Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion in 2004 and a two-time Russian Women's Chess Champion. Kosteniuk won the team gold medal playing for Russia at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010, 2012 and 2014; the Women's World Team Chess Championship of 2017; and the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017; and the Women's Chess World Cup 2021. In 2022, due to sanctions imposed on Russian players after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she switched federations, and as of March 2023 she represents Switzerland.
Zoltán Almási is a Hungarian chess player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1993, he is a nine-time Hungarian champion, winning in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2019.
Shahriyar Hamid oghlu Mammadyarov, known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. As of December 2023, he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-highest-rated player in chess history.
Wang Yue is a Chinese chess player. In 2004, he became China's 18th grandmaster at the age of 17. He is China's first player ever to break into the top 10 of the FIDE world rankings and was the highest-ever rated Chinese player, with a peak rating of 2756, until August 2015, when this record was broken by Ding Liren.
Wesley Barbossa So is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. 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.
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.
Ernesto Inarkiev is a Russian chess grandmaster, the first ever from Kalmykia. He was European champion in 2016.
Gong Qianyun is a Chinese-born Singaporean chess player. She was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by FIDE in 2018.
Eugenio "Eugene" Torre is a Filipino chess player. In 1974, at 22 years old, he became the first Filipino and non-Soviet Asian to qualify for the title Grandmaster. Torre did this by winning the silver medal in the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice, France. He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines produced during the 1980s and 1990s, and played for the Philippines on board 1 in seventeen Chess Olympiads. In 2021, Torre was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Constantin Lupulescu is a Romanian chess grandmaster and a five-time Romanian Chess Champion. He has competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019, 2021.
Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and Women's World Chess Champion from April 2015 to March 2016. She is also a twice women's champion of Ukraine, World Team and European Team champion with Ukraine in 2013. Muzychuk has experienced multiple successes with Ukraine at the Women's Chess Olympiad winning gold in 2022, silver in 2018 and bronze in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
The 42nd Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournaments, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess event held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 1 to 14 September 2016. It was the first time that the Chess Olympiad had been hosted in Azerbaijan, the birthplace of former world champion Garry Kasparov; however, Azerbaijan had previously hosted strong tournaments, including the annual Shamkir Chess super-tournament in memory of Vugar Gashimov (1986–2014) and the Chess World Cup 2015.
Alexander Ipatov is a Ukrainian-born Turkish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked chess player of Turkey. Ipatov was world junior champion in 2012 and Turkish champion in 2014 and 2015. Since 2012, he has played for the Turkish national team in the Chess Olympiad, World Team Chess Championship and European Team Chess Championship.
Arthur Ssegwanyi is a Ugandan chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) by FIDE in 2015 as a result of winning the Zone 4.2 Individual Championship in the same year. This victory also qualified him to play in the FIDE World Cup 2015. In this event, he was paired against the fourth seed, Anish Giri. Ssegwanyi drew the first game in 158 moves, then lost the second game and consequently he was eliminated from the tournament. In 2016, he won the Tanzania Open Chess Championship in Dar es Salaam. Ssegwanyi has played for the Ugandan team in the Chess Olympiad since 2012.
Gunay Vugar qizi Mammadzada is an Azerbaijani chess player who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) through the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She has been an under-10 girls' World Youth Champion, and both an under-8 and an under-14 girls' European Youth Champion. Mammadzada is a two-time Azerbaijani women's national champion, which she achieved in 2017 and 2019. She has represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiad, the World Team Chess Championship, and the European Team Chess Championship, winning both team and individual bronze medals at the latter in 2019. Mammadzada has a peak FIDE rating of 2483 and has been ranked as high as No. 18 in the world among women.
Maksim Chigaev is a Russian chess player who currently represents Spain. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2016.
Daniel Anwuli is a Nigerian chess player. He was awarded the title International Master by FIDE in 2019.
Anna Yolanda Cramling Bellón is a Spanish-Swedish chess player, Twitch live streamer, and YouTuber who holds the FIDE title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM). She had a peak FIDE rating of 2175 in March 2018. Cramling represented Sweden in the 2016 and 2022 Chess Olympiad as well as two European Team Chess Championships.
Tin Jingyao is a Singaporean chess grandmaster. He is a five-time winner of the Singapore Chess Championship and represented Singapore in the Chess Olympiad in 2014 and 2016.
Bomo Lovet Kigigha, is a Nigerian FIDE Master and a 4 time Nigerian champion. He is Nigeria's fourth-highest rated player as of November, 2023, with an Elo rating of 2251.
