1. Johann Baptist Allgaier (1970)

Chess Player

Early chess theorist and author of the first chess literature in the German language.

2. Wilhelm Steinitz (1836)

Chess Player

A chess legend who was the first ever, undisputed World Chess Champion.

3. Simon Alapin (1856)

Chess Player

Russian Chess great who is best known for his contributions to chess strategy.

4. Samuel Lipschütz (1863)

Chess Player

Ukrainian born chess player who dominated American chess in the late 19th Century.

5. Richard Hopkins (1863)

Chess Player

One of the first recognized chess prodigies in the world, who is perhaps best known for innovating the Hopkins Gambit.

6. Alexander Alekhine (1882)

Chess Player

Russian Chess player who is widely considered to be among the greatest players of all time.

7. Akiba Rubinstein (1882)

Chess Player

Early 20th century Polish chess Grandmaster whose World Championship match in 1914 was cancelled due to the start of World War I.

8. Alexander Moiseenko (1970)

Chess Player

Ukrainian chess Grandmaster who was a member of the gold-medal winning Ukrainian team at the 36th Chess Olympiad in 2004.

9. Savielly Tartakower (1887)

Chess Player

Russian chess player who famously said, 'The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.'

10. Grigory Levenfish (1889)

Chess Player

Polish chess grandmaster who won the Soviet Championship in 1934 and 1937.

11. Wilhelm Schönmann (1970)

Chess Player

A German chess master who was one of the world's finest players during the early 20th century.

12. Fricis Apsenieks (1894)

Chess Player

Latvian chess master who represented his native country in seven Chess Olympiads.

13. William Winter (1898)

Chess Player

A British chess master who was one of the best players in his country for much of the early 20th century.

14. George Koltanowski (1970)

Chess Player

Belgian born American chess player best known for the headlining making chess he played while blindfolded.

15. Stuart Milner-Barry (1970)

Chess Player

British Chess Champion who also worked as a military code breaker during World War II.

16. Alexander Konstantinopolsky (1970)

Chess Player

One of the early Soviet heroes of international chess as well as a renown coach and chess theorist.

17. Alexander Koblencs (1970)

Chess Player

A Latvian chess master, trainer, and writer who won the Latvian Championship four times.

18. Laszlo Szabo (1970)

Chess Player

Hungarian chess Grandmaster who won his first of many Hungarian Championships when he was only 18 years old.

19. Robert Wade (1921)

Chess Player

British chess champion from New Zealand who dominated play in both countries for some time.

20. Leonid Shamkovich (1970)

Chess Player

Remembered best for winning a prestigious 1967 chess tournament in Sochi, Russia, this Grandmaster competed against such chess greats as Boris Spassky and Vladimir Simagin. He also published a book...

21. Yakov Estrin (1970)

Chess Player

A Soviet chess master and former World Champion of correspondence chess.

22. Klaus Junge (1924)

Chess Player

One of the youngest German chess masters of all time who won the Chilean Chess Championship in 1922.

23. Ortvin Sarapu (1924)

Chess Player

Nicknamed "Mr. Chess," he is perhaps the greatest chess player in New Zealand national history.

24. Bill Hook (1970)

Chess Player

An international chess master who is best known for being the Captain for many British Virgin Islands' Chess Olympiad teams.

25. Vera Nebolsina (1970)

Chess Player

Russian chess Grandmaster and rising star in international women's competition.

26. Nikolai Krogius (1970)

Chess Player

Legendary Russian chess player and coach who trained some of the greatest chess players in modern history.

27. Anjelina Belakovskaia (1970)

Chess Player

Ukrainian born American Chess Grandmaster who is widely considered to be one of the greatest American female chess players of all time.

28. Raúl Sanguineti (1970)

Chess Player

Argentine chess Grandmaster whose success internationally and at home made him very well known in the world of chess.

29. William Hartston (1970)

Chess Player

An English chess player who is best known as a chess author and television personality.

30. Radoslaw Wojtaszek (1987)

Chess Player

Polish Chess Grandmaster who is a consistent presence in International Chess rankings.

31. Nana Dzagnidze (1987)

Chess Player

Georgian chess champion and one of the top female players in the world who achieved the title of International Grandmaster in 2008.

32. Andrea Botez (2002)

Chess Player

American-Canadian chess player, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer who has gained fame for competing against various chess prodigies, hustlers, and grandmasters. Her BotezLive Twitch account has attracted more than 1.1 million followers. At...

33. Zhou Weiqi (1970)

Chess Player

A Chinese chess Grandmaster who became one of the top players in all of Asia.

34. Wang Hao (1989)

Chess Player

Chinese chess master who is one of the most highly ranked players world wide.

35. Anna Cramling (2002)

Chess Player

Chess player, commentator and streamer. She streams chess matches on her AnnaCramling Twitch channel. She has earned more than 170,000 followers. 

36. Yehuda Gruenfeld (1956)

Chess Player

An Israeli chess Grandmaster who has played in six Chess Olympiads.

37. Vladislav Tkachiev (1970)

Chess Player

Russian-born French chess player who is highly ranked internationally and is known for his party boy antics. He won the European Individual Chess Championship in 2007 and in 2009.

38. Sergei Rublevsky (1970)

Chess Player

Russian chess Grandmaster and four time Olympiad Gold Medalist who is a highly ranked international player.

39. Ye Rongguang (1970)

Chess Player

A Chinese chess Grandmaster who paved the way for future grandmasters in China and the rest of Asia.

40. Emanuel Berg (1970)

Chess Player

Swedish chess player who is ranked very highly in international chess and became a Grandmaster in 2004.

41. Emil Sutovsky (1970)

Chess Player

Creative tactician with a never-say-die approach to the game; became a grandmaster and president of the Association of Chess Professionals.

42. Yuri Drozdovskij (1970)

Chess Player

A Ukrainian chess Grandmaster who is best known for his success in Rapid Chess.

43. Vadim Zvjaginsev (1976)

Chess Player

Russian chess grandmaster who is known for being a low key yet highly competitive player.

44. Sergei Movsesian (1970)

Chess Player

Chess Grandmaster who was a member of the gold-medal winning Armenian team at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo 2011.

45. Gabriel Sargissian (1970)

Chess Player

Armenian chess Grandmaster and member of the Armenian National Chess team.

46. Wolfgang Unzicker (1925)

Chess Player

He was considered by many to be the greatest amateur chess master of the 20th Century.