Philidor François-André Danican Philidor (September 7, 1726 - August 31, 1795) was a French chess player and composer. He was regarded as the best single chess player of his age (see any of the References), although the title of World Chess Champion was not yet in existence. Philidor's book Analyse du jeu des Échecs was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. He is referred to here as André Danican Philidor, the name commonly used during his lifetime.
	Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.
	Steinitz Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian-American chess player and the first official world chess champion. Known for his original contributions to chess strategy such as his ideas on positional play, Steinitz, along with Paul Morphy, is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess.
	Lasker Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German-born chess grandmaster, mathematician, and philosopher, and was World Chess Champion for a record 27 years.
	Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. He is often referred to as a candidate for the greatest chess player of all time.
	Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (October 19, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a Russian-born naturalised French chess champion. At the age of twenty-one he was already among the best chess players in the world, being one of the first five "chess grandmasters" of the history. During the 1920s he won most tournaments he played in. In 1927 he became the fourth World Chess Champion by defeating Capablanca in one of the longest matches ever by the time.
	Tal Mikhail Tal (November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion. He was often called "Misha", which is a diminutive for Mikhail. He was also called "the magician from Riga". Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer.
	Fischer Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American-born chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. Fischer became famous as a teenager as a chess prodigy. In 1972, he became the first, and so far the only, American to win the official World Chess Championship, defeating defending champion Boris Spassky in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland. The match was widely publicized as a Cold War battle. He is often referred to as one of the greatest chess players of all time.
	Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was undisputed World Champion from 1975 to 1985, repeatedly challenged to regain the title from 1986 to 1990, then was FIDE World Champion from 1993 to 1999.
	Kasparov Garry Kasparov was born to Armenian and Jewish parents in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan in 1963. He was a child chess prodigy, qualifying as an International Chess Master at the age of 16. In 1985 at the age of 22, he became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion when he defeated Anatoly Karpov for the title. Widely believed to be the strongest player in the history of the game, Kasparov has successfully defended his crown four times: three times against Karpov (London/Leningrad 1986, Seville 1987, New York/Lyon 1990) and once against Nigel Short (London 1993) and once against Vishwanatan Anannd (New-York 1995). In 1993, Kasparov and Nigel Short helped form the Professional Chess Association (PCA). Beyond his interests in chess, Kasparov is an accomplished mathematician and computer expert who speaks 15 different languages. He has authored four books and has gained international recognition as a prominent spokesperson for political, educational and social reforms in Eastern Europe.

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