Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for cheating.
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.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov is an Uzbek chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Champion (2004-05). He was Asian champion in 1998.
Étienne Bacrot is a French chess grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy.
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.
Wesley Barbossa So is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster, a three-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the first World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822, making him the fifth-highest-rated player in history.
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.
Leinier Domínguez Pérez is a Cuban and American chess grandmaster. A five-time Cuban champion, Domínguez was the world champion in blitz chess in 2008. He competed in the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2002 and 2004, and the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Daniel Naroditsky, often referred to as Danya, is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator.
Robert Lee Hess is an American chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 2009. In May 2012, his FIDE rating was 2635, fifth in the United States. Hess is a commentator for Chess.com, covering events such as the World Chess Championship and Candidates Tournament. He also streams chess content on his Twitch channel GMHess, which has 73,000+ followers.
Vladimir Chuchelov is a Belgian chess grandmaster and professional trainer.
Samuel Sevian is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 27 days, making him the youngest ever American grandmaster at the time. He also broke all US age records in reaching the titles of National and International Master.
Samuel L. Shankland is an American chess grandmaster. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2018.
Nils Axel Grandelius is a Swedish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked player of Sweden.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov is an Uzbek chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he qualified for the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 1 month, and 11 days. FIDE awarded him the title in April 2018. He is Uzbekistan's highest-rated grandmaster and currently one of the best chess players in the world.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess grandmaster. As of 22 Jan 2025, Praggnanandhaa is ranked 13th in the world by the International Chess Federation. Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Antipov is a Russian chess grandmaster who plays for the United States.
Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo is a Colombian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2019.
Nicolas de T. Checa is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He is from Dobbs Ferry, New York. A chess prodigy, he began playing competitive chess at age 7. He is the recipient of the 2020 and 2021 Samford Fellowships, an award granted to the top American chess players under 25 years old. He is the 2021 and 2022 Connecticut State Champion and an undergraduate student at Yale University.
Miron Naumovich Sher was a Soviet-born American chess player, who was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 1992. Towards the end of the Soviet era, he began winning the open sections at international tournaments. In 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved, Sher became a Russian citizen. In 1997, Sher, his wife, Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Alla Grinfeld (ru), and their son, Mikhail, who then was 14, emigrated to America and settled in Brooklyn. Sher went on to become a distinguished scholastic chess coach and clinician in New York and was instrumental in developing several internationally strong players, notably Fabiano Caruana, many times number two in the world, and Robert Hess, who at age 15, while attending Stuyvesant High School, became an international master and at 16, a grandmaster. Before immigrating, Sher had also coached a number of students around Europe, including Peter Heine Nielsen.
