Top 10 Chess Grandmasters of 2008

World-Class Chess
The title Grandmaster is reserved for the elite group of international chess players that achieve an ELO chess rating above 2500. Of those, there are currently 23 players that have ratings above ELO 2700, earning the unofficial title of Super-Grandmaster. Only four men in history, Garry Kasparov of Russia, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, and Viswanathan Anand of India have ever reached or surpassed ELO 2800, and then only briefly. Vladimer Kramnik is currently ranked number one in the world with a rating of 2799.

Ranking System The ELO system by which chess players are ranked gets its name from creator Arpad Elo, a master-level member of the United States Chess Federation (U.S.C.F.) In 1960 the U.S.C.F. began using his system to rank players, and in 1970 it was adopted by F.I.D.E. (French acronym for World Chess Federation). Although the current system has undergone several changes as the result of technological advances, it is still referred to as the ELO rating in deference to its creator. Hotly contested The complicated and chaotic world of international chess is often made more so by the numerous heated disagreements between the organizing groups and the players. This sometimes results in split world titles, as was the case going into the 2005 World Championship tournament. Since then, however, the title has been unified, and in 2007 Vishwanathan Anand seized it from the 2006 champion Vladimir Kramnik. The two will likely square off again in Bonn, Germany, the site of the 2008 World Chess Championship in October.

Best of the Best
Below is a brief bio of the current top 10 ranked chess players who will compete to become the 2008 world champion:

1. Vladimir Kramnik(2799) - Russia, age 32, defeated Topalov in 2006 to qualify for the 2007 World Championship
2. Viswanathan Anand(2799) - India, the 38-year-old reigning 2007 world champion
3. Veselin Topalov(2780) - Bulgaria, 32, 2005 world champion
4. Alexander Morozevich(2765) - Russia, age 30, has never been ranked higher than his current 4th-place position
5. Peter Svidler (2763) - Russia, 31-year-old World Championship semi-finalist in 2001
6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov(2760) - Azerbaijan, at 22 the youngest top-10 player
7. Alexei Shirov(2755) - Spain, 35, reached championship final in 2000
8. Peter Leko(2753) - Hungary, age 28, won the first Chess 960 (Fisher Random Chess) World Championship in 2001
9. Vassily Ivanchuk(2751) - Ukraine, at age 38 is the oldest player in the top 10
10. Levon Aronian(2739) - Armenia, age 25, in May of 2007 defeated then-World-Champion Vladimir Kramnik 4-2 in a "rapid chess" match