# The chess players with the highest Elo ratings ever

Magnus Carlsen holds the record, ahead of Kasparov and Caruana: the players who have reached the highest FIDE ratings of all time. Who is the greatest ever?

- 59 votes · 25 items
- Mar 7, 2026 · Alejandra
- https://even.best/en/l/2408/the-chess-players-with-the-highest-elo-ratings-ever

## Top 25

1. **Magnus Carlsen** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — 2882 in May 2014, the all-time record.
2. **Garry Kasparov** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 2851 in 1999; the record stood for fourteen years.
3. **Maxime Vachier-Lagrave** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 2819 in 2016, the best French player ever.
4. **Levon Aronian** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 2830 in 2014.
5. **Gukesh Dommaraju** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 2794 in 2024, the year he became world champion.
6. **Fabiano Caruana** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2844 in 2014, after his historic run in Saint Louis.
7. **Wesley So** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2822 in 2017.
8. **Shakhriyar Mamedyarov** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2820 in 2018.
9. **Viswanathan Anand** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2817 in 2011.
10. **Veselin Topalov** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2816 in 2015.
11. **Hikaru Nakamura** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2816 in 2015.
12. **Alexander Grischuk** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2810 in 2014.
13. **Anish Giri** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2798 in 2015.
14. **Ian Nepomniachtchi** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2795 in 2023.
15. **Ding Liren** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 2816 in 2018.
16. **Teimour Radjabov** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 2793 in 2012.
17. **Sergey Karjakin** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 2788 in 2011.
18. **Arjun Erigaisi** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2801 in December 2024.
19. **Vasyl Ivanchuk** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2787 in 2007.
20. **Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2785 in September 2025.
21. **Alireza Firouzja** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 2804 in 2021, at just 18.
22. **Bobby Fischer** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 2785 in 1972, the year of the match against Spassky.
23. **Nodirbek Abdusattorov** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2783 in 2024.
24. **Vladimir Kramnik** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 2817 in 2016, the man who dethroned Kasparov.
25. **Alexander Morozevich** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 2788 in 2008.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.