COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST MASTER CHESS PLAYERS PER MILLION PEOPLE*
Russia has the highest number of chess players with a FIDE (World Chess Federation) rating of 2200 or higher (Masters and Grandmaster levels) and has long been famous for the performance of its people in chess matches. However, per capita, Russia only ranks No. 30 among independent nations.
Below are the countries with the highest number of chess players with the FIDE rating of 2200 or higher (per million people). Very small European (and some mid-sized Eastern European) nations dominate this list.
COUNTRY
1. Iceland
2. Monaco
3. Serbia & Montenegro
4. Andorra
5. San Marino
6. Slovenia
7. Croatia
8. Liechtenstein
9. Hungary
10. Israel
NUMBER OF CHESS PLAYERS RATED
AT LEAST 2200 PER MILLION PEOPLE
315
156
93
88
72
70
68
61
58
48
* Some countries have fewer than a million people. If territories and dependencies were included, then the Faeroe Islands (239), British Virgin Islands (94) and Bermuda (63) would be in this list.
