The Field
Hikaru Nakamura
Nakamura is a five-time United States Chess Champion who also won the 2011 edition of the Tata Steel Group A. He has represented the United States at six Chess Olympiads, winning two team bronze medals and the first team gold in 40 years at the 2016 Olympiad. In May 2014, when FIDE began publishing its official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Nakamura was ranked number one in the world on both lists. In 2015, the American GM won the Gibraltar Chess Masters tournament, captured his fourth U.S. Championship, place first at the Millionaire Chess Open, and propelled his classical FIDE rating to a career high of 2814. 2016 also proved to be a fruitful year for Naka as he repeated first place finishes at the Gibraltar Chess Festival and the Zurich Chess Challenge. In 2017, Hikaru won his third consecutive Gibraltar Chess Festival. He is the 2018 Grand Chess Tour winner.
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Nepomniachtchi is an Russian chess Grandmaster. He earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 17 in 2007 and won the prestigious Aeroflot Open the next year, thus qualifying to 2008 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. In 2010 he won the European individual championship as well as the Russian Superfinal after defeating Sergey Karjakin in a play off. He has won two silver medals in World Rapid Championships and one in World Blitz Championship. He won the 2018 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting and was part of the Russian team which won the 2019 World Team Championship. In April 2021, Nepomniatchi won the 2020/2021 Candidates tournament with 8.5/14 points, qualifying him to play for the 2021 world championship.
Wesley So
Wesley So is a Filipino American chess Grandmaster. A child prodigy growing up in the Philippines, So was a three-time Filipino Chess Champion. In 2014, So transferred his chess federation to the United States, and then quickly entered the world's top 10 after tying for second place at the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He then won the 2015 Bilbao Chess Masters and was the 2016 Grand Chess Tour champion after winning the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic. In 2017, So won the Tata Steel Masters tournament and became the eleventh player in history to surpass 2800 FIDE. Since then, So has earned many top accolades, including 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (2017, 2020, 2021), 2019 and current reigning Chess 960 World Champion, 2021 Paris Rapid & Blitz winner, as well as champion of the entire 2021 Grand Chess Tour.
Fabiano Caruana
Fabiano Caruana is an American chess Grandmaster. He played for the United States until 2005, then transferred his chess federation affiliation to Italy. While playing for Italy, Caruana was a four time Italian Champion, winning the championship in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011. In the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, Caruana won with a score of 8.5/10 and a performance of over 3000, achieving a FIDE rating of 2844, becoming the third highest-rated player in history. In 2015, Caruana transferred back to the United States, and then won the 2016 U.S Championship. Caruana continued his stellar career with wins in 2017 London Chess Classic, 2018 Grenke Chess Classic, and tying for first in 2018 Sinquefield Cup. Also in 2018, Caruana won the Candidates tournament, becoming the first American to challenge the World Champion since Bobby Fischer. After drawing all classical games, Caruana lost the match in rapid tiebreaks. He won the 2020 Tata Steel Masters, and placed second in the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss, qualifying him for the 2022 Candidates Tournament.
Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian is an Armenian American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000 at age 17. Aronian was the World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009 and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. He won the Chess World Cup in 2005 and 2017, and currently is the only player to win the tournament twice. Aronian has also led the Armenian national team to three gold medals in Chess Olympiads (2006, 2008, 2012) as well as to gold at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011. In 2014, he achieved his peak rating of 2830, making him the fourth highest rated player in history. Since then, Aronian has won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz twice (2017, 2019), 2018 sinquefield Cup, and 2019 Superbet Rapid & Blitz. In 2021, Aronian officially transferred his chess federation to the United States, making him the 2nd highest rated American player.
Alireza Firouzja
Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian-French chess player. He won the Iranian Chess Championship at the age of 12 and earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 14. Firouzja won the Iranian Chess Championship for a second time in 2019, and competed in the World Team Chess Championship with Iran. In 2021, Firouzja became a French citizen and started to play under the French chess federation. He later won the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, qualifying for the Candidates Tournament 2022.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is an Azerbaijian chess Grandmaster. He is a two-time World Junior Champion (2003 and 2005) and a three-time European Team Champion (2009, 2013, 2017) with Azerbaijan. Mamedyarov was World Rapid Chess Champion in 2013. Mamedyarov represented his country at the 2012 Chess Olympiad and received a gold medal on the third board. GM Mamedyarov is also a two-time winner of the Tal Memorial (2010 and 2014) and Shamkir Chess (2016 and 2017) tournaments. In 2018, he won the Biel Chess Festival after defeating Magnus Carlsen and tied for second place in the Candidates Tournament. In 2021, he joined the Grand Chess Tour and won the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic.
Leinier Dominguez
Leinier Dominguez is a Cuban American chess Grandmaster. He is a 5 time Cuban Chess Champion (2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016) who completed his transfer to the United States Chess Federation in 2018, and is currently the 4 highest rated American player in the world. Dominguez won the 2008 World Blitz Championship, and won the 2013 FIDE Grand Prix. In 2019, he earned second place in the U.S. Chess Championship and was co-winner of the Netanya Masters in Israel.
Peter Svidler
Svidler is an astounding 8 time Russian Chess Champion, winning as recently as 2017. He also has represented the Russian Olympiad team 10 times helping his team win the gold medal in his first five appearances. By winning the 2011 Chess World Cup, he qualified for the Candidates stage of the 2013 World Championship cycle. In that event, Peter soundly defeated the eventual World Champion, Magnus Carlsen. Svidler is also a world-renowned chess commentator. He has given live commentary on important events such as the 2018 World Chess Championship, occasionally being joined by other elite players such as Anish Giri and Alexander Grischuk.
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov is a chess legend known worldwide for his beautiful attacking style and ruthless technique. Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. As world champion, he was known for his aggressive attacking style. In 1996 and 1997, Kasparov played the IBM supercomputer, Deep Blue, in a series of highly publicized matches. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked World No. 1 and is considered by many to be the greatest chess player in history.