1. Magnus Carlsen At the tender age of 19, the Norwegian prodigy is currently the youngest player to hold the world's number one ranking. With an ELO rating of 2813, he easily ranks among the exclusive, unofficial "super grandmasters of chess," which requires a mere 2700.
2. Veselin Topalov A perennial favorite in chess competitions, the Bulgarian-born Topalov has held the number one position for a total of 27 months- the fourth all-time record. He lost to Kramnik in 2006, after accusing him of cheating. The accusation resulted in high controversy, and cost Topalov the respect of many top contenders. But he's back near the top again, having earned the position of challenger to the world champion for 2010.
3. Vladimir Kramnik Currently ranked number 3 in the world, Kramnik was formerly the youngest player to rank number one prior to Carlsen, achieving it at 19 years and 32 days. The Russian lost his title in 2007 to Viswanathan Anand and lost an attempt to regain the title from him in 2008. Despite his accomplishments, Kramnik is perhaps best known for losing to the computer program "Deep Fritz" in Bonn, Germany in 2006. The loss marked a point in the development of chess programs when many considered the work of computer science in chess to be finished.
4. Viswanathan Anand The current World Chess Champion and one of only five players in history to break the ELO score of 2800. As a young boy in India, his mother presented him with his first chess set and taught him how to play. Soon thereafter he won many mail-in television contests which were rewarded with chess books or chess pieces. The producers eventually offered him any chess prize he wanted, provided that he cease delivering entries.
5. Levon Aronian This young champion has yet to see number one, but it seems likely he will in his career. Declared Armenia's number one chess player in 2002, he currently has a FIDE rating of 2781. Aronian has managed to piece together victories against such chess champions as Anand, Topalov and Kramnik, suggesting he is set to ascend in the rankings if things go his way.
6. Boris Gelfand This Russian-born Israeli chess master currently has a ranking of 2761 and, at the age of 41, is among the older grandmasters competing in the top 10. He is known to be a 1. D4 opener when playing with white chess pieces and using Najdorf Sicilian, Petroff Defense, Slav Defense, and Gruenfled Defense when playing black.
7. Vugar Gashimov The 23-year-old from Azerbaijan is currently holding his highest position ever, with a ranking of 7 and FIDE score of 2759. He is renowned for his deft abilities at Bullet chess, in which players must make split decisions with their chess pieces due to the shortened time controls. Typical play allows one to three hours per player, "Bullet" is typically played with one or two minutes per side.
8. Vassily Ivanchuk This Russian chess grandmaster is also known for his success in "fast chess" competitions. In 2007-2008 he was the Blitz Chess champion, but his respectable FIDE score of 2749 earns him only the 8th position in traditional chess. Set for dominance as a young man, he reached the elite at 21, when he defeated chess legend Garry Kasparaov in the 1991 Linares tournament.
9. Yue Wang One of only 18 Chinese grandmasters, Wang's FIDE rating is currently 2749, tied with Ivanchuk. In May of 2010 he will have a chance to climb higher when he competes to become an automatic qualifier for the World Chess Championship of 2011. He first laid his young hand on a chess piece at the age of four, and by 12 was on the Chinese National Team.
10. Peter Svidler The last of many Russians in the current top 10 ranked chess players, Svidler earned his grandmaster status in 1994 and has been a fixture in international competitions since. His best year has been 2005, when he came in second (tied with Anand) in the FIDE World Chess Championship.
