







Occupation
CHESS PLAYERS
People
Pantheon has 462 people classified as chess players born between 1475 and 2009. Of these 462, 271 (58.66%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living chess players include Maxim Rodshtein, Li Chao, and Eugenio Torre. The most famous deceased chess players include Ratmir Kholmov, Akiba Rubinstein, and Lembit Oll.
Living Chess Players
Go to all RankingsAnatoly Karpov
1951 - Present
HPI: 74.74
Garry Kasparov
1963 - Present
HPI: 73.62
Nona Gaprindashvili
1941 - Present
HPI: 70.01
Judit Polgár
1976 - Present
HPI: 68.22
Susan Polgár
1969 - Present
HPI: 66.05
Vassily Ivanchuk
1969 - Present
HPI: 66.00
Jan Timman
1951 - Present
HPI: 63.83
Nigel Short
1965 - Present
HPI: 63.78
Lajos Portisch
1937 - Present
HPI: 63.47
Magnus Carlsen
1990 - Present
HPI: 61.91
Michael Adams
1971 - Present
HPI: 61.57
Nana Alexandria
1949 - Present
HPI: 61.09
Deceased Chess Players
Go to all RankingsWilhelm Steinitz
1836 - 1900
HPI: 79.31
Bobby Fischer
1943 - 2008
HPI: 78.36
Boris Spassky
1937 - 2025
HPI: 78.00
José Raúl Capablanca
1888 - 1942
HPI: 76.24
Mikhail Tal
1936 - 1992
HPI: 75.71
Alexander Alekhine
1892 - 1946
HPI: 75.55
Emanuel Lasker
1868 - 1941
HPI: 75.53
Mikhail Botvinnik
1911 - 1995
HPI: 75.14
Tigran Petrosian
1929 - 1984
HPI: 74.52
Max Euwe
1901 - 1981
HPI: 73.69
Vasily Smyslov
1921 - 2010
HPI: 72.03
François-André Danican Philidor
1726 - 1795
HPI: 72.01
Places
Most chess players were born in Russia (78), Ukraine (32), and China (22). By city, the most common birth places were Saint Petersburg (16), Baku (14), and Moscow (12).
Places Over Time
The earliest biographies classified as chess players in Pantheon are Ruy López de Segura, Pedro Damiano, and Luis Ramírez de Lucena. The concentration of chess players was largest during the Television Era, which lasted from 1950 to 1989. Some birth or death locations for earlier chess players are unknown, which may account for timeline differences below.
Lifespans
Which Chess Players were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Chess Players since 1700.