavalli 2543 2016-11 1991
25  Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen 2542 2017-06 1983 Highest-ranked Lithuanian female player (since 1999)
26  Ukraine
 United States
Anna Zatonskih 2537 2011-05 1978 Highest-ranked American female player (since 2019)
 France Marie Sebag 2537 2013-03 1986 Highest-ranked French female player (since 2007)
28  Georgia Bella Khotenashvili 2531 2013-06 1988
29  Georgia Nino Batsiashvili 2528 2018-03 1987
30  Armenia Elina Danielian 2521 2011-07 1978 Highest-ranked Armenian female player (1994–2002, 2004–2005, since 2008)
31  Soviet Union
 Georgia
Nana Ioseliani 2520 1997-07 1962
32  Kazakhstan Dinara Saduakassova 2519 2020-01 1996 Highest-ranked Kazakhstani female player (2014–2016, 2017–2018, since 2018)
33  China Xu Yuhua 2517 2006-04 1976
34  Russia Polina Shuvalova 2516 2021-12 2001
35  China Zhu Jiner 2514 2024-11 2002
36  Germany Elisabeth Pähtz 2513 2018-09 1985 Highest-ranked German female player (since 2008)
37  China Wang Lei 2512 2001-10 1975
38  Vietnam
 Hungary
Hoang Thanh Trang 2511 2013-11 1980 Formerly highest-ranked Vietnamese female player (1992–2006)
39  Russia Natalia Pogonina 2508 2014-07 1985
40  Russia Ekaterina Kovalevskaya 2507 2001-07 1974
 Kazakhstan Zhansaya Abdumalik 2507 2021-10 2000 Formerly highest-ranked Kazakhstani female player (2017, 2018)
42  Soviet Union
 Georgia
 Scotland
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant 2506 2009-07 1968 Highest-ranked Scottish female player (since 2008)
 China Wang Pin 2506 2000-10 1974
 India Rameshbabu Vaishali 2506 2024-08 2001
45  Hungary Sofia Polgar 2505 1998-07 1974
 Poland Monika Soćko 2505 2008-04 1978 Highest-ranked Polish female player (1999–2001, since 2005, shared since 2022)
 Russia Olga Girya 2505 2017-09 1991
 Russia
 Poland
Alina Kashlinskaya 2505 2022-06 1993 Highest-ranked Polish female player (shared since 2022)
49  Armenia Lilit Mkrtchian 2503 2010-01 1982 Formerly highest-ranked Armenian female player (2002–2003, 2005–2007)
 China Ruan Lufei 2503 2014-01 1987
51  Soviet Union
 Kyrgyzstan
 Russia
Svetlana Matveeva 2502 2004-01 1969 Formerly highest-ranked Russian female player (1992, 1994–1996), formerly highest-ranked Kyrgyzstani female player (1993)
 Ukraine Anna Ushenina 2502 2007-07 1985
 United States Irina Krush 2502 2013-10 1983 Formerly highest-ranked American female player (2002)
54  China Qin Kanying 2501 2000-07 1974
 Moldova
 France
Almira Skripchenko 2501 2003-01 1976 Formerly highest-ranked Moldovan female player (1995–2001), highest-ranked French female player (2002–2007)
 India Divya Deshmukh 2501 2024-10 2005
57  Georgia Lela Javakhishvili 2500 2010-03 1984

Highest ratings by decade

This section lists the top 20 active[a] players by peak FIDE rating achieved in every decade since 1971, when FIDE started officially publishing rating lists.

