Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 to 1985, a three-time FIDE World Champion, twice World Chess champion as a member of the USSR team, and a six-time winner of Chess Olympiads as a member of the USSR team. The International Association of Chess Press awarded him nine Chess Oscars.
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.
Yasser Seirawan is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess author and commentator.
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the USSR Chess Championships, and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion.
Mark Callano Paragua is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He won the Philippine Chess Championship in 2012. He was the youngest Filipino master ever, at nine years of age. He also became the youngest Filipino GM ever at 20, beating Eugenio Torre's record by about two years.
Walter Shawn Browne was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times.
Florencio Campomanes was a Filipino political scientist, chess player, and chess organizer.
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates Cycle a total of eight times. Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times. He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of 'Nemzet Sportolója', Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.
Pal Charles Benko was a Hungarian and American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Duncan Suttles is a chess grandmaster. Canada's second grandmaster after Abe Yanofsky, Suttles was recognized internationally for the originality of his strategic play in the mid-1960s and 70s. He retired from competitive chess in 1985.
Wolfgang Uhlmann was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player between the mid 1950's and the late 1980's, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann played many of the top players of the time and won the East Germany Chess Championships 11 times. Uhlmann continued to play chess into his later years, before dying at the age of 85 in Dresden.
Rodolfo Tan Cardoso was a Filipino chess player. He was awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1957, making him the first Asian to achieve it.
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.
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.
Oliver Barbosa is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He earned his International Master title in 2008 and his grandmaster title in 2011. Barbosa won the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Tournament in New Delhi, with 9.5/11 and an astounding Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) of 2710. By winning the said tournament, he also raised his ELO Live Rating from 2573 to 2627 as he gained 53.8 ELO rating points to become the Philippines 3rd Super GM. He earned his first GM norm in the Asian Individual in Mashad, Iran and his second norm in the Philippines National Championships. In 2014, he tied for 1st–2nd with Francisco Vallejo Pons in the Thailand Open Chess Championship.
John Paul Gomez is a Filipino chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) in 2007 and International Grandmaster (GM) in 2009. He is a three-time Filipino national junior champion and has also won the Filipino Chess Championship.
