CHESS PLAYERS from China

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Chinese Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Chess Players.

1. Ding Liren (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 45.10, Ding Liren is the most famous Chinese Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Ding Liren (Chinese: 丁立人; born 24 October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. He is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world. In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830. Ding was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws. This 100-game unbeaten streak was the longest in top-level chess history, until Magnus Carlsen surpassed it in 2019. Ding ended up being the runner up of Chess World Cups in 2017 and 2019 consecutively and came second in the Candidates Tournament in 2022: this qualified him for the World Chess Championship 2023 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Carlsen declined to defend his title. Ding won, making him World Chess Champion, by defeating Nepomniachtchi 2½ to 1½ in the rapid tie breaks after their 7–7 tie in classical chess.

2. Xie Jun (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 44.18, Xie Jun is the 2nd most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Xie Jun (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and is the first Asian woman to become a chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is one of three women to have at least two separate reigns, besides Elisaveta Bykova and Hou Yifan. Xie Jun is the current president of the Chinese Chess Association. In 2019, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.

3. Zhu Chen (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 40.64, Zhu Chen is the 3rd most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Zhu Chen (simplified Chinese: 诸宸; traditional Chinese: 諸宸; pinyin: Zhū Chén, Arabic: زو تشن; born March 13, 1976) is a Chinese-born Qatari chess Grandmaster. In 1999, she became China's second women's world chess champion after Xie Jun, and China's 13th Grandmaster. In 2006, she obtained Qatari citizenship and since then has played for Qatar.

4. Xu Yuhua (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 36.99, Xu Yuhua is the 4th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Xu Yuhua (born 29 October 1976) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and former Women's World Champion (2006–2008). She was China's third women's world chess champion after Xie Jun and Zhu Chen. She has been followed by Chinese women's world chess champions Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, and Ju Wenjun.

5. Zhang Zhong (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 35.81, Zhang Zhong is the 5th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Zhang Zhong (simplified Chinese: 章钟; traditional Chinese: 章鍾; pinyin: Zhāng Zhōng; born 5 September 1978) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, a twice Chinese champion and the 2005 Asian champion. In 1998, he became China's 9th Grandmaster.

6. Ju Wenjun (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 35.76, Ju Wenjun is the 6th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Ju Wenjun (Chinese: 居文君; pinyin: Jū Wénjūn; born 31 January 1991) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the current Women's World Champion. In March 2017, she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She is a four-time Women's World Chess Champion, having won the title first in May 2018. She then defended her title in November 2018, 2020, and 2023.

7. Hou Yifan (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 35.69, Hou Yifan is the 7th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Hou Yifan (Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Shenzhen University. She is the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster (at the age of 14 years, 6 months, 16 days) and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16). At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the Women's World Championship (Yekaterinburg 2006) and the Chess Olympiad (Torino 2006). In June 2007, she became the youngest Chinese Women's Champion ever. She achieved the titles of Woman FIDE Master in January 2004, Woman Grandmaster in January 2007, and Grandmaster in August 2008. In 2010, she won the 2010 Women's World Championship in Hatay, Turkey at age 16. She won the next three championships in which the title was decided by a match (in 2011, 2013 and 2016, with a total of ten wins to zero losses and fourteen draws against three different opponents), but was either eliminated early or she declined to participate in the championships in which the title was decided by a knockout tournament (in 2012, 2015 and 2017). Hou was the third woman ever to be rated among the world's top 100 players (2014–16 and 2017–22), after Maia Chiburdanidze and Judit Polgár. She is widely regarded as the best active female chess player, "leaps and bounds" ahead of her competitors. As of May 2024, she has been the No. 1 ranked woman in the world since September 2015 and is 73 points ahead of the No. 2 ranked Ju Wenjun. She was named in the BBC's 100 Women programme in 2017. Hou has been semi-retired from competitive chess since 2018. In 2020, she became the youngest professor at Shenzhen University, at the age of 26.

8. Ye Jiangchuan (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 33.01, Ye Jiangchuan is the 8th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ye Jiangchuan (born November 20, 1960) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He is the second Chinese player, after Ye Rongguang, to achieve the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 1993. On 1 January 2000, he became the first ever Chinese player to cross the 2600 elo rating mark.

9. Peng Zhaoqin (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 32.27, Peng Zhaoqin is the 9th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Peng Zhaoqin (Chinese: 彭肇勤; pinyin: Péng Zhàoqín; born 8 May 1968 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is a Chinese-born Dutch chess player. In October 2004, she was the eleventh woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. She won three times the Chinese women's chess championship, in 1987, 1990 and 1993. She has resided in the Netherlands since 1996. Peng has won the Dutch women's championship an unprecedented fourteen times, landing her first title in 1997 and then winning twelve more in an uninterrupted sequence from 2000 to 2011. She tied for first with Alexandra Kosteniuk at the European Women's Chess Championship of 2004 in Dresden, and took the silver medal on tiebreak. Thanks to this result, Peng was awarded the title of Grandmaster. In the 2011 Dutch women's championship, Peng won nine games out of ten, placing a full three points ahead of her closest competitor.

10. Wang Yue (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 31.98, Wang Yue is the 10th most famous Chinese Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Wang Yue (Chinese: 王玥; pinyin: Wáng Yuè; born 31 March 1987) is a Chinese chess player. In 2004, he became China's 18th grandmaster at the age of 17. He is China's first player ever to break into the top 10 of the FIDE world rankings and was the highest-ever rated Chinese player, with a peak rating of 2756, until August 2015, when this record was broken by Ding Liren. In October 2007, Wang became the first Chinese player and third Asian player to cross the 2700 Elo rating mark. In October 2008, he became the world No. 11, the highest-ranking a Chinese player had ever achieved, surpassing the previous record of 17th by Ye Jiangchuan set in 2000. In January 2010, he became the first Chinese world top-ten player with a world ranking of 9. His highest world ranking to date is No. 8 in the May 2010 rating list with a rating of 2752. In the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, he was a last round victory over Teimour Radjabov away from joining Levon Aronian as an automatic qualifier for the Candidates Tournament of the World Chess Championship 2012 cycle; however, Radjabov secured a draw which allowed him to win the final qualifying position. In 2008, Wang was a Communication Studies student at the College of Liberal Arts of Nankai University in Tianjin. He also played for his university club chess team.