In the last list of the top players we published, we went over the best classical chess players. Now in this article, we’re going through the best rapid chess players, ranked from FIDE.
10. Maxime Vachier–Lagrave
Full name: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Title: Grandmaster
Born: October 21, 1990
Federation: France
Ratings
Classical: 2737
Rapid: 2762
Blitz: 2740
Profiles
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is one of the best chess players who earned a grandmaster title in 2005. He has been awarded different world championships for instance in 2009 where he won the French Chess Championship.
Due to his outstanding results, he became a grandmaster from 2013 to 2016 after winning the Biel Grandmaster Tournament. Since his childhood; at the stage of six, he has been competing and posting remarkable results in both junior and senior competitions.
9. Fabiano Caruana
Full name: Fabiano Luigi Caruana
Title: Grandmaster
Born: July 30, 1992
Federation: United States
Ratings
Classical: 2766
Rapid: 2758
Blitz: 2818
Profiles
Fabiano Caruana was born to Italian parents and had been playing for the United States until 2005 when he transferred his nationality to Italy. He won several championships after earning his grandmaster in 2007.
His impressive chess skills were discovered when he was five. This was the time when he played for the first time at Polgar Chess Centre in Queens, New York City. He participated in different tournaments. He was loved due to his aggressive playing style which attracted many people. He is a hardworking player and always determined. He has deep knowledge of the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.
8. Wesley So
Full name: Wesley Barbossa So
Title: Grandmaster
Born: October 9, 1993
Federation: United State of America
Ratings
Classical: 2775
Rapid: 2779
Blitz: 2742
Profiles
Wesley So is a Filipino-American chess Grandmaster and developed a passion for chess at a young age, making him motivated to practice. His father was ready and willing to help him get better at chess. Wesley was soon able to beat his father and all of his neighbors.
So attended the Jesus Good Shepherd School and later proceeded to college at Saint Francis of Assisi in Bacoor. He competed in different games and received several awards. This increased his number of invitations to take part in different events. Determination and focus enabled him to achieve the chess game to higher levels.
7. Garry Kasparov
Full name: Garry Kimovich Kasparov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: April 13, 1963
Federation: Soviet Union (before 1992)
Russia (after 1992)
Ratings
Classical: 2812
Rapid: 2783
Blitz: 2644
Profiles
The differences in religious affairs did not hinder Garry Kasparov from playing chess. It all started when his parents posed a problem with chess and needed a solution from him.
When Garry’s father passed on as a result of Leukemia, he had to go to a place in Baku where he began his chess training program at the age of 10 with coach Vladimir Makogonov.
Garry was trained by different people and in 1976, he has graced the winner of the well-known Soviet Junior Championship. This marked the beginning of his success till 2005 when he retired from the professional chess team.
6. Richard Rapport
Full name: Richard Rapport
Title: Grandmaster (2010)
Born: March 25, 1996
Federation: Hungary
Ratings
Classical: 2740
Rapid: 2767
Blitz: 2701
Profiles
Richard Rapport was awarded his first Grandmaster at the tender age of thirteen years. He was a chess champion in 2017 and the highest-rated player in 2022. He tied in his game in 2013 with Sigeman and others. In that year as well, he won another championship. He continued playing year after year in different tournaments and received different awards.
5. Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Full name: Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Title: Grandmaster (2013)
Born: April 26, 1998
Federation: Poland
Ratings
World Rank: 21
Classical: 2729
Rapid: 2782
Blitz: 2790
Profiles
Duda was given a FIDE grandmaster at a very young age of fifteen years and twenty-one days. During the chess World Cup in 2021, he announced the winner and was awarded the Golden Cross of merit. Besides his chess game, he loves listening to Queen and Mozart.
4. Ian Nepomniachtchi
Full name: Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi
Title: Grandmaster
Born: July 14, 1990
Federation: Russia
Ratings
World Rating: 3
Classical: 2793
Rapid: 2761
Blitz: 2781
Profiles
In the super finals that took place in 2010 and 2020, Ian Nepomniachtchi was ranked the best. In 2013, he played in the world chess championship team and was recognized as a member of the Russian team. He won some silver medals and other awards while playing.
3. Ding Liren
Full name: Ding Liren
Title: Grandmaster
Born: October 24, 1992
Federation: China
Ratings
World Rank: 2
Classical: 2811
Rapid: 2829
Blitz: 2787
Profiles
Ding Liren is among the highest rapid-rated chess players in the world. He won more championships among the Chinese players. During the finals, he bet Maxime Lagrave and won the 2019 Sinquefield cup. He was China’s #1 chess player to play in championships and had remarkable results.
2. Hikaru Nakamura
Full name: Hikaru Nakamura
Title: Grandmaster (2003)
Born: December 9, 1987
Federation: United States of America
Ratings
Classical: 2768
Rapid: 2750
Blitz: 2879
Profiles
Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster and streamer. He was the youngest to earn a grandmaster at the age of fifteen. He has won different games including the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in 2011, a team medal, and being awarded two bronze medals for the team. Hikaru also has one of the best chess YouTube channels with hundreds of educational videos on chess.
1. Magnus Carlsen
Full name: Sven Magnus Carlsen
Title: Grandmaster
Born: November 30, 1990
Federation: Norway
Ratings
Classical: 2859
Rapid: 2839
Blitz: 2852
Profiles
Magnus Carslen was born in Norway and since he was was introduced into the world, it soon became obvious that he would be something special. Carlsen was naturally gravitated towards tough challenges in the form of puzzles. It wasn’t long before he could solve a 50-piece jigsaw puzzle. Magnus going on to learn how to solve chess puzzles was natural.
The games Carlsen enjoyed at the age of four were made for ten year old kids. He had an exceptional memory whereby he could memories a lot of things.
His first game was in 1999 at the age of eight and won. Participated in an international tournament after the completion of primary education. The interest continued till 2022 when he won his eighth Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
Magnus grew up to be arguable the best chess player of all time with ten consecutive years as the World Chess Champion, 2013 through 2022.
That concludes the list of the best rapid chess players. If you like list posts like this, you may also be interested in seeing the ten best Indian Chess players or the best Canadian Chess players.
Sources
- Mesteren: Magnus Carlsen og sjakkspillet
- FIDE Publishes Rapid and Blitz Rating Lists. Nakamura Heads Both
- Heraklio 2002 – 17° World Championship u12 (boys)
- 46th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2018 The Week in Chess
- Richard Rapport vs. Lajos Seres (2009)
- Wei Yi vs Richard Rapport: The Armageddon Decides
- Kasparov: Why cracks are starting to appear in Putin’s Russia. CNN. Archived from the original
- “I Will Not Return to the Dark Reality of Putin’s Russia”. The Daily Beast. Archived from the original.
- “Avast Blog | Garry Kasparov”. blog.avast.com. Archived from the original.