Chess is a great source of entertainment and joy. All over the world, there are millions and millions of people who love chess, have their favorite player, and support specific players. Hot chess players fan bases continue to grow, not only thanks to the contribution they make to the tournament they play for or the skillful gameplay they display on each round, but also seem to attract attention with their style and appearance. No wonder why hot chess players are no less than the most famous celebrities when it comes to popularity – they can thus earn a lot from the brands they support.
If a player has the right look, there’s nothing like it for the fans. While there was a time when a female chess player was under the scanner to be just beautiful, being judged for her looks isn’t everything, they are also intelligent which makes chess players seem even more appealing.
18 Intelligent And Hot Chess Players Of 2022
1. Anastasia Karlovich (Ukrainian)
Ukrainian chess player, and grandmaster, Anastassia Karlovich was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, the Soviet Union on May 29, 1982).
Today, she is a Ukrainian chess player and journalist who earned a FIDE International Female Teacher in 2000 and Female Grand Master in 2003.
Karlovich began playing chess at the age of eight, and the blue-eyed hottie was the female champion of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and a semi-finalist of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Absolute Championship in 1998. The beauty later moved to Kharkiv and became a chess journalist in 2007, and began publishing articles in the Ladya newspaper, New in Chess magazine, the Schach 64 magazines, and on the ChessBase website.
The brown-haired beauty was FIDE’s press secretary for the years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016 World Championships, but almost 12 years prior to that the beauty played on the first board of the Ukrainian team that won the gold medal at the European Under-18 Championship in 2000.
2. Almira Skripchenko (French-Moldovan)
Born in Chisinau in a family of chess players, Almira Skripchenko began learning to play chess at an early age under the guidance of her mother. In 1992, she became the world champion among girls under 16 years old. Since that year, Almira Skripchenko has been a member of the Moldovan chess team.
Since 1996 the sexy brunette has been living in Paris.
In 2000, Almira Skripchenko reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship and the next year in 2001, she repeated this success, won the individual European championship and became the silver medalist of the European team championship as part of the Moldovan national team.
Since 2002, Elmira Skripchenko has been playing for France. In 2004 the brown haired beauty became the winner of tournaments in Biel and Krasnoturinsk.
In 1997, Almira Skripchenko married famous French grandmaster Joel Lautier, but divorced him in 2002. In 1997-2002, the brown haired beauty bore the double surname Skripchenko-Lautier. In 2006, Almira Skripchenko married another French chess player, Laurent Fressinet and in the year 2007, their daughter was born.
3. Elizaveta Orlova (Canada)
Multiple champion of Ontario, champion of Toronto, bronze medalist of the Canadian Championship, and member of the Canadian Olympic team, Elizaveta Orlova is considered to be one amongst many hot chess players of all time!
4. Anna Rudolf (Hungary)
Anna Rudolf has won medals in the Hungarian junior championship many times, including the gold in the years 1999 (in the category up to 12 years), 2000 (up to 14 years), and 2007 (up to 20 years). The blonde beauty was also a multiple-time representative of the country of Hungary at the world and European championships in various age categories, twice occupying 8th place (2003 – the World Cup up to 16 years and 2006 – the World Cup up to 20 years).
In 2003, the bombshell represented her country Hungary in the European U18 team championship, winning a gold medal for an individual result on the second chessboard. The beauty would go on to then meet the standards for the title of grandmaster in 2007 during the individual European Women’s Championships in Dresden and in the open tournament in Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (in this tournament she defeated, among others, the French grandmaster Christian Bauer).
In 2008, the bright faced beauty achieved the greatest success in her career so far, winning the title of individual Hungarian champion in Visegrad. In the same year, this stunning chess player made her debut for the national team at the chess Olympics held in Dresden. In 2009, the Hungary native played for the national team at the European team championship in Novi Sad, while in 2010 the blonde haired dove won the second Hungarian title in Nagykanizsa.
The highest ranking in this hot chess player’s career so far was achieved on July 1, 2010, with a score of 2,393 points, Anna Rudolf was then 5th among Hungarian chess players and 71st on the world FIDE list.
5. Maria Manakova (Russian-born Serbian)
Born into a family of musicians, Maria Manakova and her family lived in Kazan, then moved to Moscow. She learned to play chess at the age of 4, she has been studying since 1979 in the historical chess club of the Bauman Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren in Stopani Lane, where back in the 1930s, during visits to Moscow, sessions of Capablanca and Lasker were given at the same time. In the chess club of the Palace, which was led by the honored coach of the RSFSR Roman Altshuler (1919-2003), Maria Manakova was one of the youngest, most talented, and, as it turned out, well-known in the world of Roman Altshuler’s pupils.
