Top 10 Richest Chess Players In The World

You are enthusiastic to be a chess grandmaster someday and wondering if there are any richest chess players in the world. We have compiled, in this article, a list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

As you may be aware, chess is an intellectual and tactical game. A player must not only be able to foresee their own moves several moves in advance, but also those of their opponents.

A chess rating of up to 2000 is typical for someone with an average IQ. Strong grandmasters with ratings of 2600 and higher are predicted to have IQs of at least 160. The average IQ of the strongest grandmasters of the time, with ratings that are about 2800, is 180.

A grandmaster in chess typically makes $3500 a month. However, if the Grandmaster’s entire chess activity consists of coaching, then the average monthly salary is $4800. Grandmasters who do not coach in any way make a maximum of $2500 per month.

It is conceivable to turn it into a career, but very few people are able to make enough money doing it. It is a costly game. To take part in tournaments, you will need to travel to several cities and nations. You will be required to pay for the majority of these costs (traveling, accommodation, and boarding) out of your own pocket.

While it is well known that being a professional chess player requires a high level of talent, many people are unaware that attending tournaments may also be a financially rewarding activity.

The prize of the tournaments varies according to the level, however, the winners stand to gain millions, making the most successful individuals extremely wealthy. That said, let’s discuss more on the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

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Top 10 Richest Chess Players In The World

The table below contains the names and net worth of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

1. Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura has a net worth of $50 million and he is the richest chess player in the world. Nakamura is a Japanese-American chess grandmaster and online streamer.

He was a chess prodigy who, in 2003, at the age of 15, became the youngest American to hold the rank of Grandmaster. Nakamura has won the US Chess Championship five times. He took first place in Group A of the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He also competed for the United States at five chess Olympics, winning two team bronze medals and a team gold medal.

He reached his highest USCF rating of 2900 in August 2015. He got his highest FIDE rating of 2816 in October 2015, placing him second in the world behind Magnus Carlsen.

Nakamura had the top spot on both rankings in May 2014 when FIDE started posting official quick and blitz chess ratings; he has held that position on both lists ever since. He has won each of the previous four Chess.com Speed Chess Championships as of December 2021. Hikaru Nakamura is first on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

2. Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen has a net worth of $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth and he is also one of the richest chess players in the world. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion and a Norwegian grandmaster in the game.

Additionally, he has won the world championships in both blitz and rapid chess five times each. He has been ranked No. 1 in the FIDE world chess rankings since July 1, 2011, and he has spent the second-most time as the top-rated player in the world, behind only Garry Kasparov.

The highest rating ever recorded is his top rating of 2882. In elite classical chess, he also holds the record for the longest unbroken run. Magnus Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion and a Norwegian grandmaster in the game. Additionally, he has won the world championships in both blitz and rapid chess five times each.

He has been ranked No. 1 in the FIDE world chess rankings since July 1, 2011, and he has spent the second-most time as the top-rated player in the world, behind only Garry Kasparov. Magnus Carlsen is second on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

3. Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana has a net worth of $13 million and he is also one of the richest chess players in the world. Caruana is a popular Italian chess player who attained grandmaster status at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days, making him the youngest grandmaster in Italian and American history at the time.

He achieved his grandmaster status in 2007 and won the Italian Chess Championship for the first time that year. He repeated this achievement in 2008, 2010, and 2011.

In 2012, 2014, and 2015, he prevailed at the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. Caruana also won the Sinquefield Cup in 2014, obtaining the best performance rating in history at the top level of 3098. He later raised this rating to 2844, moving up to third place all-time in terms of player rankings. In 2015, he relocated back to the country.

Caruana qualified for the 2016 Candidates Tournament after winning the FIDE Grand Prix in 2014–15, where he finished second to Sergey Karjakin. At the 42nd Chess Olympiad, he played on board one for the United States and earned team gold and individual bronze.

He also won the 2016 US Chess Championship. He triumphed at the 2017 London Chess Classic. Since Bobby Fischer in 1972, Caruana is the first American to contend for the uncontested World Chess Championship after winning the Candidates Tournament in 2018. Fabiano Caruana is third on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

4. Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov has a  net worth of $5 million and he is among the richest chess players in the world. Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster and a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and commentator.

His greatest rating of 2851, attained in 1999, held the record for the highest rating until Magnus Carlsen overtook it in 2013. Kasparov held the top spot in the world for a record 255 months throughout his career, from 1984 until his retirement in 2005.

Kasparov also holds records for the number of Chess Oscars and consecutive professional tournament victories (15). In 1985, at the age of 22, Kasparov defeated reigning champion Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest-ever undisputed World Chess Champion.

He held the official FIDE world title until 1993 when a disagreement with FIDE prompted him to create the Professional Chess Association, a rival organization. In 1997, when he lost against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a well-reported match, he made history by being the first world champion to lose a match to a machine under regular time constraints.

