Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster and a five-time world chess champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of 2800, a feat he first achieved in 2006.
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is a Japanese-American chess grandmaster and streamer. A chess prodigy, at the age of 15 he became the youngest American up to that time (2003) to earn the title of Grandmaster. Nakamura is a five-time United States champion. He won the 2011 edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament Group A and represented the United States at five Chess Olympiads, winning a team gold medal and two team bronze medals.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Koneru became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.
Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and Women's World Champion from 2004 to 2006. She has represented Bulgaria in the Chess Olympiad in 2000 and the Women's Chess Olympiad since 1992.
Boris Gelfand is a Soviet-born Israeli chess player.
Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster. Grischuk was the Russian champion in 2009. He is also a three-time world blitz chess champion.
The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE.
Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian-American chess player. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States at the time.
Radosław Wojtaszek is a Polish chess player who was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2005. He is a three-time Polish champion.
Below is a list of events in chess in 1997, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players at the start of that year.
Below is a list of events in chess in 1996, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.
The FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 was a series of six chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification for the World Chess Championship 2012. It was administered by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. The event was won by Levon Aronian, with Teimour Radjabov second and Alexander Grischuk third.
Anna Yuriyivna Ushenina is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster who was Women's World Chess Champion from November 2012 to September 2013.
The Chess World Cup 2005 served as a qualification tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. It was held as a 128-player tournament from 27 November to 17 December 2005 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2013. The winner of the Grand Prix, Hou Yifan, will challenge the 2012 Women's World Chess champion.
The Women's World Chess Championship 2012 was a knockout tournament, to decide the women's world champion. The title was won by Anna Ushenina of Ukraine for the first time. Defending champion Hou Yifan went out in the second round.
The FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13 was a series of six chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2014. Veselin Topalov finished first, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov second in the overall standings. Both therefore qualified for the 2014 Candidates Tournament.
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The winner of the Grand Prix was decided in the last stage in Sharjah, UAE, when rating favorite and reigning world champion Hou Yifan overtook second seeded Koneru Humpy to win her third straight Grand Prix cycle. For the third time running, Koneru Humpy finished runner-up to Hou Yifan.
The Women's World Chess Championship was held from 16 March to 7 April 2015 in Sochi, Russia. It was a 64-player knockout tournament. It was originally scheduled from 11 to 31 October 2014 but problems in finding a sponsor and host city eventually forced international chess organisation FIDE to announce the postponement of the Championship on 24 September 2014, scheduling it for early 2015 in Sochi. The unclear state of the tournament was highly criticised by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP).