CHESS PLAYERS from Romania

Top 5

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

1. Adolf Albin (1848 - 1920)

With an HPI of 50.71, Adolf Albin is the most famous Romanian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Adolf Albin (14 September 1848 – 22 March 1920) was a Romanian chess player. He is best known for the countergambit that bears his name and for authoring the first chess book written in Romanian.

2. Florin Gheorghiu (1944 - )

With an HPI of 45.05, Florin Gheorghiu is the 2nd most famous Romanian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Florin Gheorghiu (born 6 April 1944) is a Romanian chess player and has been a university lecturer in foreign languages. Born in Ploiești, on 6 April 1944, while the American bombers attacked the country's capital, his prodigious talent for the game was evidenced by his many early achievements; he became an International Master in 1963 and Romania's first Grandmaster just two years later. He earned the title of World Junior Champion in 1963, at Vrnjacka Banja, and has been the national champion of Romania on nine occasions. Gheorghiu was a lecturer in French at the University of Bucharest and he also speaks English, Russian, German, and Spanish.

3. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (1976 - )

With an HPI of 32.91, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu is the 3rd most famous Romanian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Romanian chess grandmaster. His peak FIDE rating was 2707 in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the highest rated Romanian player ever. His highly aggressive style of play has earned him a reputation of a modern-day Mikhail Tal.

4. Cristina Adela Foișor (1967 - 2017)

With an HPI of 32.29, Cristina Adela Foișor is the 4th most famous Romanian Chess Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Cristina Adela Foișor (née Bădulescu; 7 June 1967 – 22 January 2017) was a Romanian chess player. She was awarded by FIDE the titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1991 and International Master (IM) in 1997.

5. Constantin Lupulescu (1984 - )

With an HPI of 24.42, Constantin Lupulescu is the 5th most famous Romanian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Constantin Lupulescu (born 25 March 1984) is a Romanian chess grandmaster and a five-time Romanian Chess Champion. He has competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019, 2021.