The “Classical” World Chess Championship was still in his possession until he was defeated by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. He continued to win matches despite dropping the crown. Garry Kasparov is fourth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

5. Judit Polgar

Judit Polgar has a net worth of $5 million and he is also one of the richest chess players in the world. Polgar is a grandmaster in chess from Hungary and is widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time.

At 15 years and 4 months old, Polgár became the youngest person to ever receive the title of Grandmaster in 1991, shattering the previous record held by former World Champion Bobby Fischer. At the age of twelve, she was the youngest player ever to enter the FIDE top 100 players rating list, coming in at No. 55 on the January 1989 rating list.

Polgár is the only woman to have been a serious candidate for the World Chess Championship, in which she participated in 2005; she had previously participated in large, 100+ player knockout tournaments for the world championship. She is also the only woman to have surpassed 2700 Elo, reaching a peak world ranking of No. 8 in 2004 and a peak rating of 2735 in 2005. Judit Polgar is fifth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

6. Telmour Radjabov

Telmour Radjabov has a net worth of $5 million and he is among the richest chess players in the world. Radjabov is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster, ranked number 18 in the world as of July 2022.

A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster in March 2001 at the age of 14, making him the second youngest grandmaster in history at the time

In 2011, 2013, and 2022, he participated in the Candidates Tournament three times, finishing third each time. He also qualified for the 2020 tournament but withdrew due to the coronavirus epidemic.

With Azerbaijan, he won the European Team Chess Championship in 2009, 2013, and 2017. One of his most notable individual accomplishments was sharing first place in the 2007 Corus tournament.

He also won the 2008 Elista Grand Prix, 2017 Geneva Grand Prix, 2019 FIDE World Cup, and 2021 Airthings Masters. Telmour Radjabov is sixth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

7. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has a net worth of $5 million and he is also one of the richest chess players in the world. The current World Blitz Chess Champion is a French grandmaster who is frequently referred to by his initials, MVL. Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest-ranked player in history with a top rating of 2819.

As a chess prodigy Vachier-Lagrave, just 14 years old, attained the title of grandmaster in 2005. Vachier-Lagrave won the French Chess Championship in 2007 and the Biel Grandmaster Tournament and the World Junior Chess Championship in 2009.

In 2011 and 2012, he repeated as French Chess Champion. In 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, he won the Biel Grandmaster Tournament. Vachier-Lagrave competed in the 2020–21 Candidates Tournament and finished second while winning the Sinquefield Cup in 2017 and 2021. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is seventh on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

8. Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian has a net worth of $3 million and he is among the richest chess players in the world. Aronian is a grandmaster in chess from Armenia and presently represents the United States Chess Federation.

He was a chess prodigy who turned 17 in 2000 and attained the rank of grandmaster. The fourth-highest rated player in history, Aronian holds the No. 2 spot in the March 2014 FIDE world chess rankings with a rating of 2830.

In 2005 and 2017, Aronian won the FIDE World Cup. In 2006 (Turin), 2008 (Dresden), and 2012 (Istanbul), as well as at the 2011 World Team Chess Championship, he led the Armenian national team to gold medals.

He qualified for the 2012 World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament by winning the FIDE Grand Prix in 2008–2010. Levon Aronian is eighth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

9. Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand has a net worth of $3 million and he is also one of the richest chess players in the world. He 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. In 2022, he was elected the deputy president of FIDE

In a six-game competition, Anand defeated Alexei Shirov to win the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship, which he retained until 2002. He defended his championship against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010, and Boris Gelfand in 2012 after becoming the undisputed world champion in 2007. He was challenged by Magnus Carlsen in 2013, and after winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament, Carlsen defeated him again in 2014. Viswanathan Anand is ninth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

10. Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik has a net worth of $2 million and he is among the richest chess players in the world. Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007.

He has won three team gold medals and three individual medals at Chess Olympiads. Kramnik defeated Garry Kasparov in 2000 to win the title of World Chess Champion in the Classical style.

In 2004, he overcame Peter Leko to defend his title, then in 2006, he defeated Veselin Topalov, the current FIDE World Champion, in a unification match. As a result, Kramnik became the first uncontested World Champion since Kasparov’s 1993 break with FIDE, holding both the FIDE and Classical titles.

Viswanathan Anand defeated Vladimir Kramnik for the 2007 World Chess Championship title after Anand took first place. In an attempt to defend his title against Anand at the 2008 World Chess Championship, he failed.

He nevertheless maintained his position as a top player, reaching a peak rating of 2817 in October 2016 to tie for eighth place among all players in terms of ratings. Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is the tenth on our list of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.

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Top 10 Richest Chess Players In The World

The table below contains the names and net worth of the top 10 richest chess players in the world.