“Best” is a subjective term, but when it comes to chess, the Elo rating system reigns supreme in determining the top chess players in the world. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) has used the Elo rating system, named after its creator Arpad Elo, since 1970 to formalize professionals’ ranks.
With the renaissance of chess as a mainstream cultural phenomenon following the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, we gathered the ten best chess players in the world, according to their current rankings. There are a wide array of players not on this list (both active and retired) who have been considered the best at one point or another in their careers. I mean, Garry Kasporov isn’t a top ten ranked player right now, but you’d be silly to not refer to him colloquially as one of the best chess players in the world. Nonetheless, below are the current top ten ranked chess players in the world: