The United States Chess Federation is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating system, awards national titles, sanctions over twenty national championships annually, and publishes two magazines: Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids. The USCF was founded and incorporated in Illinois in 1939, from the merger of two older chess organizations. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its membership as of 2020 as COVID hit was 97,000; as of 2024 the membership was 112,000.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. He is the world #1 ranked player. He is a five-time World Chess Champion, the reigning five-time World Rapid Chess Champion, the reigning seven-time World Blitz Chess Champion, and the reigning Chess World Cup Champion. He trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world, while holding the record for longest consecutive reign. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at an elite level in classical chess at 125 games.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.
Pentala Harikrishna is an Indian chess grandmaster. He became the youngest grandmaster from India after attaining the title in 2001, a record now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior Champion in 2004, and Asian Individual Champion in 2011. He is currently sixth-highest rated player in India. Harikrishna won the Tata Steel Group B in 2012 and the Biel MTO Masters Tournament Open event in 2013. He represented India at seven Chess Olympiads from 2000 to 2012 and won team Bronze at the World Team Chess Championships in 2010. At the Asian Team Championships, Harikrishna won team gold once, team silver twice and individual bronze once.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, he is the seventh-highest rated player in history.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
Anish Kumar Giri is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he completed the requirements for the grandmaster title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days. Giri is a five-time Dutch champion and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has represented the Netherlands at six Chess Olympiads. He has also won major international tournaments, including the 2012 Reggio Emilia tournament, 2017 Reykjavik Open, 2023 Tata Steel Chess, and shared 1st place in the 2015 London Chess Classic. In 2019 he won clear first at the Third Edition of the Shenzhen Masters.
Eldar Gasanov is a Ukrainian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (2007). Gasanov graduated from University of Kharkiv. He is working as one of the trainers of Chesskidz LLP.
The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cover a wide range of chess activities, including tournaments suitable for norm and title seekers, junior events, amateur competitions, simultaneous exhibitions, coaching, and lectures.
Awonder Liang is an American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy in his youth, he was the third-youngest American to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, at the age of 14. Liang was twice world champion in his age category.
Wei Yi is a Chinese chess grandmaster.
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. He attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating threshold of 2700.
Grigoriy Alekseyevich Oparin is a Russian-American chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2013.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda is a Polish chess grandmaster. A prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and 21 days. As of December 2023, he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 16 in the world. His personal best rating of 2760 makes him the highest ranked Polish player of all time.
Roman Chytilek is a Czech correspondence chess grandmaster, currently No.1 of International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) rating list and winner of the 16th Olympiad.
Růžena Suchá, also known as Růžena Suchá–Dobiášová, was a Czech chess player. She received the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM) in 1954 and was a three-time winner of the Czechoslovak Women's Chess Championship.
Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2800, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months.
Eliška Richtrová, née Klímová, also Richtrová-Klímová, is a Czech chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster (1982). She was a five-time winner of the Czechoslovak Women's Chess Championship.
Dommaraju Gukesh is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest Grandmaster in history, the third-youngest to reach a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750 and the youngest winner of the FIDE Candidates tournament. Gukesh won the 2024 Candidates Tournament, making him the youngest contender to compete for the title of World Chess Champion.
Thai Dai Van Nguyen is a Czech chess grandmaster.
