Chess Cash Kings 2012: Highest-Earning Chess Players in the World
Annual money rankings are available for many reputable sports. For example, lists by Forbes (highest-earning tennis players; highest-paid NHL players, best-earning men in biathlon, etc.). Unfortunately, this is not the case with chess, where financial data is scarce, and secretly handing out fees in envelopes is still a widespread practice.
In 2010 a column by Natalia Pogonina was dedicated to the possible sources of income of chess players and estimates of their earnings depending on skill. The idea of creating a live rating list of prize money winnings has been suggested by Peter Zhdanov in one of the articles previously published by ChessBase in 2012. The key message of the latter publication was that making the financial details publicly available is a crucial step towards transforming chess into a mainstream sport and making the game more popular. From theory to practice: this paper is a first attempt at creating a list featuring chess players who have made more prize money than anyone else in year 2012.
Introduction
A stereotypical chess player is a noble intellectual who is not interested in money. A common belief is that playing chess is not a profession; hence even grandmasters are expected to have “real jobs”. Is it true or not? Today we are publishing our own Chess Cash Kings-2012 rating – a list of chess players with the highest prize money winnings in 2012.
Notably, there is a serious gap between the two players who played the World Chess Championship match (Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand) and everyone else. Non chess-related activities were not accounted for, so you won’t see Garry Kasparov or Anatoly Karpov on the list. It features only active top players whose primary income sources are chess-related.
The list has been compiled using public information sources, namely, the official websites of the tournaments and regulations of the events. The figures do not include endorsement deals and non-tournament chess earnings (book royalties, simultaneous exhibitions, coaching, scholarships, unofficial games, etc.). Hence, in some cases the real earnings of the players are considerably higher. Another confusing factor is taxes: some of the tournament organizers list the amounts after tax deduction, while others provide pre-tax figures. Additionally, a lot depends on the tax policies of different countries.
Most top tournaments conceal the amount of the prize money and the appearance fees. They prefer to negotiate the conditions personally with each player without informing the public about the details, thus saving funds and avoiding paying taxes. While common sense tells us that the chess community should be evolving towards financial transparency and legal payments, it is clear that the organizers and many of the players themselves will be reluctant to cooperate.
Of course, there are exceptions, but the average figure of the first prize at a super tournament is $50,000-$100,000. The appearance fees for players rated 2700+ are usually in the $10,000-$20,000 range. The very top stars can negotiate even better rates.
To make the list more representative, we tried to list the most important details even when the data is missing. Please don’t judge this article too strictly: as far as we know, it is the first attempt of this kind in the chess world:
Chess Cash Kings-2012 List sorted by estimates of prize money won:
#1 Viswanathan Anand, India, 43
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2799 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2772 (-27 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $2,000,000
Bundesliga: unknown
World Chess Championship Match, winner: $1,530,000
Award from Tamil Nadu government for winning the WCC: $400,000
Bilbao Chess Masters Final, 5th: unknown. In 2008 the prizes were the following: €150,000 for the first place, €70,000 for the second one, €60,000 for third, €50,000 for fourth, €40,000 for fifth and €30,000 for sixth. Prizes were reduced considerably in 2012 though.
London Chess Classic, 5th: $14,500 (information about best games prizes wasn’t available)
Endorsements: NIIT, TVH, AMD (earnings unknown)
#2 Boris Gelfand, Israel, 44
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2739 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2740 (+1 point)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $1,100,000
World Chess Championship Match, runner-up: $1,020,000
Tata Steel Chess, 10th-12th out of 14: the main cash comes from appearance fees (unknown), while the official prizes were relatively modest (€ 10,000 for first place)
World Rapid Chess Championship, 6th: $14,000
World Blitz Chess Championship, 10th: $4,000
World Chess Olympiad: unknown
FIDE Grand Prix, London, 1st-3rd: $29,700
European Club Cup: unknown
FIDE Grand Prix, Tashkent, 10th: $11,900
#3 Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 22
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2835 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2861 (+26 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $480,000
Tata Steel Chess Tournament, 2nd-4th: unknown
Tal Memorial, 2nd in blitz, 1st in classical chess: $43,600 + appearance fee
World Rapid Chess Championship, 2nd: $33,000
World Blitz Chess Championship, 2nd: $33,000
Biel: appearance fee (unknown)
Bilbao Chess Masters Final, 1st: unknown
London Chess Classic, 1st: $72,600 (information about best games prizes wasn’t available)
Gran Fiesta UNAM, 1st: unknown
Endorsements: Arctic Securities, SIMONSEN Advokatfirma, VG, G-star (past)
In 2010 Magnus Carlsen made over $1,500,000 and about $650,000 in 2009. Both figures refer to aggregate income, not only prize money.
