Male players Michael Adams (England, 1971 - ) Alexander Alekhine (Russia, 1892 - 1946) Viswanathan Anand (India, 1969 - ) Adolf Anderssen (Germany, 1818 - 1879) Konstantin Aseev (Russia, 1960 - ) As-Suli (Abbasid Caliphate, circa 880 - 946) Maurice Ashley (Jamaica, USA, 1966 - ) Curt von Bardeleben (Germany, 1861 - 1924) Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia, 1911 - 1995) David Bronstein (Russia, 1924 - ) José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba, 1888 - 1942) Max Euwe (Netherlands, 1901 - 1981) Bobby Fischer (USA, 1943 - ) Boris Gelfand (Belarus, USSR, 1968 - ) Efim Geller (Ukraine, USSR, 1925 - 1998) Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 1969 - ) Sergey Ivanov (Russia, 1960 - ) Anatoly Karpov (Russia, 1951 - ) Garry Kasparov (Russia, 1963 - ) Paul Keres (Estonia, 1916 - 1975) Alexander Khalifman (Russia, 1966 - ) Viktor Korchnoi (Russia, Switzerland, 1931 - ) Alexander Kotov (USSR, 1913 - 1981) Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 1975 - ) Bent Larsen (Denmark, 1935 - ) Emanuel Lasker (Germany, USA, 1868 - 1941) Peter Leko (Hungary, 1979 - ) Luke McShane (England, 1984 - ) Tony Miles (England, 1955 - 2001) Alexander Morozevich (Russia, 1977 - ) Paul Morphy (USA, 1837 - 1884) Aaron Nimzowitsch (Latvia, 1886 - 1935) Oscar Panno (Argentina, 1935 - ) Bruno Parma (Slovenia, 1941 - ) Tigran Petrosian (Georgia, USSR, 1929 - 1984) François-André Danican Philidor (France, 1726 - 1795) Harry Nelson Pillsbury (USA, 1872 - 1906) Vasja Pirc (Slovenia, 1907 - 1980) Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 1983 - ) Valery Salov (Russia, 1964 - ) Yasser Seirawan (Syria, USA, 1960 - ) Alexei Shirov (Latvia, Spain, 1972 - ) Nigel Short (England, 1965 - ) Vasily Smyslov (Russia, 1921 - ) Boris Spassky (Russia, France, 1937 - ) Charles Stanley (England, USA,1819 - 1901) Howard Staunton (England, 1810 - 1874) Wilhelm Steinitz (Bohemia, USA, 1836 - 1900) Mark Taimanov (Russia, 1926 - ) Mikhail Tal (Latvia, USSR, 1936 - 1992) Siegbert Tarrasch (Germany, 1962 - 1934) Jan Timman (Netherlands, 1951 - ) Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 1975 - ) Milan Vidmar (Slovenia, 1885 - 1962) Female players Elizaveta Ivanovna Bykova (Russia, 1913 - 1989) Zhu Chen (China, 1976 - ) Maya Chiburdanidze (Georgia, USSR, 1961 - ) Pia Cramling (Sweden, 1963 - ) Nona Gaprindashvili (Georgia, USSR, 1941 - ) Xie Jun (China, 1970 - ) Irina Krush (Ukraine, USSR, USA, 1983 - ) Vera Menchik-Stevenson (Czech Republic, England, 1906 - 1944) Judit Polgar (Hungary, 1976 - ) Zsuzsa Polgar (Hungary, USA, 1969 - ) Olga Rubtsova (Russia, 1909 - ) Lyudmila Rudenko (Russia, 1904 - 1986) Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia, 1984 - ) Famous people who were/are avid chess players The people in this list are famous in other areas of activity, but are known to have played chess or maintain a current interest in chess. Woody Allen Humphrey Bogart Napoleon Bonaparte John Cage Catherine the Great Ray Charles Marcel Duchamp Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Stanley Kubrick Lennox Lewis Sergei Prokofiev (Russian composer & pianist) Juan Maria Solare (Argentine composer & pianist) Will Smith Sting Josip Broz Tito Leo Tolstoy George Washington John Wayne Also of note In 1997, the IBM chess playing computer Deep Blue was victorious in a match against then-world champion Garry Kasparov.