<P> In 1970, FIDE adopted Elo's system for rating current players, so one way to compare players of different eras is to compare their Elo ratings . The best - ever Elo ratings are tabulated below . </P> <P> As of December 2015, there were 101 chess players in history who broke 2700 and nine of them exceeded 2800 . Particularly notable are the peak ratings of Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov, who achieved their peak ratings in earlier years (1972, 1994, and 1999 respectively). </P> <Dl> <Dd> <Table> Table of top 20 rated players of all - time, with date their best ratings were first achieved <Tr> <Th> Rank </Th> <Th> Rating </Th> <Th> Player </Th> <Th> Year - month </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 01 1 </Td> <Td> 2882 </Td> <Td> Magnus Carlsen </Td> <Td> 2014 - 05 May 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 02 2 </Td> <Td> 2851 </Td> <Td> Garry Kasparov </Td> <Td> 1999 - 07 July 1999 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 03 3 </Td> <Td> 2844 </Td> <Td> Fabiano Caruana </Td> <Td> 2014 - 10 Oct. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 04 4 </Td> <Td> 2830 </Td> <Td> Levon Aronian </Td> <Td> 2014 - 03 Mar. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 05 5 </Td> <Td> 2822 </Td> <Td> Wesley So </Td> <Td> 2016 - 10 Feb. 2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 06 6 </Td> <Td> 2819 </Td> <Td> Maxime Vachier - Lagrave </Td> <Td> 2016 - 03 Aug. 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 07 7 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2817 </Td> <Td> Viswanathan Anand </Td> <Td> 2011 - 03 Mar. 2011 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 07 7 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2817 </Td> <Td> Vladimir Kramnik </Td> <Td> 2013 - 05 Oct. 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 09 9 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2816 </Td> <Td> Veselin Topalov </Td> <Td> 2015--07 July 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 09 9 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2816 </Td> <Td> Hikaru Nakamura </Td> <Td> 2015 - 10 Oct. 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 11 11 </Td> <Td> 2810 </Td> <Td> Alexander Grischuk </Td> <Td> 2014 - 12 Dec. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 12 12 </Td> <Td> 2800 </Td> <Td> Shakhriyar Mamedyarov </Td> <Td> 2017 - 06 June 2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 13 13 </Td> <Td> 2798 </Td> <Td> Anish Giri </Td> <Td> 2015 - 10 Oct. 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 14 14 </Td> <Td> 2793 </Td> <Td> Teimour Radjabov </Td> <Td> 2012 - 12 Nov. 2012 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 15 15 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2788 </Td> <Td> Alexander Morozevich </Td> <Td> 2008 - 07 July 2008 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 15 15 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2788 </Td> <Td> Sergey Karjakin </Td> <Td> 2011 - 07 July 2011 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 17 17 </Td> <Td> 2787 </Td> <Td> Vassily Ivanchuk </Td> <Td> 2007--10 Oct. 2007 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 18 18 </Td> <Td> 2785 </Td> <Td> Bobby Fischer </Td> <Td> 1972 - 04 Apr. 1972 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 19 19 </Td> <Td> 2783 </Td> <Td> Ding Liren </Td> <Td> 2016 - 06 June 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 20 20 </Td> <Td> 2780 </Td> <Td> Anatoly Karpov </Td> <Td> 1994 - 07 July 1994 </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> <Table> Table of top 20 rated players of all - time, with date their best ratings were first achieved <Tr> <Th> Rank </Th> <Th> Rating </Th> <Th> Player </Th> <Th> Year - month </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 01 1 </Td> <Td> 2882 </Td> <Td> Magnus Carlsen </Td> <Td> 2014 - 05 May 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 02 2 </Td> <Td> 2851 </Td> <Td> Garry Kasparov </Td> <Td> 1999 - 07 July 1999 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 03 3 </Td> <Td> 2844 </Td> <Td> Fabiano Caruana </Td> <Td> 2014 - 10 Oct. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 04 4 </Td> <Td> 2830 </Td> <Td> Levon Aronian </Td> <Td> 2014 - 03 Mar. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 05 5 </Td> <Td> 2822 </Td> <Td> Wesley So </Td> <Td> 2016 - 10 Feb. 2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 06 6 </Td> <Td> 2819 </Td> <Td> Maxime Vachier - Lagrave </Td> <Td> 2016 - 03 Aug. 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 07 7 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2817 </Td> <Td> Viswanathan Anand </Td> <Td> 2011 - 03 Mar. 2011 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 07 7 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2817 </Td> <Td> Vladimir Kramnik </Td> <Td> 2013 - 05 Oct. 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 09 9 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2816 </Td> <Td> Veselin Topalov </Td> <Td> 2015--07 July 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 09 9 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2816 </Td> <Td> Hikaru Nakamura </Td> <Td> 2015 - 10 Oct. 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 11 11 </Td> <Td> 2810 </Td> <Td> Alexander Grischuk </Td> <Td> 2014 - 12 Dec. 2014 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 12 12 </Td> <Td> 2800 </Td> <Td> Shakhriyar Mamedyarov </Td> <Td> 2017 - 06 June 2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 13 13 </Td> <Td> 2798 </Td> <Td> Anish Giri </Td> <Td> 2015 - 10 Oct. 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 14 14 </Td> <Td> 2793 </Td> <Td> Teimour Radjabov </Td> <Td> 2012 - 12 Nov. 2012 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 15 15 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2788 </Td> <Td> Alexander Morozevich </Td> <Td> 2008 - 07 July 2008 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 15 15 (tie) </Td> <Td> 2788 </Td> <Td> Sergey Karjakin </Td> <Td> 2011 - 07 July 2011 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 17 17 </Td> <Td> 2787 </Td> <Td> Vassily Ivanchuk </Td> <Td> 2007--10 Oct. 2007 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 18 18 </Td> <Td> 2785 </Td> <Td> Bobby Fischer </Td> <Td> 1972 - 04 Apr. 1972 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 19 19 </Td> <Td> 2783 </Td> <Td> Ding Liren </Td> <Td> 2016 - 06 June 2016 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 20 20 </Td> <Td> 2780 </Td> <Td> Anatoly Karpov </Td> <Td> 1994 - 07 July 1994 </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Dd>

Who has the highest elo rating in chess