In terms of chess-playing countries and the number of grandmasters produced, Australia isn't really up there. Countries like Russia, Germany, Ukraine, and the United States have produced hundreds of GMs, but there is only a handful in Australia.
However, that doesn't mean that Australia doesn't have some excellent chess players. In fact, there are some outstanding Australian chess players out there.
For the purpose of this list, we've chosen the top-ranked players from the Australian Chess Federation. Not all of these players were born in Australia and while some hold dual nationality, for the purposes of chess, they are Australian.
Similarly, we're also only including active players. There are a few inactive or retired Australian chess players who could have also comfortably made this list, but if we're going off their current FIDE ratings (which can change), then it makes sense that we also only include current players.
10. Brodie McClymont
At the time of writing, Brodie McClymont sits in 10th place in terms of his FIDE rating (find out how to get your own FIDE rating) and has held the title of International Master (IM) since 2015.
If you're new to chess, it may surprise you to find that many of the top-rated players in both Australia and worldwide are particularly young, much like you'd find in top-level sports. Brodie, like many of the others on our list, was born in the 1990s and none of the top 10 players in the country is 40 yet!
His current FIDE rating is 2414. Which is definitely a good FIDE rating to start with.
9. Junta Ikeda
Junta Ikeda is a highly-rated Australian chess player. He works as a public servant by day and performs at the top level of Australian chess by night (well, on the weekends and whenever there are tournaments).
He achieved his FIDE Master (FM) title in 2010 and has held his International Master (IM) title since 2014. He has also represented Australia at the chess olympiad and competed in loads of tournaments around the world.
His current FIDE rating is 2444.
8. Rishi Sardana
Rishi Sardana is currently the 8th-ranked player and another highly-rated young player (he's just 25 years old!). He became an International Master in 2014 and then went on to study economics in India.
His current FIDE rating is 2460.
7. James Morris
Australia's 7th highest-rated player currently has a FIDE rating of 2464 and has been a recognised chess player since a very young age.
James placed 5th in the MCC January Invitational and 6th in the Australian Junior Championship in 2007 aged just 12 years old, the same year he was granted his FIDE Master (FM) title. Aged 13, he won the Ballarat Begonia Open, the Doeberl Cup Premier, and the Oceania Zonal!
By 2010, he was granted the title of International Master (IM).
In 2013, he was involved in a motor accident that claimed the lives of two other chess players on the way back from the Doeberl Cup. He placed second in his first internationally-rated tournament after the accident, the Melbourne Chess Club Cup Weekender 2013.
6. Moulthun Ly
Moulthun Ly is the first Grandmaster (GM) in this list with a current FIDE rating of 2481. Another young player (he was born in 1991), Ly achieved the titles of FIDE Master (FM) and International Master (IM) in 2011 and has held the Grandmaster title since 2016! At the time Ly received his GM title, he was only the sixth ever in Australia.
Ly's YouTube channel “Molton” explains chess and is worth checking out if you'd like to learn more about high-level play. A lot of the videos focus on 2000+ ELO games, though there are some sub-2000 ELO games and analyses.
Ly is also the editor of 50 Moves Magazine, a chess magazine that he publishes with help from other Australian grandmasters including Ian Rogers and Max Illingworth, who could have also easily featured on this list if not for the fact that they're both retired from competitive chess.
If we were looking at all Australian chess players (and not just active players), Rogers and Illingworth would be 4th and 8th respectively and McClymont, Ikeda, and Sardana wouldn't have made the cut (at least not yet!).
In both cases, Ly makes the grade.
5. Justin Tan
Justin Tan is a chess player, gymnast, and law graduate. In addition to becoming a FIDE Master (FM) in 2013, an International Master (IM) in 2015, and a Grandmaster (GM) in 2018, he was also a member of Australia's national gymnastic team where he was the Under-16 pommel horse champion in 2012!
His current FIDE rating of 2503 places him 5th in terms of active Australian chess players and 7th of all time.
4. Zong-Yuan Zhao
One of the "older" Australian players on our list (he was born in the 1980s!), Zong-Yuan Zhao has been playing chess for some time and was Australia's youngest International Master (IM) when he gained the title at the age of 14. In 2008, he was granted the title of Grandmaster (GM).
His current FIDE rating is 2510 leaving him currently 4th and 5th overall, just behind the GM Ian Rogers.
3. Temur Kuybokarov
Temur Kuybokarov is the first GM in our list to be born this century, but he's not the only one. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, this young and exceptional player was taught chess at the age of 5 and tied for first place at the Asian Youth Championships in Beijing. At the time, Temur was still representing Uzbekistan.
In 2016, he moved to Perth in Western Australia and since then, has won the Australian Open Championship in 2017 and 2019.
He achieved the title of FIDE Master (FM) in 2010, International Master (IM) in 2016, and Grandmaster (GM) in 2019.
The reason Temur is on our list is that he's an exceptional chess player, but he also transferred his national federation from Uzbekistan to Australia in 2018 and has represented Australia, where he also lives, ever since.
His exceptional FIDE rating places him 3rd both currently and overall in Australia. Globally, he's ranked 357th in the world.
2. Bobby Cheng
Bobby Cheng is Australia's current second-best chess player. Bobby was born in Hamilton, New Zealand in 1997.
He moved with his family to Melbourne in 2007 and went on to finish tied-third place in his division in the World Youth Chess Championship.
Much like Temur Kuybokarov, Bobby Cheng transferred his federation to Australia and since 2009 has represented Australia in the world of chess. 2009 was also the year that Bobby won the Under 12 title at the World Youth Championships.
When he won the Australian Junior Championship in 2010, he was the youngest player ever to do it. He won it again the following year and became the youngest-ever Victorian Championship title, too. When he won the Australian Open Championship, he was also the youngest player to ever do so (can you see a pattern emerging?).
He achieved FIDE Master (FM) in 2010, International Master (IM) in 2013, and Grandmaster (GM) in 2019. His current FIDE rating is 2576.
1. Anton Smirnov
Last but not least is Australia's highest-rated chess player and the youngest on our list. Born in 2001, Anton Smirnov was the junior champion at the Australian Chess Championship in 2014 and the winner of the Australian Grand Prix in 2015, two of Australia's best tournaments.
In 2014, he also represented Australia at the 2014 and 2016 Chess Olympiads where he was undefeated at both. He got his FIDE Master (FM) title in 2013, the International Master (IM) in 2014, and the Grandmaster Title (GM) in 2017.
His current FIDE rating is 2586, which puts him 1st amongst active and inactive players in Australia as well as 261st in the world.
Put simply, this young player is pretty special!
So there you have it, some of Australia's finest chess players. Of course, as we mentioned before we started, these are just active chess players. If you're looking for even more great Australian chess players, you should also look up Ian Rogers, David Smerdon, and Max Illingworth.
Once a player retires, their FIDE rating doesn't change or deteriorate so inactive players retain their rating. It's a good way to see how good they were, but it's not very helpful to see who the best players are at the moment. Don't forget that active players' FIDE ratings will change, too, and since most of the very best have seemingly meteoric rises to the top, especially the younger generation of Australian players, it wouldn't be surprising if we didn't see some excellent young players making their way into this top 10 soon!
Are there any Australian players that you would have included? Which players do you think will be in the country's top 10 in the coming years? Are the current players better than the inactive masters?
Let us know in the comments!
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