Welcome to the L.A. Chess Ladder’s Chess Grandmasters page.
Learn about some of history’s greatest players and play through some of their games. Study hard and maybe you can become one of the greatest chess grandmasters!
Chess Grandmasters
Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, the current #1 ranked player in the world, and the current world champion. Carlsen was a chess prodigy, becoming a GM at only 13 years old. Carlsen achieved the highest rating in history, 2861, which he reached in January of 2013. He is considered a heavy favorite to displace Viswanathan Anand as the world champion. Known for his very aggressive play as a teenager, Carlsen later learned a more complete style. He plays a variety of openings making it difficult for his opponents to prepare for him. In this game, Carlsen (white) goes up against the young French chess grandmaster, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (black).
——————————————————————————————-
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand is the first Indian chess grandmaster and a former world chess champion. He became world champion in 2000 but failed to defend his title in 2002. He regained the title of world champion in 2007 and has held onto it ever since. He has held the world #1 ranking for a total of 15 months. He is known for his strong natural talent and his intense focus during his matches. Many consider him one of the greatest players of all time. In addition to his achievements in standard chess, he is widely considered the strongest rapid chess player in recent history. In this game, Anand faces on of the Russian chess grandmasters, Peter Svidler.
——————————————————————————————-
Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer was an American chess grandmaster who is considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. He was a celebrated chess prodigy. In 1958, at age 15 ½, Fischer became the youngest ever grandmaster in history up to that time. He had excellent tournament results throughout the 1960’s. By the early 1970’s, he was by far the world’s most dominant player. He became the first World Chess Federation #1 ranked player in 1971 and remained #1 for a total of 54 months. He became World Champion in 1972 by defeating Boris Spassky of the USSR in the most widely popularized chess match in history.
Fischer refused to defend his World Championship title in 1975 and essentially retired from competitive chess. His abrupt withdrawal from chess was a huge loss to the world. Although he made a few public appearances, he became more secluded and showed increasingly odd behavior up until his death in 2008. Fischer remains one of the most famous chess grandmasters to ever exist.
Below is one of Fischer’s best games. At only 13 years old, Fischer defeats International Master Donald Byrne of the USA in one of the greatest games of all time.
——————————————————————————————
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster who is considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. He holds the record for the longest time spent as the #1 ranked player in the world – from 1986 to 2005. He was still world #1 when he retired from professional play in 2005. Kasparov achieved the highest rating of any player in history – 2851, which he first achieved in July, 1999. This record stood until January 2013 when it was broken by Magnus Carlsen. Kasparov was known for his aggressive, dynamic, and creative play. Also, his opening and endgame skills were second to none. Below is one of Kasparov’s finest games. His opponent is the Bulgarian chess grandmaster, Veselin Topalov.
Chess Grandmasters
I hope you had fun playing through some chess grandmaster games. Wanna play through some LA Chess Ladder games? Check out the Game Viewer Page!
——————————————————————————————-
Chess Organization: The World Chess Federation is the highest chess governing body. It is also known as the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE). The World Chess Federation awards the highest chess titles of International Master (IM), and chess Grandmaster (GM). In addition, the World Chess Federation rankings determine who is the #1 ranked player in the world. Visit their website to find current world rankings and read up on recent international competitions.
Questions? Concerns? Want to join the L.A. Chess Ladder?
Contact Darren at lachessladder@yahoo.com
