Summary: 1840 - 2005 How to use this page
Duration: covering
Most Dominant Player between 1840 and 2005 Summary only | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100
   Emanuel Lasker: 24.3 years as #1 (between June 1890 and December 1926)
The player who was ranked #1 most often between 1840 and 2005 was Emanuel Lasker, with 292 different months as the top-ranked player (a total of 24.3 years). Next on the list were Garry Kasparov (21.9 years) and Wilhelm Steinitz (14.4 years).
    Player Name   Ranked #1   Earliest/Latest as #1   Ranked #2   Earliest/Latest as #2   Ranked #3   Ranked #4   Ranked #5 
 #1  Emanuel Lasker  24.3 years  1890-Jun to 1926-Dec  4.3 years  1890-May to 1927-Feb 1.7 years  1.8 years  1.5 years 
 #2  Garry Kasparov  21.9 years  1982-Sep to 2004-Oct  1.1 years  1982-Jan to 2004-Dec 1.5 years  0.2 years  0.3 years 
 #3  Wilhelm Steinitz  14.4 years  1866-Sep to 1890-May  2.8 years  1865-Nov to 1891-Jun 7.2 years  5.0 years  1.8 years 
 #4  Mikhail Botvinnik  10.9 years  1936-Sep to 1958-May  6.3 years  1936-Jun to 1963-Dec 4.1 years  4.0 years  2.2 years 
 #5  Alexander Alekhine  10.2 years  1924-Jan to 1944-Jul  7.6 years  1913-Sep to 1945-Dec 8.2 years  2.3 years  1.3 years 
Highest-Rated Player between 1840 and 2005 Summary only | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100
   Bobby Fischer: 2895 (October 1971)
The player who achieved the highest peak rating between 1840 and 2005 was Bobby Fischer, with a rating of 2895 on the October 1971 list. The next-highest peak ratings between 1840 and 2005 were achieved by Garry Kasparov (2886 on the March 1993 list) and Mikhail Botvinnik (2885 on the October 1945 list).
     Player Name       Peak Rating       World Rank (at time of Peak Rating)       Age (at time of Peak Rating)   
 #1    Bobby Fischer      2895      #1 on October 1971 rating list      28y7m   
 #2    Garry Kasparov      2886      #1 on March 1993 rating list      29y11m   
 #3    Mikhail Botvinnik      2885      #1 on October 1945 rating list      34y2m   
 #4    Emanuel Lasker      2878      #1 on May 1894 rating list      25y5m   
 #5    José Capablanca      2877      #1 on May 1921 rating list      32y6m   
 #6    Alexander Alekhine      2860      #1 on May 1931 rating list      38y7m   
 #7    Anatoly Karpov      2848      #2 on March 1989 rating list      37y10m   
 #8    Viswanathan Anand      2833      #2 on March 1999 rating list      29y3m   
 #9    Vladimir Kramnik      2826      #2 on August 2001 rating list      26y2m   
 #10    Wilhelm Steinitz      2826      #1 on April 1876 rating list      39y11m   
 #11    Siegbert Tarrasch      2824      #2 on June 1895 rating list      33y3m   
 #12    Géza Maróczy      2820      #1 on May 1906 rating list      36y2m   
 #13    Harry Pillsbury      2816      #2 on July 1901 rating list      28y7m   
 #14    Viktor Korchnoi      2814      #2 on November 1978 rating list      47y8m   
 #15    Vassily Ivanchuk      2804      #2 on May 1992 rating list      23y2m   
 #16    Vassily Smyslov      2800      #1 on September 1956 rating list      35y6m   
 #17    Mikhail Tal      2799      #1 on September 1960 rating list      23y10m   
 #18    Johannes Zukertort      2798      #1 on February 1886 rating list      43y5m   
 #19    Miguel Najdorf      2797      #2 on February 1948 rating list      37y10m   
 #20    Mikhail Chigorin      2797      #3 on October 1895 rating list      44y11m   
 #21    Tigran Petrosian      2796      #1 on July 1962 rating list      33y1m   
 #22    David Bronstein      2792      #1 on June 1951 rating list      27y4m   
 #23    Akiba Rubinstein      2789      #1 on June 1913 rating list      30y8m   
 #24    Paul Keres      2786      #2 on March 1947 rating list      31y2m   
 #25    Samuel Reshevsky      2785      #1 on October 1953 rating list      41y11m   