1970s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 1970s
Country Player Peak rating in 1970s Achieved
1 United States Bobby Fischer 2785 1972-07
2 Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 2725 1978-01
3 Soviet UnionSwitzerland Viktor Korchnoi 2695 1979-01
4 Soviet Union Boris Spassky 2690 1971-07
5 Denmark Bent Larsen 2660 1971-07
Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 2660 1973-07
7 Hungary Lajos Portisch 2650 1973-07
8 Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian 2645 1972-07
Soviet Union Lev Polugaevsky 2645 1972-07
10 Brazil Henrique Mecking 2635 1977-01
11 Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 2630 1971-07
12 CzechoslovakiaUnited States Lubomir Kavalek 2625 1974-05
Netherlands Jan Timman 2625 1979-01
14 Soviet Union Vassily Smyslov 2620 1971-07
Soviet Union Leonid Stein 2620 1972-07
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ljubomir Ljubojević 2620 1976-01
Soviet Union Efim Geller 2620 1976-01
Czechoslovakia Vlastimil Hort 2620 1977-01
19 EstoniaSoviet Union Paul Keres 2615 1971-07
West Germany Robert Hübner 2615 1974-05
Czechoslovakia Jan Smejkal 2615 1976-01

1980s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 1980s
Country Player Peak rating in 1980s Achieved
1 Soviet Union Garry Kasparov 2775 1989-01
2 Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 2755 1989-07
3 Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 2705 1980-01
4 Switzerland Viktor Korchnoi 2695 1980-01
5 Netherlands Jan Timman 2675 1988-01
6 England Nigel Short 2665 1988-07
7 Soviet Union Artur Yusupov 2660 1986-07
Soviet Union Vasyl Ivanchuk 2660 1989-07
9 Hungary Lajos Portisch 2655 1980-01
Soviet Union Alexander Beliavsky 2655 1988-07
11 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ljubomir Ljubojević 2645 1983-01
Soviet Union Rafael Vaganian 2645 1986-01
Soviet Union Andrei Sokolov 2645 1987-01
England Jonathan Speelman 2645 1988-07
Soviet Union Valery Salov 2645 1989-07
16 West Germany Robert Hübner 2640 1981-07
Sweden Ulf Andersson 2640 1983-07
Soviet Union Mikhail Gurevich 2640 1989-07
19 Soviet Union Lev Polugaevsky 2635 1980-01
Soviet UnionFrance Boris Spassky 2635 1981-01

1990s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 1990s
Country Player Peak rating in 1990s Achieved
1 Soviet UnionRussia Garry Kasparov 2851 1999-07
2 India Viswanathan Anand 2795 1998-07
3 Soviet UnionRussia Vladimir Kramnik 2790 1998-01
4 Soviet UnionRussia Anatoly Karpov 2780 1994-07
5 Russia Alexander Morozevich 2758 1999-07
6 Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 2750 1996-07
7 United States Gata Kamsky 2745 1996-07
8 Soviet UnionLatviaSpain Alexei Shirov 2740 1994-07
Soviet UnionUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 2740 1995-07
10 England Michael Adams 2716 1999-01
11 Soviet UnionRussia Valery Salov 2715 1995-01
12 Soviet UnionRussia Peter Svidler 2713 1999-01
Soviet UnionBelarusIsrael Boris Gelfand 2713 1999-07
14 Soviet UnionUkraineSlovenia Alexander Beliavsky 2710 1997-07
15 Hungary Peter Leko 2701 1999-07
16 Soviet UnionRussia Evgeny Bareev 2698 1999-07
17 England Nigel Short 2697 1999-01
18 Soviet UnionRussia Sergei Rublevsky 2685 1998-07
19 Soviet UnionBosnia and HerzegovinaGeorgia (country) Zurab Azmaiparashvili 2681 1999-01
20 Netherlands Jan Timman 2680 1990-01
Soviet UnionRussiaGermany Artur Yusupov 2680 1995-07

