Magnus Carlsen

The dominant player of his generation. Carlsen has been world No. 1 without a break since July 2011, the longest run in history, and his peak rating of 2882 is still the highest ever recorded.

A grandmaster at 13 and world No. 1 at 19, the youngest ever, he took the world title from Viswanathan Anand in 2013 and defended it four times before choosing not to play the 2023 match. In 2014 he became the first player to hold the classical, rapid and blitz world titles at once, and he has done it twice more since.

Away from the classical title he has kept winning: he is the reigning world rapid and blitz champion, holds the Freestyle Chess world title, and once went 125 elite classical games unbeaten.