On May 5, 2014, the ChessBase website published an article by Zhdanov, the husband of Russian female chess player Bogonina, evaluating the income of chess players and establishing a ranking list, summarized below:
Forbes magazine lists the rankings of athletes in major sports around the world:
Among them, the world's highest-paid tennis player is Novak Djokovic, who earns as much as Nadal and Federer combined.
The world's highest-paid baseball player is Ryan James Howard of the Philadelphia PhiladelphiaRs, who signed a five-year contract to $125 million in revenue.
The NFL's highest-paid athlete is Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, who signed a five-year contract worth $100 million, plus $37 million in funding last summer and $3 million in salary for the 2012 season.
The National Ice Hockey League's (NHL) highest-paid athlete is Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who earns $16.5 million a year.
The highest-paid footballer is first David Beckham, who made $44 million in 2012, followed by Messi, who paid Argentina $21.2 million last year to keep him.
Compared with the above situation, the income of chess players is much inferior.
There is little data on the annual income of chess players, and the custom in the chess world is to leave the money in an envelope and give it to the player himself by the organizer himself. This article attempts to analyze and evaluate the annual income of the top chess players in 2013 based on a variety of different sources of information.
The traditional chess player is portrayed as a gentleman with a clever mind and disdain for money. It is generally believed that playing chess is not a profession, and even many chess grandmasters want to have a "real job".
This article mainly cites public information, especially the amount of prize money announced by the organizers of the tournament, which does not include sponsorship fees and income from writing books, holding exhibition games of wheel wars, teaching chess, and attending informal chess events. There is also an influencing factor is the tax, some of the tournament organizers list the amount of prize money after tax, some are before tax, the money that the chess player actually gets to the hand is deducted from the tax part. In addition, the laws leviing personal income tax in different countries also have a great impact on the actual income of chess players.
Many super competitions not only have bonuses, but also appearance fees, private negotiations, which vary greatly from person to person, which can prevent chess players from competing with each other, avoid paying taxes, and save money. Although it is reasonable to act according to law and implement open accounting, doing so will compress the space for negotiation and negotiation, and neither the organizers nor chess players will be willing to do so. Of course, there are exceptions.
In short, in a super match, the prize money for the champion is generally between 50,000 and 100,000 US dollars, and the 2700+ players have an appearance fee between 10,000 US dollars and 20,000 US dollars, and the top 10 players may be higher.
The income of chess players in 2013 is assessed as follows:
First prize: Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 23 years old
Total revenue is approximately USD 2.2 million.
Main sources:
The income of the winner of the Vic Anzer Competition, the specifics are unknown;
Candidates' championship prize money, $158,500;
Norwegian runner-up earnings, around €336,000;
Thar Memorial Tournament runners-up earn $27,500;
Singhfield Cup winner, $70,000;
World Championship prize money of $1,650,000.
Plus sponsorship contract income with Simonsen Vogt Wiig, Arctic Securities, Nordic Semiconductor, Parallels, VG, G-Star Raw.6 companies.
Second place, Anand, India, 44 years old.
Total revenue is approximately $1.5 million.
3rd place in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown.
Winner of the Classic of the Gerrenk, earnings unknown.
Runner-up in the Zurich Challenge, income unknown. 3rd place in the Alyohin Memorial Tournament with a prize of $20,500;
6th place in the Norwegian competition, income unknown;
9th place in the Thar Memorial Race, $3,500;
Runner-up in the World Championship, $1.1 million;
The London Tournament reached the quarterfinals for $8,500.
Plus contract income with NIIT and TVH2 sponsors.
Third place: Fabiano Caruana Italy, 21 years old
Total revenue is approximately $640,000.
12th place in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown;
Runner-up of the Gerenk National Elephant Classic, income unknown;
Zurich Challenge winner, income unknown;
Russian Team Championship, 8th place, income unknown;
4th round of the FIDE Grand Prix, $26,000 prize money;
2nd place in Greece at the FIDE Grand Prix with a prize of $29,000;
Thar Commemorative Runner-up 3rd place with a prize of $20,500;
7th place in the Dortmund Competition, income unknown;
The National Elephant World Cup reached the quarterfinals with a prize money of $35,000;
FIDE Grand Prix Paris winner with a prize of $32,500;
Winner of the Copa del Rey, income unknown; 3rd place in the European Clubs Cup team, income unknown;
12th place in the European Team Championship, income unknown;
London Classic reached the quarterfinals with a prize money of $8,500;
3rd overall 2012/2013 FIDE Grand Prix with a prize fund of $82,500.
Fourth place: Vladimir Kramnik, Russia, 38 years old
The total revenue is about 600,000 US dollars
Zurich challenged for third place with an unknown income;
Runner-up candidate, $147,500;
7th place in the Alejan Memorial Tournament, $5,500;
10th place in the Thar Memorial Tournament, $2,000;
Runner-up in the Dortmund Tournament, income unknown;
Geneva Elephant Masters entry decision, income unknown;
National Elephant World Cup winner, $120,000;
4th place in the Russian Super Final, $15,000;
World Team Championship Team Champion, $30,000;
London Classic reached the final for $17,000.