2000s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 2000s
Country Player Peak rating in 2000s Achieved
1 Russia Garry Kasparov 2851 2000-01
2 Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 2813 2006-07
3 Russia Vladimir Kramnik 2811[b] 2002-01
4 India Viswanathan Anand 2803 2006-04
5 Norway Magnus Carlsen 2801 2009-11
6 Russia Alexander Morozevich 2788 2008-07
7 Ukraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 2787 2007-10
8 ArmeniaGermany Levon Aronian 2786 2009-11
9 Russia Peter Svidler 2765 2006-01
10 Hungary Peter Leko 2763 2005-04
11 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov 2761 2009-01
12 Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2760 2008-01
Russia Dmitry Jakovenko 2760 2009-01
14 Azerbaijan Vugar Gashimov 2758 2009-11
Israel Boris Gelfand 2758 2009-11
16 Spain Alexei Shirov 2755 2008-01
England Michael Adams 2755 2000-07
18 Czech RepublicSlovakia Sergei Movsesian 2751 2009-01
19 Russia Alexander Grischuk 2748 2009-04
20 Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov 2743 2002-04

2010s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 2010s
Country Player Peak rating in 2010s Achieved
1 Norway Magnus Carlsen 2882 2014-05
2 ItalyUnited States Fabiano Caruana 2844 2014-10
3 Armenia Levon Aronian 2830 2014-03
4 PhilippinesUnited States Wesley So 2822 2017-02
5 Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2820 2018-09
6 France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2819 2016-08
7 India Viswanathan Anand 2817 2011-03
Russia Vladimir Kramnik 2817 2016-10
9 Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 2816 2015-07
United States Hikaru Nakamura 2816 2015-10
China Ding Liren 2816 2018-11
12 Russia Alexander Grischuk 2810 2014-12
13 Netherlands Anish Giri 2798 2015-10
14 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov 2793 2012-11
15 Russia Sergey Karjakin 2788 2011-07
16 Ukraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 2779 2011-03
17 Israel Boris Gelfand 2777 2013-11
18 Russia Ian Nepomniachtchi 2776 2019-09
19 Russia Alexander Morozevich 2770 2012-07
India Pentala Harikrishna 2770 2016-12

2020s

Chess players ordered by peak FIDE rating in 2020s
Country Player Peak rating in 2020s Achieved
1 Norway Magnus Carlsen 2872 2020-01
2 United States Fabiano Caruana 2842 2020-02
3 China Ding Liren 2811 2022-10
4 France Alireza Firouzja 2804 2021-12
5 United States Hikaru Nakamura 2802 2024-07
6 India Arjun Erigaisi 2799 2024-11
7 Russia Ian Nepomniachtchi 2795 2023-03
8 India Dommaraju Gukesh 2794 2024-10
9 ArmeniaUnited States Levon Aronian 2785 2022-03
10 France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2784 2020-10
11 Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2783 2024-10
12 Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2782 2021-07
13 Netherlands Anish Giri 2780 2021-05
14 Russia Alexander Grischuk 2778 2021-07
United States Wesley So 2778 2021-09
16 HungaryRomania Richárd Rapport 2776 2022-04
17 Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov 2765 2020-01
18 China Wang Hao 2763 2020-04
China Wei Yi 2763 2024-10
20 United States Leinier Domínguez 2760 2021-09
Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2760 2021-12

List of rating peaks throughout history

Player Rating Achieved
Bobby Fischer 2760 1971-07
2785 1972-07
Garry Kasparov 2800 1990-01
2805 1993-01
2815 1993-07
2820 1997-07
2825 1998-01
2851 1999-07
Magnus Carlsen 2861 2013-01
2872 2013-02
2881 2014-03
2882 2014-05

See also

Notes

  1. ^ FIDE considers a player active if they played a rated game within the past 12 months.[3]
  2. ^ The chart on Kramnik's FIDE profile gives his January 2002 rating as 2811.[4] The top 100 list for January 2002 gives 2809.[5] The discrepancy appears to be due to a delay in including the rating change of +2 from Kramnik's four draws with Garry Kasparov in the Botvinnik Memorial Match in December 2001 in the top 100 lists, where it only appears in October 2002.

References

  1. ^ "All time Top 100 by Highest ELO Rating". Chess-db.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  2. ^ "Records". 2700chess.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  3. ^ "FIDE Rating Regulations". FIDE. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Profile Info – Kramnik, Vladimir". FIDE. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Top 100 Players January 2002 - Archive". FIDE. Retrieved August 5, 2021.