If you want to know who the best Chess players of all time are, then this is the article for you. We have compiled a list of the top five chess players of all time, along with an honorable mention who has managed to train three future GMs or Grand Masters. Stick around.

Best Chess Players Of All Time

Chess is one of the most versatile board games out there. It is a game that requires logical reasoning and a shrewd sense of targeted guessing. It is a game that relies heavily on technique. As a result, we have curated a small list of all the best chess players of all time. Without further ado, let us dive right in.

Honorable Mention: Mikhail Botvinnik

Even though there are countless players who deserve their spot in our list of best chess players of all time, we need to make our list streamlined. As a result, we have listed five chess GOATs. However, there is one name that did not make it to the list but plays and equally important role.

GM Mikhail Botvinnik is popularly known as the father of the Soviet school of chess. Mikhail dominated the world of chess for over 30 years. He was the sixth World champion and is known to be the mentor of the likes of Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik. As a result, he is one of the players who ushered in a new era for chess.

#5 Anatoly Karpov

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GM Anatoly Karpov was a beacon of hope for the Russian chess empire. He was the 12th World champion who reigned from 1975 to 1985, along with the FIDE World champion from 1993 to 1999. Karpov was an all-rounder, but his prophylactic play, positional binds, and endgame were the finest in the business.

Even though he is one of the biggest names in history, he won his first World Championship after Bobby Fischer withdrew from the 1975 match. As a result, he was seen by many as the ‘lucky guy’. However, Karpov managed to change the narrative as he defended his crown against GM Victor Korchnoi just three years later.

Back in 1993, Karpov managed to break away from FIDE and created the PCA. Still, he managed to clinch a few other victories against players like GM Jan Timman, GM Gata Kamsky, and GM Viswanathan Anand. However, in 1999, he fully walked out of FIDE after they changed their rules of the game.

#4 Jose Raul Capablanca

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Jose Raul Capablanca was the third official World Champion and is considered by many to be one of the most talented players to ever grace the game. From 1916 to 1924, he managed to record an impressive statistics of 40 wins and 23 draws. This record is seen as a historical record.

Jose managed to become the World Champion by defeating the German chess player Emmanuel Lasker in 1921. Several historians believed that Jose could have defeated Lasker earlier if he had gotten the chance. Capablanca was famous for his endgame formation.

Even though Jose Raul Capablanca was one of the best chess players of all time, his peak came during World War I and World War II. As a result, his growth was stunted by political problems and conflicts. Still, he managed to go eight years without defeating a single match. A feat that is only worthy of a GOAT.

#3 Bobby Fischer

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GM Bobby Fischer was the 11th World Champion and was the first and only American World Champion. Several people considered Bobby to be one of the most famous chess players of all time. In just one year, he managed to win 20 consecutive games of chess. This winning streak is considered to be the seventh most amazing chess record of all time.

Fischer rose in popularity during the Cold War era. Back in 1972, he managed to defeat the Russian chess maestro, Boris Spassky. This immediately made him an American hero. Fischer became a household name.

Fischer was seen as the American who dismantled the Russian Chess Empire. This bolstered Fischer’s spot as one of the best chess players of all time for the American chess community. To this day, nobody could replicate Fischer’s positional understanding.

#2 Magnus Carlsen

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Magnus Carlsen is the only chess player in history who holds World Championship Titles in all three formats of chess: standard, rapid, and blitz. Back in 2009, he became one of the youngest players to break the 2800-rating surface. And five years later, he reached his peak rating of 2889.

Carlsen has dominated the World rankings of chess since 2011. Back in 2020, Carlsen went on a winning streak of 125 games in a row. This was a huge record for the world of chess, and it is still undefeated to this day.

Even though he has a stellar resume, it might come as a surprise that he is not our #1 in our list of all the best chess players of all time. In comes the GOAT, Garry Kasparov.

#1 Garry Kasparov

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It is not easy to hold the title of World Champion for 15 years, from 1985 to 2000. However, nothing was impossible for GM Garry Kasparov. Garry managed to dominate the world of Chess for over 20 years. He is easily one of the best chess players of all time.

Garry first became the world champion at the age of 22. Garry managed to defeat Karpov and became the world champion in 1985, and the rest is history. Even though Garry has retired, he refuses to let go of the world of chess.

His book, ‘My Great Predecessors’ is considered to be one of the best chess books of all time. He even trained prodigies like GM Hikaru Nakamura and our runner-up GM Carlsen. A true GOAT.

Closing Thought

With that, we have reached the end of our list of some of the best chess players of all time. From Anatoly Karpov to Garry Kasparov, we have managed to cover almost all of the major chess players in modern history. Keep following our page for more such content.

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