 #26    Aron Nimzowitsch      2780      #3 on September 1929 rating list      42y10m   
 #27    Gata Kamsky      2779      #4 on March 1995 rating list      20y9m   
 #28    Valery Salov      2776      #5 on January 1995 rating list      30y8m   
 #29    Dawid Janowsky      2776      #1 on July 1904 rating list      36y1m   
 #30    Veselin Topalov      2773      #6 on June 1997 rating list      22y3m   
 #31    Boris Spassky      2773      #3 on July 1969 rating list      32y6m   
 #32    Max Euwe      2769      #1 on January 1936 rating list      34y8m   
 #33    Jan Timman      2768      #3 on March 1988 rating list      36y3m   
 #34    Alexander Morozevich      2768      #4 on April 2001 rating list      23y9m   
 #35    Efim Bogoljubow      2768      #1 on January 1927 rating list      37y9m   
 #36    Peter Leko      2768      #4 on January 2001 rating list      21y4m   
 #37    Alexei Shirov      2768      #4 on August 1999 rating list      27y1m   
 #38    Efim Geller      2765      #3 on August 1963 rating list      38y5m   
 #39    Carl Schlechter      2764      #3 on January 1911 rating list      36y10m   
 #40    Boris Gelfand      2763      #4 on December 1992 rating list      24y6m   
 #41    Gideon Stċhlberg      2762      #3 on March 1948 rating list      40y2m   
 #42    Frank Marshall      2762      #3 on December 1917 rating list      40y4m   
 #43    Reuben Fine      2762      #2 on July 1941 rating list      26y9m   
 #44    Lev Polugaevsky      2761      #3 on June 1977 rating list      42y7m   
 #45    Rafael Vaganian      2761      #3 on November 1985 rating list      34y1m   
 #46    Isaak Boleslavsky      2760      #4 on May 1950 rating list      30y11m   
 #47    Leonid Stein      2759      #4 on September 1966 rating list      31y10m   
 #48    Michael Adams      2757      #5 on July 2002 rating list      30y8m   
 #49    Artur Jussupow      2757      #3 on April 1987 rating list      27y2m   
 #50    Lajos Portisch      2757      #3 on December 1980 rating list      43y8m   
 #51    Alexander Beliavsky      2756      #3 on May 1988 rating list      34y5m   
 #52    Bent Larsen      2755      #3 on February 1971 rating list      35y11m   
 #53    Evgeny Bareev      2755      #4 on October 1991 rating list      24y11m   
 #54    Ignatz Kolisch      2755      #1 on August 1867 rating list      30y4m   
 #55    Salo Flohr      2754      #3 on April 1936 rating list      27y5m   
 #56    Peter Svidler      2754      #4 on January 2004 rating list      27y7m   
 #57    Ruslan Ponomariov      2753      #6 on November 2002 rating list      19y1m   
 #58    Alexander Kotov      2753      #4 on April 1950 rating list      36y8m   
 #59    Alexander Grischuk      2750      #4 on April 2004 rating list      20y6m   
 #60    Nigel Short      2750      #5 on April 1989 rating list      23y10m   
 #61    Joseph Blackburne      2748      #2 on August 1886 rating list      44y8m   
 #62    Judit Polgar      2746      #7 on January 2004 rating list      27y6m   
 #63    Alexander Graf      2745      #7 on April 1993 rating list      30y8m   
 #64    Adolf Anderssen      2744      #1 on August 1870 rating list      52y1m   
 #65    Richard Teichmann      2744      #5 on January 1912 rating list      43y1m   
 #66    Isidor Gunsberg      2744      #2 on July 1889 rating list      34y8m   
 #67    Ulf Andersson      2743      #3 on October 1983 rating list      32y4m   
 #68    Paul Morphy      2743      #1 on June 1859 rating list      22y0m   
 #69    Andrey Sokolov      2743      #4 on November 1986 rating list      23y8m   
 #70    Oldrich Duras      2743      #4 on August 1909 rating list      26y10m   
 #71    Svetozar Gligoric      2743      #6 on November 1958 rating list      35y9m   
 #72    Isaac Kashdan      2742      #3 on March 1932 rating list      26y4m   
