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.
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.
Ju Wenjun is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She is the reigning four-time Women's World Champion, the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion, and a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion. In March 2017, she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She became the Women's World Chess Champion, having won the title first in May 2018. She then defended her title in November 2018, 2020, and 2023.
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.
Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in Saint Petersburg.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev is a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia. He is the reigning European champion in Rapid chess and Chess960. He competed in the Chess World Cup in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023.
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.
Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko is a Russian chess grandmaster. He won the European U10 Chess Championship in 2012, and both the European U16 and World U16 Chess Championship in 2017.
The World Chess960 Championship is a match or tournament held to determine a world champion in Chess960, a popular chess variant in which the positions of pieces on the players' home ranks are randomized with certain constraints. Prior to 2019 FIDE did not recognize a Chess960 world champion or sponsor regular tournaments in the format, but the Chess Classic at Mainz and other non-FIDE affiliated organizations have hosted high-profile Chess960 tournaments and matches. Time controls for Chess960 are non-standardized, and usually conform to the wishes of the tournament sponsor or organizer. As a result, Chess960 championships have been held with irregular time controls ranging from rapid (Mainz) to blitz and bullet.
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.
Hans Moke Niemann is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became a FIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He achieved a global ranking of No. 16 in September 2024.
The World Rapid Chess Championship 2021 is the 2021 edition of the annual World Rapid Chess Championship held by FIDE to determine the world champion in chess played under rapid time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament. Originally planned to be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, new coronavirus restrictions introduced by the Kazakh government prompted FIDE to change the location of the tournament to Warsaw, Poland.
The FIDE World Rapid Team Championship is a team tournament in chess, played under rapid time controls and organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in collaboration with WR Logistics GmbH. The first tournament took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from August 26 to 28, 2023.
The World Rapid Chess Championship 2024 was the 2024 edition of the annual World Rapid Chess Championship held by FIDE to determine the world champions in chess played under rapid time controls. The tournament was held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City from 26 to 28 December 2024, using a Swiss system with 13 rounds for the open tournament and 11 rounds for the women's tournament. Players eligible to participate in the open tournament had to either be rated at least 2550 Elo in a FIDE rating list during 2024, or be a reigning national champion. The time control was 15 minutes per player with a 10-second per-move increment. Since 2012, FIDE has held the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at a joint tournament.
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is a series of Chess960 tournaments in 2025 organized by Freestyle Chess Operations. It will consist of five "Grand Slam" tournaments following the format of the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, held in 2024. Players will score points based on placement in each event. The player with the highest score at the end of the year will become the Freestyle Chess World Champion.
Ian Nepomniachtchi 
Magnus Carlsen 
Ju Wenjun 