The first coach was her father Boris Alekseevich Manakov, she then worked with Viktor Kott. In 2002 she graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the University of the Russian Academy of Education. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she lived in Yugoslavia, in 1999, during a military conflict, together with her son, she came under NATO bombing there, she spoke about her experiences in a number of interviews.
As part of the national teams of Yugoslavia and Serbia, she participated in two Olympics (1998 and 2012) and two European team championships: in Batumi (1999) and Warsaw (2013). She was the vice-European champion in the Yugoslav national team in 1999. She was also the European champion in the Serbian club BAS in 2002 and in addition to being the Champion of Moscow 2009, she was the Serbian Champion in 2013. In 2009-2013, she served as chairman of the women’s commission of the Moscow Chess Federation. She was engaged in private teaching activities in teaching children chess directly in families, and was one of the highest paid specialists in this field.
From 2007 to the present, she has been teaching chess at one of the Moscow gymnasiums. This beauty has the citizenship of Russia and Serbia.
6. Sophie Millet (France)
Born in 1983, Sophie Millet grew up in the French town of Castelnau-le-Lez, where she learned to play chess at the age of four. Her junior level results were promising, leading her to surpass 2100 Elo points at seventeen. In 2000 she played on the first board in the women’s junior representative in the Faber Cup in Dublin, contributing to the final victory of the team.
She has represented France many times at the World and European Junior Championships, the greatest success in 2001 in Oropesa del Mar, where she won the bronze medal at the U18 World Championships.
She has been participating in the finals of the individual French championship since 2000. She has won the titles of the national champion four times (Aix-les-Bains 2003, Pau 2008, Nîmes 2009, Caen 2011).
The highest ranking in her career so far was achieved on July 1, 2007, with a score of 2414 points, she was then 44th on the world FIDE list, while also taking 3rd place (behind Marie Sebag and Almira Skripchenko) among French chess players.
7. Alisa Melekhina (USA)
Although Alisa Melekhina was recruited to play chess in America was born on June 26, 1991 in Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. As part of the US team, she participated in 2 world team championships (2009 and 2015).
The American chess player’s family moved to Brooklyn when Alisa Melekhina was two months old, and she lived there until she was five and this was also the same age where She learned to play chess from her father.
After she turned six years old, she grew up in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood of Philadelphia and even the future hot chess player would graduate from Northeast High School in Philadelphia. At her university, she studied philosophy at Drexel University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree, after which she studied law at Pennsylvania State University.
Did you know? Alisa Melekhina produced chess training DVDs for OC.
8. Sofiko Guramishvili (Georgian)
Born on January 1, 1991, she is a Georgian chess player, grandmaster (2009), and commentator among women. In 2015, she married Dutch Nepali-Russian descent super grandmaster Anish Giri.
Sopiko Guramishvili finished second in the 2003 Girls Under 14 World Championship and won the Girls Under 16 World Championship in 2006. Earlier in 2004, she played a match against Irine Kharisma Sukandar in Jakarta in a match consisting of two flash games and four normal games. She ended up winning the match by 4-24.
In terms of awards, Sopiko Guramishvili won the bronze medal at the 2010 Women’s University World Championship, she played in Zurich.
She won the women’s all-round tournament in Reggio Emilia in January 2012.
The Georgian chess player commentated live, along with Peter Svidler, the 2014 World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Sochi, Russia.
Sopiko Guramishvili won a match in six games by 5.5 to 0.5, against Anna-Maja Kazarian, European champion under 16, at the Hoogeveen chess festival in October 2015.
9. Anna Sharevich (Belarus)
This blonde beauty was born on December 18, 1985 in Brest, Byelorussian SSR. Anna Sharevich began to play chess from the age of five and her father, Vadim Vladimirovich Sharevich became her first coach.
Anna Sharevich repeatedly won the national championship in groups up to 10, 14, 16 and 20 years (becoming four times the champion of Belarus among girls). Anna Sharevich also became the champion of Belarus in 2002, 2005 and 2007 (among women).
Four times the blonde bombshell played for the Republic of Belarus at the world championships in 2002 and 2005 (2002 in Khanty-Mansiysk, 2010 in Bled).
10. Sanja Dediyer (Bosnia)
Sanja Dedijer from Bosnia Herzegovina is one amongst many hot chess players in the world today. She is 25 years old and doesn’t have much biographical information which could be because she has won many titles).
11. Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia)
Anna was born on February 28, 1990, in the city of Stryi, she learned to play chess at the age of 3 and won her first tournament at the age of 5.
Anna Muzychuk then studied at Stryi High School. After graduation, she entered the Lviv State University of Physical Education.