#4 Levon Aronian, Armenia, 30
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2805 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2802 (-3 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $330,000
Tata Steel Chess Tournament, 1st: $13,200 + unknown appearance fee
Kramnik-Aronian match, tie: unknown
Tal Memorial, 5th in blitz, 7th in classical chess: $9,200 + appearance fee
World Chess Olympiad, team gold, individual gold: $50,000
Bilbao Chess Masters Final, 3rd: unknown
London Chess Classic, 6th: $14,500 (information about best games prizes wasn’t available)
World Mind Sports Games, 4th in blitz, 1st in blindfold: $18,000
#5 Sergey Karjakin, Russia, 22
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2769 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2780 (+11 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $300,000
Tata Steel Chess Tournament, 8th: unknown
Russian Team Chess Championship: appearance fee (unknown)
Dortmund, 2nd: prize unknown
Region Blitz: $9,200
World Rapid Chess Championship, 1st: $40,000
World Blitz Chess Championship, 3rd: $27,500
Russian Superfinal, 2nd: $25,000
World Chess Olympiad, team silver, individual bronze: $25,000
Bilbao Chess Masters Final, 4th: unknown
FIDE Grand Prix, Tashkent, 1st-3rd: $29,700
World Mind Sports Games, 1st in blitz: $10,000
Piterenka rapid & blitz, 1st: 10 hundred square meters of land in Piterenka village
Endorsements: Alpari
#6 Fabiano Caruana, Italy, 20
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2736 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2781 (+45 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $290,000
Tata Steel Chess Tournament, 2nd-4th: unknown
44 CIS Serie Master: unknown
Sigeman, 1st: unknown
Tal Memorial, 10th in blitz, 2nd in classical chess: $26,800 + appearance fee
Greek Team Cup, Greek Team Championship: unknown
Dortmund, 1st: unknown
Region Blitz: $1,100
World Chess Olympiad: unknown
Bilbao Chess Masters Final, 2nd: unknown
King’s Tournament, 3rd: unknown
FIDE Grand Prix, Tashkent, 4th-6th: $19,800
#7 Hikaru Nakamura, USA, 25
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2759 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2769 (+10 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $275,000
Reggio Emilia, 4th: unknown
Tata Steel Chess Tournament, 6: unknown
Pacific Open, 1st: $3,000
44 CIS Serie Master: unknown
US Chess Championship, 1st: $40,000
Tal Memorial, 6th in blitz, 8th in classical chess: $5,000 + appearance fee
Biel: appearance fee, unknown
World Chess Olympiad: unknown
FIDE Grand Prix, London, 12th: $9,200
European Club Cup: unknown
Unive Hoogeven, 1st: unknown
London Chess Classic, 3rd: $27,500 (information about best games prizes wasn’t available)
World Mind Games, 2nd in rapid, 2nd in blitz, 2nd in blindfold: $30,000
#8 Vladimir Kramnik, Russia, 37
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2801 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2810 (+9 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $250,000
Tal Memorial, 4th in blitz, 4th in classical chess: $13,700 + appearance fee
Kramnik-Aronian match, tie: unknown
Dortmund, 4th: prize unknown
World Chess Olympiad, team silver: $25,000
London Chess Classic, 2nd: $39,000 (information about best games prizes wasn’t available)
Endorsements: DGT, Blancpain (past?), also seen wearing a badge of some sort (?)
#9 Alexander Grischuk, Russia, 29
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2761 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2764 (+3 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $185,000
Tal Memorial, 4th in blitz, 7th in classical chess: $7,300 + appearance fee
World Rapid Chess Championship, 5th: $18,000
World Blitz Chess Championship, 1st: $40,000
Region Blitz: $5,300
Russian Superfinal, 7th: $5,000
Internet Grand Prix, semi-finalist: $3,300
World Chess Olympiad, team silver: $25,000
FIDE Grand Prix, London, 4th: $23,100
European Club Cup: unknown
World Mind Sports Games, 3rd in rapid, 7th in blitz: $14,000
Moscow handicap blitz, 1st: unknown
#10 Dmitry Andreikin, Russia, 22
FIDE rating in January 2012: 2688 FIDE rating in January 2013: 2727 (+39 points)
Prize money in 2012 (estimate): $150,000
Moscow Open, 15th-31st: a few hundred $
Aeroflot Open, 4th-8th: $3,500
European Chess Championship, 4th: $9,200
Russian Team Chess Championship: appearance fee (unknown)
Team Championship of Macedonia: appearance fee (unknown)
Donskoi Rapid, 1: $2,000
Region Blitz: $1,100
World Blitz Chess Championship, 5th: $18,000
Kazakhstan-Open: $3,500
Russian Top League, 1st: $16,500
Russian Superfinal, 1st: $33,000
Internet Grand Prix, 1st: $6,600
European Club Cup: unknown
Nepomniatchi-Andreikin match, winner: unknown
MGSU Cup, 1st: $3,300
Sberbank Cup, 7th-9th: about $900
Russian Rapid Chess Final, 5th-8th: $2,300
Methodology
Information about the prizes was obtained from open sources. All the money fees were converted to US dollars using the appropriate exchange rates. In the cases where the information was lacking, estimates were made by contacting a few 2700+ players and interviewing them. While the abovementioned list is supposed to convey a reasonably accurate picture of the earnings of the top players, it is by no means a precise financial report. We would appreciate feedback from players and their managers in order to improve the article.
Written by:
Peter Zhdanov is an IT project manager, expert and author of two books on parliamentary debate, BSc in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science and a PhD student in Sociology. In chess he is a Russian candidate master, author, manager of grandmaster Natalia Pogonina and editor of Pogonina.com
Original article can be found here
Images of the players are (C) ChessBase.com