Fifth, Levon Aronian, Armenian, 31 years old
Total revenue is approximately $500,000
Runner-up in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown;
4th place in the candidate competition, with a prize of $92,000;
Alyohin Memorial Champion, $41,000;
5th place in the Norwegian competition, income unknown;
3rd place in the World Cup with a prize of $16,000;
U.S. Singerfield Cup runner-up $30,000;
Winner of the Bilbao Grand Finals, income unknown;
4th place in the European Team Championships three gold medals, income unknown;
11 super fast chess players at the Games, $1,000;
11 black and white duels, $1,000;
Fast Chess 14th Place $1,000;
The 5th place in the world team championship is a gold medal, the income is unknown.
Sixth, Sergey Karjakin, Russia, 24 years old
Total revenue is approximately $450,000
4th place in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown;
Aeroflot Cup Quick Chess Champion, $16,000;
Superfast Chess 5th place, $3,500;
2nd place in the Russian Team Championship team, income unknown;
FIDE Grand Prix Zug 7th place, $16,500;
Norwegian grand prize winner, income unknown;
7th place in the Thar Memorial Tournament, $5,500;
Winner of the Sbel Bank Open, income unknown;
5th place in the FIDE Grand Prix in Beijing, $17,500;
The World Cup reaches round 4, $25,000;
Moscow Championship Superfast Chess Champion, income unknown;
Superfast Chess Champion at the Games, $18,000;
White and black doubles champions $18,000;
Fast Chess 8th place 4,000 yuan;
9th place in the 2012/2013 FIDE Grand Prix, $20,500;
Plus revenue from a sponsorship contract with Alpari.
Seventh, Hikaru Nakamura, USA, 26 years old
Total revenue of $440,000
6th place in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown;
FIDE Grand Prix Zug Station Runner-up, $31,000;
4th place in the Norwegian competition, income unknown;
7th place in Greece at the FIDE Grand Prix, $16,500;
6th place in the Thar Memorial, $8,250;
3rd place in the Houston Open, income unknown;
The Geneva Masters reached the final, with an unknown income;
U.S. Singerfield Cup runner-up, $30,000;
3rd place in the FIDE Grand Prix in Paris, $26,000;
10th place in the European Club Cup team, income unknown;
4th place in the World Team Championship, income unknown;
London Classic champion, $69,000;
6th place in the 2012/2013 FIDE Series Grand Prix, $41,500;
Plus sponsorship contract income with Silver Therapeutics.
This year, Mitsura Nakamura signed another contract with Red Bull.
Eighth, Boris Gelfand, Israel, 45 years old
Total revenue is approximately USD 415,000
4th place in the Zurich Challenge, income unknown;
Candidates 5th place $66,000;
Alyohin Memorial Race Runner-up, $27,500;
Thar Memorial Champion, $41,500;
9th place in the FIDE Grand Prix in Beijing, $12,500;
2nd place in the FIDE Grand Prix in Paris, $32,500;
London Classic finalist, $34,500;
4th place in the 2012/2013 FIDE Series Grand Prix, $69,000.
Ninth place, Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian, 39 years old
Total revenue of $390,000
FIDE Grand Prix Zug Champion, $34,500;
8th place in the Norwegian competition, income unknown;
8th place in Greece at the FIDE Grand Prix, $14,500;
Runner-up in the Speier Bank Open, income unknown;
3rd place in the FIR Grand Prix in Beijing, $26,000;
Topalov-Laznika vs. winner, income unknown;
UEFA European Club Cup team runner-up, income unknown;
25th place in the European Team Championship, income unknown;
European Individual Championship Quick Chess Champion, $1,500;
2012/2013 FIDE Series Grand Prix Overall Champion, $138,000.
Tenth place, Peter Svidler, Russia, 37 years old
Total revenue of $375,000.
Primary source: Candidate for third place, $125,500;
Aeroflot Cup Quick Chess tied for 5-8 places at $3,500, SuperFast Chess runner-up $7,000;
Russian team championship champion, income unknown;
10th in the Alyohin Memorial Tournament, $2,000;
9th place in Greece at the FIDE Grand Prix, $14,500;
National Elephant World Cup reached the quarterfinals, $35,000;
Russian Super Final champion $34,000;
5th place in the European Club Cup team, income unknown;
3rd place in the European Team Championship, $6,000;
The London Classic reached the quarterfinals for $8,500.
In addition to the men's 10 people, Hou Yifan, the world's highest-paid chess player in the world, is also listed.
Hou Yifan, China, 20 years old
Total revenue is approximately USD 265,000.
11th place in the Vic Anzer Competition, income unknown;
8th place in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Geneva, $5,500;
4th place in China National Championship (Group A), income unknown;
Navarre-Hou Yifan against the winner of the match, income unknown;
Women's Champion of Chess Slow Chess at the 4th Asian Indoor Games, with an unknown income;
World Cup round 1, $6,000;
Women's World Champion, $165,500;
European Championship team champion, first stage gold medal, income unknown;
8th place in the National Elephant Grandmaster Super Battle, income unknown;
Superfast Champion of the Games $10,000, White and Black Double Match Runner-up, $9,000;
Fast Chess runner-up $9,000.