 #73    Samuel Lipschütz      2742      #4 on January 1901 rating list      37y6m   
 #74    Gustav Neumann      2742      #2 on October 1867 rating list      28y10m   
 #75    Mark Taimanov      2742      #5 on January 1957 rating list      30y11m   
 #76    Leonid Yudasin      2741      #6 on January 1991 rating list      31y5m   
 #77    Henrique Mecking      2740      #4 on July 1976 rating list      24y6m   
 #78    Jonathan Speelman      2737      #8 on December 1988 rating list      32y2m   
 #79    Ratmir Kholmov      2736      #8 on March 1961 rating list      35y10m   
 #80    Vladimir Makogonov      2735      #7 on October 1945 rating list      41y2m   
 #81    Oleg Romanishin      2735      #5 on January 1975 rating list      23y0m   
 #82    Predrag Nikolic      2735      #8 on December 1987 rating list      27y3m   
 #83    Ljubomir Ljubojevic      2735      #6 on November 1983 rating list      33y0m   
 #84    Rezsö Charousek      2734      #6 on March 1900 rating list      26y6m   
 #85    Lionel Kieseritzky      2734      #1 on January 1851 rating list      45y0m   
 #86    Erich Eliskases      2733      #8 on January 1949 rating list      35y11m   
 #87    Mikhail Gurevich      2732      #8 on January 1991 rating list      31y11m   
 #88    Robert Hübner      2732      #9 on April 1973 rating list      24y5m   
 #89    Vladimir Savon      2732      #7 on December 1971 rating list      31y3m   
 #90    Berthold Suhle      2731      #1 on January 1866 rating list      29y0m   
 #91    Jaan Ehlvest      2731      #7 on April 1990 rating list      27y6m   
 #92    Milan Vidmar Sr      2731      #5 on April 1919 rating list      33y10m   
 #93    Evgeny Vladimirov      2730      #10 on June 1988 rating list      31y5m   
 #94    Zoltán Ribli      2730      #8 on November 1984 rating list      33y2m   
 #95    Sergei Rublevsky      2729      #11 on August 1998 rating list      23y10m   
 #96    Georgy Agzamov      2728      #8 on December 1984 rating list      30y3m   
 #97    Amos Burn      2728      #6 on October 1900 rating list      51y10m   
 #98    Miksa Weiss      2727      #4 on July 1889 rating list      32y0m   
 #99    László Szabó      2726      #6 on December 1946 rating list      29y9m   
 #100    Vlastimil Hort      2725      #7 on July 1977 rating list      33y6m   
Strongest Tournament between 1840 and 2005 See more details
   Vienna, 1882: Class 21 (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #10)
The strongest tournament held between 1840 and 2005 was Vienna 1882. This was a Class 21 tournament, including nine of the top ten players in the world (from the May 1882 rating list). The next-strongest tournaments were Linares 1993 (Class 21) and Nottingham 1936 (Class 20).
Strongest Match between 1840 and 2005 See more details
   Karpov-Kasparov V (World Championship, Lyon/New York), 1990: #1 vs #2
The strongest match held between 1840 and 2005 was Karpov-Kasparov V (World Championship, Lyon/New York), 1990. This was a matchup of #1 vs #2, including #1 Garry Kasparov (2877) and #2 Anatoly Karpov (2827) from the October 1990 rating list. Next on the list were Karpov-Kasparov III (World Championship, London/Leningrad), 1986 (#1 vs #2) and Karpov-Kasparov IV (World Championship, Sevilla), 1987 (#1 vs #2).
Best Individual Event Performance between 1840 and 2005 See more details
   Anatoly Karpov: 2899 in Linares, 1994
The best individual event performance between 1840 and 2005 was achieved by Anatoly Karpov with a Chessmetrics Performance Rating of 2899 in Linares, 1994. The next-best individual event performances were achieved by Bobby Fischer (2887 performance) in Fischer-Larsen Match (Candidates semifinal, Denver), 1971, and by Emanuel Lasker (2882 performance) in Lasker-Steinitz II (World Championship, Moscow), 1896.