The highest ratings ever
FIDE's official lists, from July 1971. Only ratings published on a list count, not live ratings between lists. The month is when the player first reached that rating. Equal ratings share a rank.
| # | Player | Rating | First reached |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 2882 | May 2014 |
| 2 | Garry Kasparov | 2851 | July 1999 |
| 3 | Fabiano Caruana | 2844 | October 2014 |
| 4 | Levon Aronian | 2830 | March 2014 |
| 5 | Wesley So | 2822 | February 2017 |
| 6 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2820 | September 2018 |
| 7 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2819 | August 2016 |
| 8 | Viswanathan Anand | 2817 | March 2011 |
| 8 | Vladimir Kramnik | 2817 | October 2016 |
| 10 | Veselin Topalov | 2816 | July 2015 |
| 10 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2816 | October 2015 |
| 10 | Ding Liren | 2816 | November 2018 |
| 13 | Alexander Grischuk | 2810 | December 2014 |
| 14 | Alireza Firouzja | 2804 | December 2021 |
| 15 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2801 | December 2024 |
| 16 | Anish Giri | 2798 | October 2015 |
| 17 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2795 | March 2023 |
| 18 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2794 | October 2024 |
| 19 | Teimour Radjabov | 2793 | November 2012 |
| 20 | Alexander Morozevich | 2788 | July 2008 |
| 20 | Sergey Karjakin | 2788 | July 2011 |
The highest ratings among women
| # | Player | Rating | First reached |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judit Polgár | 2735 | July 2005 |
| 2 | Hou Yifan | 2686 | March 2015 |
| 3 | Koneru Humpy | 2623 | July 2009 |
| 4 | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2611 | August 2021 |
| 5 | Anna Muzychuk | 2606 | July 2012 |
| 6 | Ju Wenjun | 2604 | March 2017 |
| 7 | Tatiana Kosintseva | 2581 | November 2010 |
| 8 | Zhao Xue | 2579 | September 2013 |
| 8 | Zhu Jiner | 2579 | November 2025 |
| 10 | Susan Polgar | 2577 | January 2005 |
Longest-reigning world champions
Counted in whole years: the end year minus the start year. The number can be up to a year off the real time: Alekhine held the title for just over 16 years, Carlsen for just over 9. Anyone who held the title more than once has the years added up, and whoever holds it now counts up to this year. Equal numbers share a rank.
In the open section
| # | World champion | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emanuel Lasker1894–1921 | 27 |
| 2 | Alexander Alekhine1927–1935, 1937–1946 | 17 |
| 3 | Garry Kasparov1985–2000. The classical title from 1993 | 15 |
| 4 | Mikhail Botvinnik1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963 | 13 |
| 5 | Anatoly Karpov1975–1985. FIDE world champion 1993–1999 | 10 |
| 5 | Magnus Carlsen2013–2023 | 10 |
| 7 | Wilhelm Steinitz1886–1894 | 8 |
| 8 | Vladimir Kramnik2000–2007. The classical title until 2006 | 7 |
| 9 | José Raúl Capablanca1921–1927 | 6 |
| 9 | Tigran Petrosian1963–1969 | 6 |
| 9 | Viswanathan Anand2007–2013. FIDE world champion 2000–2002 | 6 |
From 1993 to 2006 there were two world champions. The classical title is what counts here, as on the players' pages; FIDE's title is noted under the name and isn't counted.
Women's world champions
| # | World champion | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vera Menchik1927–1944 | 17 |
| 2 | Nona Gaprindashvili1962–1978 | 16 |
| 3 | Maia Chiburdanidze1978–1991 | 13 |
| 4 | Ju Wenjunsince 2018 | 8 |
| 5 | Elisaveta Bykova1953–1956, 1958–1962 | 7 |
| 5 | Xie Jun1991–1996, 1999–2001 | 7 |
| 7 | Hou Yifan2010–2012, 2013–2015, 2016–2017 | 5 |
| 8 | Lyudmila Rudenko1950–1953 | 3 |
| 8 | Susan Polgar1996–1999 | 3 |
| 8 | Zhu Chen2001–2004 | 3 |
Vera Menchik was world champion from July 1927 to June 1944, so almost 17 years.
The youngest grandmaster
How the record has passed, from FIDE's first titles in 1950. The requirements for the title have changed over the years. What it takes today is under What is a grandmaster?
| Year | Player | Age |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | David Bronstein | 26 years |
| 1952 | Tigran Petrosian | 23 years |
| 1955 | Boris Spassky | 18 years |
| 1958 | Bobby Fischer | 15 years, 6 months, and 1 day |
| 1991 | Judit Polgár | 15 years, 4 months, and 28 days |
| 1994 | Péter Lékó | 14 years, 4 months, and 22 days |
| 1997 | Étienne Bacrot | 14 years and 2 months |
| 1997 | Ruslan Ponomariov | 14 years and 17 days |
| 1999 | Bu Xiangzhi | 13 years, 10 months, and 13 days |
| 2002 | Sergey Karjakin | 12 years and 7 months |
| 2021 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days |
Sources
- FIDE: the players' rating histories (from 2003) and the top lists
- OlimpBase: FIDE's lists from 1971 (Kasparov)
- Wikipedia: List of chess players by peak FIDE rating; Chess prodigy
- Chess.com: The Youngest Chess Grandmasters In History
- ChessBase: Chess prodigies and mini-grandmasters
- The players' pages on this site and their sources (the years as world champion)
Every line was read in the sources above and checked across them where possible. There are no opinions here about who was the best.
Updated November 8, 2026