📂 Grandmaster List (A–Z): Search by Name, Era, Style & World Champion

A chess grandmaster is the highest standard title awarded by FIDE below World Champion. In normal use, when people say a player is a GM, they mean the player has reached the top permanent over-the-board title in international chess.

GM is a higher title than IM in chess. International Master is a major title in its own right, but Grandmaster sits above it in the standard FIDE title ladder.

Super grandmaster is an informal label, not a separate official FIDE title. People usually use it for elite players at the very top of world chess.

In practical conversation, it often refers to players who are not merely grandmasters, but serious world-class contenders.

The grandmaster title is normally for life once it has been awarded. However, titles can still be removed in exceptional disciplinary or cheating-related cases.

A player normally becomes a chess grandmaster by earning strong tournament results called norms and by reaching a 2500 FIDE rating at some point. The title is based on sustained performance against strong opposition, not just one good event.

A player needs to reach a 2500 FIDE rating at some point to qualify for the GM title through the usual route. That number alone is not enough, because norms are also required.

Women can absolutely become grandmasters. The GM title is open to all players, and it is different from the separate Woman Grandmaster title.

The first official FIDE grandmasters were part of the original group recognized when FIDE formally created the title in 1950. That first class included World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and many of the strongest players of the era.

There are roughly around two thousand chess grandmasters worldwide, and the total changes over time as new titles are awarded. Any exact total depends on the current official record.

The No. 1 grandmaster changes over time because ratings change. For the current answer, the safest source is the latest official classical rating list.

The identity of the youngest grandmaster in history depends on the record at the time you check. If you care about the current record holder, use an up-to-date rating or title record source.

Bobby Fischer was a grandmaster. He became one of the most famous grandmasters in chess history and later became World Champion.