In this article, we’re going through the wealthiest and richest Chess players in the world. Making a list like this is factually impossible as the only legitimate way to really determine the net worth of a Chess player is to see their bank accounts and assets. However, this list is with proper research to make the best educated guess on the net worth of specific players allowing us to rank the richest.
I recently watched a video of Hikaru going over a list of the ten richest Chess players of all time and the list was completely inaccurate.
We should be able to do a better job than some journalist that was demanded to turn in an article by 3:00 P.M. or they’re fired.
Note: Keep in mind that these estimated net worths have not been accumulated from playing Chess alone. Some players have accumulated massive wealth from ventures involving Chess, not necessarily from winning Chess tournaments with large sum prizes, as well as ventures completely unrelated to Chess.
10. Vladimir Kramnik — $4+ Million
The net worth of Vladimir Kramnik is estimated to be at least 4 million dollars. Vladimir Kramnik was the world champion in 2006 and 2007. He’s won 3 team gold medals in the Chess Olympiad. Not to mention he’s the 8th highest rated player of all time.
9. Judit Polgar — $4+ Million
Judit Polgar has a net worth estimated to be at least 4 million dollars. If there’s one woman that comes to mind when discussing the best female Chess players in the world in addition to one of the best Hungarian Chess players of all time, it’s Judit Polgar. Judit being the only female on this list, Polgar’s net worth is estimated to be at least 4 million dollars.
Earning the Grandmaster title in 1991 at just 15 years old, she is also the only female Chess player to ever be ranked amongst the top 10 best Chess players in the world. Being considered the best female Chess player of all time, her net worth is going to be in the multiple 7 figures.
8. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — $5+ Million
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has a net worth estimated to be over 1 million dollars.
He earned the FIDE Master title FM at the young age of 14 and was ranked number 2 in the world in 2016. Maxime won the 2017 Sinquefield Cup that paid a $75,000 first prize and the 2021 Singuefield Cup which has a $90,000 first prize while the 2nd place winner received half of that, $45,000.
He also came in 2nd place at the 2017 Grand Chess Tour with a whopping $207,417 in prize money.
7. Fabiano Caruana — $10+ Million
Being the greatest Italian Chess player of all time, Fabiano Caruana has a net worth is estimated to be at least 10 million dollars. Fabiano earned the Grandmaster title at 14 years old and held the title in both Italy and the United States. Currently Fabiano Caruana has been ranked the number 2 Chess player in the world by FIDE.
6. Hikaru Nakamura — $5+ Million
Being one of the few names on the list of Super Grandmasters, Hikaru Nakamura’s net worth is estimated to be at least 5 million dollars. Hikaru’s net worth estimation is from Hikaru himself that he suggested in the video above. Hikaru Nakamura is one of the best American Chess players in addition to one of the best Chess streamers with one of the best Chess YouTube channels with over a million subscribers.
Many people wonder how Hikaru is so rich. With the other players on this list and most other Grandmaster players, think of them as professional athletes. NFL players make millions, so do pro Chess players. Or just imagine Hikaru making 1 dollar every time he takes a juicer.
5) Viswanathan Anand — $15+ Million
Viswanathan Anand became the first Grandmaster from India in 1988. He was already recognized as a champion in the Chess community prior due to his success as a Chess prodigy who had received the nickname “lightning kid” because of the speed at which he played.
4. Teimour Radjabov — $20+ Million
Teimour Radjabov was the 2nd Chess player in history to earn the Grandmaster title. He also became a legend at 14 years of age when he beat world champions Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand in the same year.
3) Magnus Carlsen — $30+ Million
Currently and for the past 10 years, the World Champion Magnus Carlsen has a net worth is estimated to be 30 million. The large portion of this wealth is due to the fact that Magnus owns the Chess company Chess24.com, which is a publicly traded company.
Most of his net worth is from Chess24 stock. For more information, see the comparison article of chess.com vs lichess vs chess24. Magnus being the world champion, he is the highest paid Chess player in the world which earned him the 1st place prize more often than anyone else.
2. Garry Kasaprov — $50+ Million
Being amongst the best Russian Chess players in the world and also considered to be the greatest Chess player of all time, Garry Kasparov has a net worth is estimated to be over 50 million. It’s a lot. Why? He was the best Chess player in the world for 20 years. Stop and think about that. That’s a long time of winning the number one prize payout from tournaments and countless times he was paid handsomely for promotions, sponsored products, and paid events. Kasparov has made history in the game of Kings with famous matches such as the match against Deep Blue.
1. Anatoly Karpov — $50+ Million
Anatoly Karpov has a net worth is estimated to be north of 50 million dollars. He was the favorite Chess player of the Soviet Union for a long time when he was the World Champion.
He owned a villa that was sitting on top of a natural gas deposit. Because of this, Karpov is likely the richest Chess player of all time, ever. It’s because of this that Anatoly Karpov is likely the richest Chess player of all time.
That concludes the list of the ten richest Chess players of all time. 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.
One note to take away from this list is that Grandmaster Chess players can make millions of dollars. Looking at the prize payouts from 1st or 2nd place in most major tournaments being in the high 5 figures and low 6 figures, after just a few tournaments, being a millionaire is expected. Pro Chess players are rich assuming they compete in tournaments and stay competitive for at least a few years.
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