Anna Muzychuk was at first performing under the flag of Slovenia at the World Championship among girls under 20, which ended on August 16, 2010 in Khotov, Poland. Here, Anna won the competition, which brought together 80 of the strongest young athletes on the planet. Anna Muzychuk took home 10 victories and scored 11 points in 13 games.
In March 2012, at the European Women’s Chess Championship, which was held in Turkey, Anna was in the lead until the last round, but an insulting defeat in the last round from the Russian woman Valentina Gunina threw Anna to the final third place.
From 2004 to 2013 she played for Slovenia. Anna Muzychuk was World Champion (2010) among girls under 20 and also the 2014 Women’s World Blitz Champion.
As part of the Slovenian national team, she participated in 4 Olympics (2004-2010). She won the Bronze medal of the European Championship (2012) and she also won 2nd place at the FIDE Grand Prix in Kazan (2012).
As part of the Ukrainian women’s team, the beauty won 3rd place at the 2014 Chess Olympiad.
12. Anna Ushenina (Ukrainian)
Blonde haired beauty Anna Ushenina is a Ukrainian chess player, grandmaster (2012), and grandmaster among women (2003).
She was the 14th in the history of chess and the first among Ukrainian chess players world champion (from December 1, 2012 to September 20, 2013).
As part of the women’s team of Ukraine, Anna Ushenina was the winner of the Chess Olympiad (2006), the winner of the European Team Championship (2013), and the winner of the World Team Championship (2013).
The bombshell was also a European Chess Champion (2016).
13. Tatyana Kosintseva (Russia)
Brunette goddess, Tatyana Kosintseva is a Russian chess player, grandmaster (2009), and Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2010).
Tatyana Kosintseva is also a two-time European champion (2007,2009) AND European Rapid Chess Champion (2012).
The beauty also became a two-time winner of the Chess Olympiad (2010, 2012) and a two-time European champion as part of the Russian team (2007, 2009).
14. Tania Sachdev (India)
Born on 08/20/1986 in Delhi, Tania started playing chess at the age of just six and continued to grow in the industry, as did her list of achievements. She is the eighth Indian chess player to become a Grandmaster and in 2008, she became the Asian Women’s Chess Champion.
Vibrant, daring and cheerful, Tania adds a much-needed dose of glamor to the game of chess which she would encounter when her father was teaching the game to her brother. However, in a happy twist of faith, Tania took up the game and soon mastered it and now, she even has a sponsor, Red Bull! Together, the beauty and her team are working to give wings to the budding chess players in the country.
15. Natalia Pogonina (Russia)
Natalia Pogonina is a Russian chess player, grandmaster among women (2004), and grandmaster of Russia (2006) who learned to play chess through her grandfather at the age of five. Leonid Ganjikin was her first coach until 1998 and from 1998 to 2010 she was coached by International Master Pawel Lobach.
In 1998, under Leonid Ganjikin she won the Russian U16 girls championship. In 2000 she became European Youth Champion U16 in Kallithea (Chalkidiki) and two years later in January 2002 she won the Hopes 5 tournament in Lviv by 2.5 points. That same year in April she became Russian U18 girls champion in Dagomys. Next year, at the Russian U20 women’s championship in March 2003 in Essentuki in the North Caucasus, Natalia Pogonina was tied for second behind Yekaterina Korbut. Next month in April 2003 she was tied second at the Russian U18 girls championship in Dagomys.
In September 2003 in Budva the brunette beauty was European Youth Champion in the age group U18 female. At the World Youth Championship U18 women’s youth in October 2003 in Kallithea (Halkidiki) the brown haired beauty was behind Nana Dsagnidse shared second. At the Russian U20 women’s championship in Samara in March 2004, Natalia Pogonina shared first place with Ekaterina Korbut. At the Women’s World Championships in Elista in May 2004, the beauty with straight brown hair lost in the first round 0.5:1.5 against Marie Sebag. Natalia Pogonina then won the Russian women’s U20 championship by half a point in March 2005 in Noyabrsk. In December 2005 the hot female chess player won the 3rd Elizaveta Bykova Memorial in Vladimir. In August 2007, the beauty won the Lyudmila Rudenko Memorial in Saint Petersburg by 1.5 points. In February 2009, Natalia Pogonina won the Moscow Open women’s tournament with eight points from nine games and a one-point lead, and during the European Women’s Championships in March 2009 in Budva, she was third.
In 2012 Natalia Pogonina brought home the Russian Women’s Championship in Moscow with 6.5 points from 9 games, in 2018 in Satka with 9 from 12.
She studied law at the State Law Academy in Saratov and graduated from the same university in 2008.
