Bio: classical world champion and world number one, Magnus Carlsen

  Born in Tonsberg, Norway on the 30th November 1990.   Began participating in chess tournaments aged 8.   Aged 13, played out a draw against former world champion and world number one Garry Kasparov.   Became a Grandmaster at 13 years old.   Won the Norwegian Chess Championship at the age of 15.   …

Bio: world number two, Fabiano Caruana

  Fabiano Caruana was born in Florida, USA on July 30th, 1992.   He learned to play chess at the age of 5.   He defeated a Grand Master for the first time aged 10.   His parents moved him back to his ancestral home of Italy when he was 12 years old.   At …

Bio: world number three, Liren Ding

  Born in Wenzhou, China in October 1992   Current elo rating of 2805 and career high rating of 2816   Three-time champion of China   Became a Grandmaster in 2009 at the age of 17   Currently ranked number three in the world   Undefeated for one hundred games between August 2017 and November …

Bio: world number four, Anish Giri

  Born in St.Petersburg, Russia in June 1994   Moved to the Netherlands in 2008   Four-time Dutch chess champion   Began playing chess at 6 years old   Became a Grandmaster at 14 years old   Achieved a career high elo rating of 2797 in January 2016   Current elo rating 2787 as of …

Bio: world number five, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

  Born April 1985 in Sumgait, Azerbaijan   Became a Grandmaster in 2002   Won the World Junior Chess Championship twice   Won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2013   Finished 2nd in the 2018 Candidates Tournament, narrowly missing out on the chance to compete for the world title.   Reached a career high …

Bio: world number six, Maxime Vachier Lagrave

   Born in Nogent-Sur-Marne in October 1990   Starting competing in chess tournaments aged 6   Three-time French chess champion   Won the Sinquefield Cup in 2017   Achieved a career high elo rating of 2819 back in 2016   Current elo rating of 2780 as of May 2019