The Legends Themselves

Every player in the archive, from the Café de la Régence to today's world championship cycle — with biography, career facts, and their games.

The Pioneers before 1836

Legall de Kermeur 1702–1792 · France 1 game in archive

The Romantic Era 1836–1885

Lionel Kieseritzky 1806–1853 · France 15 games in archive Adolf Anderssen 1818–1879 · Germany 680 games in archive Jean Dufresne 1829–1893 · Germany 33 games in archive Paul Morphy 1837–1884 · United States 211 games in archive

The Classical Era 1886–1947

Wilhelm Steinitz 1836–1900 · Austria / United States World Champion 582 games in archive Curt von Bardeleben 1861–1924 · Germany 16 games in archive Johann Bauer 1861–1891 · Austria 2 games in archive Emanuel Lasker 1868–1941 · Germany World Champion 897 games in archive Frank Marshall 1877–1944 · United States 1024 games in archive Akiba Rubinstein 1880–1961 · Poland 796 games in archive Savielly Tartakower 1887–1956 · Poland / France 1286 games in archive José Raúl Capablanca 1888–1942 · Cuba World Champion 596 games in archive Georg Rotlewi 1889–1920 · Poland 1 game in archive Richard Réti 1889–1929 · Czechoslovakia 644 games in archive Alexander Alekhine 1892–1946 · Russia / France World Champion 1653 games in archive

The Soviet School 1948–1972

Mikhail Botvinnik 1911–1995 · Soviet Union World Champion 891 games in archive Vasily Smyslov 1921–2010 · Soviet Union World Champion 2622 games in archive Donald Byrne 1930–1976 · United States 12 games in archive Mikhail Tal 1936–1992 · Soviet Union (Latvia) World Champion 2430 games in archive Boris Spassky 1937– · Soviet Union / France World Champion 2230 games in archive Bobby Fischer 1943–2008 · United States World Champion 825 games in archive

The Modern Era 1973–1999

Anatoly Karpov 1951– · Soviet Union / Russia World Champion 3525 games in archive Garry Kasparov 1963– · Soviet Union / Russia World Champion 2116 games in archive Deep Blue · United States 1 game in archive

The New Millennium 2000–2012

Viswanathan Anand 1969– · India World Champion 4252 games in archive Veselin Topalov 1975– · Bulgaria 2651 games in archive

The Engine Age 2013–today

Levon Aronian 1982– · Armenia / United States 5598 games in archive Ian Nepomniachtchi 1990– · Russia 5159 games in archive Magnus Carlsen 1990– · Norway World Champion 7813 games in archive Ding Liren 1992– · China World Champion 2271 games in archive Arjun Erigaisi 2003– · India 4648 games in archive Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2004– · Uzbekistan 3439 games in archive Javokhir Sindarov 2005– · Uzbekistan 97 games in archive Praggnanandhaa R 2005– · India 2901 games in archive Gukesh D 2006– · India World Champion 2405 games in archive