Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion and a two-time Chess World Cup Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time. In 2022, he was the elected Deputy President of FIDE. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the game and has played a huge role in popularizing and revolutionarizing the game in the country.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Champion, the reigning eight time World Blitz Chess Champion and the reigning Chess World Cup Champion. He has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011 and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the 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.
Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. Armageddon chess is a variant of fast chess with draw odds for black and unequal time controls, used as a tiebreaker of last resort.
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin is a Russian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months.
Krishnan Sasikiran is an Indian chess grandmaster.
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.
The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from 12 September 2007 to 30 September 2007 to decide the world champion of the game of chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament.
Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster. Nepomniachtchi is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. He is one of the very few players to have won two consecutive Candidates Tournaments. He is currently Russia's highest ranked active chess player.
The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. The current world blitz champion title is shared by the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi. Ju Wenjun from China is the current women's blitz world champion. Magnus Carlsen has held the title a record eight times.
Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess Olympiads in 2014 and 2018. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and first Chinese player to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world. In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830. He achieved his highest classical rating of 2816 in November 2018 and a peak classical ranking of No.2 in November 2021 behind Magnus Carlsen.
Vidit Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi 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 of 2700. He is a double gold medalist at the Chess Olympiad. He is also a silver medalist at the Asian Games. He became the third Indian to qualify for the Candidates tournament by winning Grand Swiss 2023.
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is a circuit of chess tournaments in which players compete for multiple prize pools. The tournaments, which vary from year to year, have included Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic.
Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian-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.
The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022, with the World Championship finishing in April 2023. As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, it was a double round-robin tournament.
The 2024 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024. The tournament took place at The Great Hall in Toronto, Canada, from April 3–22, 2024. The event was held alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament. The event was won by Gukesh Dommaraju, which made him the youngest ever winner of a Candidates Tournament, and the youngest ever World Chess Championship challenger. Following the event Gukesh went on to become the youngest World Champion by defeating Ding Liren in the 14th round of Classical Chess.
The 2023 FIDE Circuit was a system comprising the top chess tournaments in 2023, which serves as a qualification path for the Candidates Tournament 2024. Players receive points based on their performance and the strength of the tournament. A player's final Circuit score is the sum of their five best results of the year. The winner of the Circuit qualifies for the Candidates Tournament 2024 in Toronto, Canada, the winner of which qualifies for the World Chess Championship 2024.
The World Chess Championship 2026 will be a chess match to determine the new World Chess Champion. It will be played between the defending champion Gukesh Dommaraju and a challenger, who will be the winner of the Candidates Tournament 2026.
The 2024 FIDE Circuit is a system comprising the top chess tournaments in 2024, which serves as a qualification path for the Candidates Tournament 2026. Players receive points based on their performance and the strength of the tournament. A player's final Circuit score is the sum of their seven best results of the year. Fabiano Caruana scored the most points, and as winner of the 2024 Circuit qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2026.
