Chess

Players, champions, and the ideas behind the game.

People in Chess

10 profiles

Chess player

Bobby Fischer

Defeating Boris Spassky in 1972 to become world chess champion.

Chess player

Garry Kasparov

Holding the classical world chess title from 1985 to 2000.

Chess player

Judit Polgár

Reaching the world’s top ten in open chess competition.

Chess player

Anatoly Karpov

Holding the world chess championship and mastering positional play.

Chess player

Hou Yifan

The chess grandmaster who became the youngest women’s world champion at sixteen.

Chess player

José Raúl Capablanca

Winning the world chess championship and mastering apparently simple positions.

Chess player

Nona Gaprindashvili

Becoming the first woman awarded the unrestricted grandmaster title.

Athlete

Emanuel Lasker

Holding the world chess championship for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921.

Athlete

Mikhail Tal

Winning the world chess title through imaginative attacks and sacrifices.

Chess player

Tigran Petrosian

Becoming world chess champion with exceptionally resourceful defensive play.