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Carlsen is a
Norwegian chess grandmaster, and the
current World Chess Champion. Carlsen
was a child chess prodigy who became a
chess grandmaster in 2004, at the age of
13 years and 148 days, making him the
third-youngest grandmaster in history.
In November 2013,
Carlsen became World Champion by
defeating Viswanathan Anand. On the May
2014 FIDE rating list, Carlsen reached
his peak rating of 2882, which is the
highest in history. After defeating
Caruana in their 2018 World Championship
Match, Carlsen ended the year by winning
the World Blitz Championship, his 10th
World Championship title in total. He’s
been having a phenomenal showing in
2019, winning Tata Steel and Shamkir
Chess with a round to spare ahead of his
closest rivals |
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Ding Liren is the
highest rated Chinese player ever and
only the second player from China (after
Wang Yue) to break into the world’s top
10. He is the first Chinese player to
cross 2800. At the age of 16, he became
the youngest person ever to win the
title of Chinese Champion. He has since
won this title twice more in both 2011
and 2012. In the 2015 Tata Steel
Tournament, Ding finished in a tie for
second place just half a point behind
Magnus Carlsen.
He has represented China in four
Olympiads from 2012 - 2018, leading the
team to victory in 2018 and winning
individual medals on first board and for
showing the highest performance in the
entire Olympiad. He also won team gold
in the 2015 World Team Championship.
Ding Liren is the one of the most solid
players, holding the record at the top
level for the longest undefeated streak,
100 games with 29 wins and 71 draws. |
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Aronian has been the
leading Armenian chess player since the
early 2000’s. He has also led the
Armenian national team to three gold
medals in Chess Olympiads (Turin 2006,
Dresden 2008, Istanbul 2012) as well as
to gold at the World Team Chess
Championship in 2011. His peak rating of
2830 is the fourth highest in history
and put him in the number two spot in
the world behind Magnus Carlsen. He won
the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010. He was
also World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009
and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010.
Aronian was the
winner of the Chess World Cup in 2005
and then again in 2017, the only player
to have won it twice. He is the 2015
Sinquefield Cup winner and tied for
first with Carlsen and Caruana in 2018.
He is also the winner of the inaugural
Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. Aronian is
one of the most well liked chess players
in the world and is considered a hero
and a celebrity in his home country. A
2006 CNN article referred to him as the
David Beckham of chess. |
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Often referred to as MVL, he came to
prominence in 2009 after winning the
title of World Junior Chess Champion. He
is currently the No. 1 ranked player in
France as well as a three-time French
champion (2007, 2011, shared in 2012).
He is also a four-time winner of the
Biel Grandmaster Tournament (2009, 2013,
2014, 2015) and a former World Junior
Champion (2009).
His biggest tournament victory to
date has been the 2017 Sinquefield Cup,
where he finished first ahead of Magnus
Carlsen. He won Sharjah Grand Prix in
the same year and the 2018 Shenzhen
Masters. MVL has been part of the Grand
Chess Tour since 2015 and finished
second in the 2018 edition after losing
in the finals to Hikaru Nakamura. |
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