Richest Chess Players In The World

Who is the richest chess player in the world?

Introduction

Chess is a board game for two players. Precursors to chess originated in India.

The term “checkmate” in Chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is helpless.”

London was the home of the first international chess tournament in 1851.

In 1997, Deep Blue became the first computer to beat the reigning World Champion.

List Of The Richest Chess Players In The World:

#1 Magnus Carlsen – $50 million

Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess player who became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 27 days. 

Magnus could solve 50-piece jigsaw puzzles at age 2.

He won the 2013 World Chess Champion title against Vishy Anand.

In 2014, Carlsen won the World Blitz Championship and the FIDE World Rapid Championship.

In January 2015, he won the 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

In 2018, he beat Fabiano Caruana to secure his 4th world chess title.

Magnus Carlsen first reached the top of the FIDE world rankings in 2010.

His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history.

#2 Fabiano Caruana – $10 million

Fabiano Caruana is an American-Italian chess player who won his first Italian Chess Championship in 2007.

At age 10, Fabiano became the youngest American to defeat a GM in a sanctioned event.

In 2007, he became the youngest Grandmaster in the history of Italy and the US at the time; Caruana was 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days.

In July 2010, he won the Young Grandmaster Section of Biel.

In 2014, the Italian Grandmaster won first place in the Sinquefield Cup. 

In the 2016 Chess Olympiad, Caruana represented the US on the first board. In the same year, Caruana won the U.S. Chess Championship.

In 2018, Fabiano lost the World Chess Championship to Magnus Carlsen.

#3 Garry Kasparov – $6 million

Garry Kasparov is a chess grandmaster who holds the record for the longest time as the No. 1 rated player in the world. He was ranked world No. 1 for 255 months.

He became the World Chess Champion in 1985.

In October 1989, he defeated the chess computer Deep Thought.

In 2000, Garry Kasparov lost a 16-game championship match to Vladimir Kramnik.

In 2003, Garry penned the book, My Great Predecessors Part I.

Kasparov retired from full-time chess in 2005.

In 2021, Kasparov launched Kasparovchess. He is currently chairman of the Human Rights Foundation.

#4 Viswanathan Anand – $5 million

Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess master who was the undisputed World No.1 from 2007 to 2013.

Viswanathan learned to play chess from his mother when he was 6 years old.

In 1984, Vishy won the Asian Junior Championship in Coimbatore. At age 16, Anand became the national chess champion.

In 1985, Viswanathan was the recipient of the Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess.

In 1988, he became India’s first Grandmaster.

He penned a book titled My Best Games of Chess, which was released in 1988.

Anand became the undisputed world champion in 2007. He won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2017 in Riyadh.

#5 Hikaru Nakamura – $5 million

Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess player who earned the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 79 days.

In 2008, Hikaru won the Finet Chess960 Open in Mainz.

In 2016, he won the Gibraltar Chess Festival.

In 2018, Nakamura won the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament.

In March 2019, he won his 5th US Chess Championship.

#6 Judit Polgár – $4 million

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess player who received the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary.

At the age of nine, Judit won her first international chess tournament. She defeated a Grandmaster for the first time at 11.

At age 12, Polgár played with her sisters for Hungary’s women’s team.

In 1991, Judit achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months.

In 2011, Polgár won the bronze medal at the Men’s European Championship.

In 2012, Judit published the book – ”How I Beat Fischer’s Record.”

In August 2014, Polgár announced her retirement from competitive chess.

In June 2015, she was named as the new captain of the Hungarian national men’s team.

#7 Sergey Karjakin – $3 million

Sergey Karjakin is a chess grandmaster who won a Gold medal in the World Chess Olympiad at the age of 14. He became the youngest-ever GM at 12 years and seven months of age.

At age 14, Sergey won a blitz game against the then World Champion Vladimir Kramnik.

In 2012, Sergey won the World Rapid Chess Championship.

In 2015, Karjakin won the Chess World Cup.

In 2016, he won the World Blitz Chess Championship. In the same year, Sergey lost the World Chess Championship to Magnus Carlsen.

In 2018, Karjakin tied for 2nd-3rd place in the Candidates Tournament.

#8 Bobby Fischer – $3 million

Bobby Fischer was the eleventh World Chess Champion.

Fischer played his first chess tournament in 1953 at the age of ten. In 1956, Bobby created history by becoming the youngest ever US Junior Chess Champion.

At age 14, Fischer became the youngest ever US Chess Champion.

In January 1959, he won the US Championship with 6 wins and 5 draws.

He won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by a 2½-point margin.

In January 1964, Fischer won the US Championship with a perfect score of 11 wins.

In 1969, Fisher penned a book titled – ”My 60 Memorable Games.”

In 1972, he won the World Chess Championship against Boris Spassky.

#9 Ding Liren Net Worth – $2.5 million

Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster who became a GM in 2009.

Liren won the World Chess Championship 2023.

#10 Ian Nepomniachtchi – $2 million

Ian Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster who has become a grandmaster in 2007.

Ian has amassed quite a fortune throughout his career, with an estimated net worth currently sitting at $2 million.

#9 Levon Aronian – $1.5 million

Levon Aronian is an Armenian chess grandmaster who won the World Under-12 Championship in Szeged.

In 2002, Aronian won the Armenian Championship.

In 2007, Levon was the world champion in Chess960.

In November 2010, he broke the 2800 rating barrier for the first time.

In August 2017, Levon won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.

In February 2021, Aronian announced that he would be switching federations from Armenia to the US. He said: “I am sincerely proud to have had the honor of making a significant contribution to the greatest achievements of Armenian chess.”

#10 Wesley So – $1.5 million

Wesley So is a chess grandmaster who won US Chess Championship in 2017 and 2020. He was born in Cavite, Philippines. 

In April 2008, he earned first place at the Dubai Open.

In 2012, Wesley received a scholarship offer from Webster University.

In 2013, Wesley won the Unive Crown Group.

In 2014, So won the 49th Capablanca Memorial tournament.

In January 2015, he shared second place at the Tata Steel Masters.

In August 2016, he won first place in the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis.

In 2017, Wesley won the 79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

In November 2019, he became the first winner of the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship. So is also a three-time Filipino Chess Champion.

#11 Maurice Ashley – $1 million

Maurice Ashley is a Jamaican-American chess grandmaster who was officially awarded grandmaster status in October 1999. Maurice is the first black person to reach the game’s highest rank.

In 2016, Ashley was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.

Here’s a quick recap of the 13 richest chess players in the world:

1. Magnus Carlsen
2. Fabiano Caruana
3. Garry Kasparov
4. Viswanathan Anand
5. Hikaru Nakamura
6. Judit Polgár
7. Sergey Karjakin
8. Bobby Fischer
9. Ding Liren
10. Ian Nepomniachtchi
11. Levon Aronian
12. Wesley So
13. Maurice Ashley