While chess is considered the game of kings, not all professional chess players live like royalty. Top-ranked players, such as Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, earn about $1 million per year, and the top 50 players can earn anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000. Anyone playing below that level makes far less.
Some, such as Hikaru Nakamura who holds lucrative sports contracts, or Garry Kasparov, who created a post-chess career in cybersecurity and consulting, have made large personal fortunes outside their direct chess earnings. Other players on our list are still in their teens and 20s, and as they get older and more experienced, we can expect to see their names move up the rankings and their winnings and net worth increase.
With past champions coaching many of today’s younger players, the overall skill level of chess has improved, so most of the best players are playing professionally today, making them — you guessed it — the ones who earned the most playing the game. With all this in mind, here are the 30 greatest chess players, dating back to when the International Chess Federation (FIDE) rating system started.
Bottom Line: Alireza Firouzja
Alireza Firouzja was born in Iran in 2003 and started playing chess at the age of eight. He became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 and was the youngest ever Iranian chess champion.
Firouzja is currently the youngest player in the world to be rated over 2700 and the only teenager in among the top 15 players. He is just 19 and currently rated as the No. 2 player in the world.
Firouzja no longer plays for Iran, following changes to his home country’s competition rules, and now plays under the French flag.
He’s also been working in fashion design. “Yes, I was in this industry for two years now. It’s kind of a serious thing. It’s improving every day and, yes, it’s kind of a real profession. It’s taking time from my chess, but I like to have both things together.”
