13 min
Hall Of Fame - 22: Paul Keres
The Estonian master never got to the World Championship, but had an amazingly long and successful career.
17 min
Hall Of Fame - 23: Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Rubinstein was one of the world's best players in the early 20th century and leaves behing an impressive legacy of endgame technique and ideas.
11 min
Hall Of Fame - 24: Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton was considered the world's leading player from 1843-1851. He also gave us the Staunton chess set and the "Chess players handbook".
14 min
Hall Of Fame - 25: David Bronstein
David Bronstein is best known for tying the 1951 World Championship match against Botvinnik, while also giving the chess world some highly influential books.
12 min
Hall Of Fame - 26: Adolf Anderssen
Anderssen won two big tournaments in 1851 and 1862, as well as giving the world the "Immortal Game".
14 min
Hall Of Fame - 27: Johannes Zukertort
Zukertort lost to Steinitz in the first World Championship match in 1886, but was a dominant player in the 1870s and 1880s.
10 min
Hall Of Fame - 28: Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais
The French master was considered to be the strongest player in the world in the early 1800s.
21 min
Hall Of Fame - 29: Bent Larsen
The Great Dane makes the Top 30. Another Great Dane explains why.
13 min
Hall Of Fame - 30: Samuel Reshevsky
Reshevsky was a contender for the World Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-60s.
7 min
Hall Of Fame - 31: Efim Bogoljubov
Another veteran, who played two World Championship matches.
9 min
Hall Of Fame - 32: Reuben Fine
He did just fine in 1938.
10 min
Hall Of Fame - 33: Levon Aronian
The Armenian Superstar requires no introduction
10 min
Hall Of Fame - 34: Siegbert Tarrasch
Dr. Tarrasch was maybe the world's best player in the 1890s.
11 min
Hall Of Fame - 35: Vasyl Ivanchuk
Widely considered a chess genius, Ivanchuk enters the list.
9 min
Hall Of Fame - 36: Carl Schlechter
Schlechter was the first player to seriously challenge Lasker in a World Championship match.
8 min
Hall Of Fame - 37: Harry Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury only had a brief career, but his highs were incredibly high.
9 min
Hall Of Fame - 38: Efim Geller
An amazing tournamemnt player, Geller never got to a World Championship match, but had + scores against the likes of Fischer, Botvinnik and Petrosian.
12 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 39: Boris Gelfand
Gelfand came close to the World Championship title in 2012, when he lost to Vishy Anand by the smallest of margins.
10 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 40:Mikhail Chigorin
"The Founder of the Soviet School of Chess"
11 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 50: Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch is best known for his book 'My System'. But does he belong here as a player?
9 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 49: Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Karjakin held Magnus Carlsen to a 6-6 tie in classical games in their World Championship match.
7 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 48: Lajos Portisch
Hungary's Lajos Portisch had a long and distinguished career.
9 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 47: Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky is a representative of an incredibly strong generation of Soviet players. Never in a title match, but very much a top player for 20+ years.
10 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 46: Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky emerges as a prodigy in the 1990s, takes time off from chess from 1996-2004, but returns in 2004 and goes on to win the 2007 World Cup.
8 min
Chess Hall Of Fame - 45: Geza Maroczy
Maroczy was born in 1870 and was one of the leading players of his time. Enough?