In April 2016 she received the honorary title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
16. Alexandra Botez (Canada)
Alexandra Botez was born in Dallas Texas on September 24, 1995 to Romanian parents who fled the Socialist Republic of Romania. Today, she is an American-Canadian FIDE teacher, streaming star, and commentator.
The hottest chess player of all time maybe, she founded BotezLive, one of the most popular chess channels on Twitch and YouTube.
Although he was born in Dallas, Texas, her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where she grew up. In her childhood, Botez’s father introduced her to chess and began training her when she was six years old, and soon the brunette beauty became a member of the chess club of the Romanian Community Center, Golden Knights, coached by chess master Valer Eugen Demian.
The brown haired beauty was also the first woman president of the Stanford College Chess Club and appeared on CBS due to her huge popularity on the networks. She soon began streaming chess content online in 2016 while a student at Stanford University and the beauty now runs BotezLive with her younger sister Andrea Botez, where as of August 2021 has more than 900,000 followers on Twitch and more than 500,000 subscribers on YouTube.
An aggressive player, Botez is currently one of the top ten female players in Canada who has brought home the Canadian National Women’s Championship and the U.S. National Girls United States five times at the age of fifteen.
The hot chess player achieved her highest Elo FIDE score from 2092 in September 2016 and currently holds the title of Female FIDE Master. Speaking of having good looks, this beauty has publicly shared her experiences with sexism and misogyny at chess tournaments and has advocated for greater gender diversity. As a prominent female chess figure, the bright faced dove was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Susan Polgar Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of breaking down gender barriers in the game through scholarships and awards.
17. Triin Narva (Estonia)
From 2004 to 2011, Triin Narva took home the Estonian Youth Chess Championship twelve times in a row in different age groups (U10, U12, U14, U16, U18).
From 2003 to 2012, the now 27-year-old participated in the youth championships of Europe and the World in different age categories.
Triin Narva won the best result – a bronze medal at the European Blitz Championship in the group under 18 (2012).
In 2010, Triin Narva was awarded the Estonian rapid and blitz championships.
In the Estonian Women’s Chess Championships, the Estonian native and blonde beauty won 3 silver (2010, 2011, 2012) and 2 bronze medals (2009, 2014).
The beauty represented Estonia three times at Chess Olympiads (2010-2014).
18. Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
Russian chess player, grandmaster (2004) is the diva and beauty Alexandra Kosteniuk. She was the twelfth world chess champion (from September 2008 to December 2010).
She was also the European Champion (2004) and Swiss Champion (2011).
Alexandra Kosteniuk was as part of the Russian team, a three-time winner of the Chess Olympiad (2010, 2012, 2014) and four-time winner of the European Team Championship (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015)
She was also a vice world champion in rapid chess (2012) and two-time world champion in Fischer Chess (2006, 2008).
Other FAQs about chess players:
Who has ever been the best chess player?
Many people like to argue about the best chess player in the world or even of all time, so here are the top five chess players of all time:
- Magnus Carlsen: reigning world champion since 2013.
- Garry Kasparov: world champion from 1985 to 2000.
- Bobby Fischer: 1972 world champion
- Anatoly Karpov: between 1975 to 1985 world champion
- Vishy Anand: between 2007 to 2013 world champion
The World Chess Championship as we know it today is very different from what it looked like in the past. Although Magnus Carlsen has dominated the World Chess Championship in recent years, the most dominant World Chess Champion has to be Emmanuel Lasker, who held the title for 27 years.
The greatest chess player of all time, who is he?
Since he is the highest ranked chess player of all time, it is fair to call Magnus Carlsen the greatest chess player of all time. Of course, greatness is determined by very personal opinions and can lead to a lot of heated discussions.
Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov are considered legendary figures in the history of chess. Many consider either of them the greatest chess player of all time.
Who is the number 1 chess player internationally?
Magnus Carlsen is both the reigning world chess champion and today the highest ranked chess player in the world.
Who defeated Magnus Carlsen?
When it comes to naming players who have recently beaten Magnus Carlsen, it’s no surprise that people mention the very best players in the world today. Great chess players such as Aronian, Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Dubov, Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi come up in this list.
Does chess increase IQ?
Yes, playing chess improves your IQ.
Is Hikaru better than Magnus?
No, Hikaru is no better than Magnus, but neither is anyone else.
Who is the richest chess player?
Determining the richest chess player is next to impossible without access to his bank records and a list of his assets. Another consideration is to base your wealth solely on chess winnings, including marketing deals, sponsorships, and business income.
However, no matter how you measure wealth, it’s fair to say that Kasparov, Carlsen, Caruana and Nakamura are some of the richest chess players of all time.
Is Magnus still the best?
Magnus Carlsen is the highest ranked chess player in the world and the reigning world champion. Two factors that would convince most people that he is still the best chess player in the world today.
