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List of chess players

There have been a number of famous chess players; matches between some of these are famous even outside of the chess world. See also World chess champions.

Male players

Michael Adams[?] (England, 1971 - )

Alexander Alekhine (Russia, 1892 - 1946)

Viswanathan Anand[?] (India, 1969 - )

Adolf Anderssen (Germany, 1818 - 1879)

Konstantin Aseev[?] (Russia, 1960 - )

As-Suli (Abbasid Caliphate, circa 880 - 946)

Maurice Ashley (Jamaica, USA, 1966 - )

Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia, 1911 - 1995)

David Bronstein (Russia, 1924 - )

José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba, 1888 - 1942)

Max Euwe (Netherlands, 1901 - 1981)

Bobby Fischer (USA, 1943 - )

Boris Gelfand[?] (Belarus, USSR, 1968 - )

Efim Geller[?] (Ukraine, USSR, 1925 - 1998)

Vassily Ivanchuk[?] (Ukraine, 1969 - )

Sergey Ivanov[?] (Russia, 1960 - )

Anatoly Karpov (Russia, 1951 - )

Garry Kasparov (Russia, 1963 - )

Paul Keres[?] (Estonia, 1916 - 1975)

Alexander Khalifman[?] (Russia, 1966 - )

Viktor Korchnoi (Russia, Switzerland, 1931 - )

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 1975 - )

Emanuel Lasker (Germany, USA, 1868 - 1941)

Peter Leko[?] (Hungary, 1979 - )

Luke McShane (England, 1984 - )

Tony Miles (England, 1955 - 2001)

Alexander Morozevich[?] (Russia, 1977 - )

Paul Morphy (USA, 1837 - 1884)

Aaron Nimzowitsch (Latvia, 1886 - 1935)

Oscar Panno[?] (Argentina, 1935 - )

Bruno Parma[?] (Slovenia, 1941 - )

Tigran Petrosian (Georgia, USSR, 1929 - 1984)

François-André Danican Philidor (France, 1726 - 1795)

Vasja Pirc[?] (Slovenia, 1907 - 1980)

Ruslan Ponomariov[?] (Ukraine, 1983 - )

Valery Salov[?] (Russia, 1964 - )

Yasser Seirawan (Syria, USA, 1960 - )

Alexei Shirov[?] (Latvia, Spain, 1972 - )

Nigel Short (England, 1965 - )

Vasily Smyslov (Russia, 1921 - )

Boris Spassky (Russia, France, 1937 - )

Howard Staunton (England, 1810 - 1874)

Wilhelm Steinitz (Bohemia, USA, 1836 - 1900)

Mark Taimanov[?] (Russia, 1926 - )

Mikhail Tal (Latvia, USSR, 1936 - 1992)

Siegbert Tarrasch[?] (Germany, 1962 - 1934)

Jan Timman (Netherlands, 1951 - )

Veselin Topalov[?] (Bulgaria, 1975 - )

Milan Vidmar (Slovenia, 1885 - 1962)

Female players

Elizaveta Ivanovna Bykova[?] (Russia, 1913 - 1989)

Zhu Chen[?] (China, 1976 - )

Maya Chiburdanidze[?] (Georgia, USSR, 1961 - )

Pia Cramling[?] (Sweden, 1963 - )

Nona Gaprindashvili[?] (Georgia, USSR, 1941 - )

Xie Jun (China, 1970 - )

Irina Krush (Ukraine, USSR, USA, 1983 - )

Vera Menchik-Stevenson[?] (Czech Republic, England, 1906 - 1944)

Judit Polgar (Hungary, 1976 - )

Zsuzsa Polgar (Hungary, USA, 1969 - )

Olga Rubtsova[?] (Russia, 1909 - )

Lyudmila Rudenko[?] (Russia, 1904 - 1986)

Alexandra Kosteniuk[?] (Russia, 1984 - )

Famous people who were/are avid chess players
The people in this list are famous in other areas of activity, but are known to have played chess or maintain a current interest in chess.

Sergei Prokofiev (Russian composer & pianist)