Chess Awareness Watch

Chess is one of the most-played sports in the world. We learned how many people know the name of the Champion and where he is from. This is the first official Chess Awareness Barometer.

7% of people know the name of the Champion
in 2022. 6% know that he was born in Norway.

Here’s a breakdown:

Champion's personal avatar

Here’s a breakdown:

June 2022 data
Statistics map
Statistics graphics

But what were the wrong answers? Glad you asked!

  • person avatar

    76 %

    “Don’t know who”

    US 72%, UK 80%

  • person avatar

    4 %

    “Garry Kasparov”

    World Champion between the years 1984...2000

  • person avatar

    3 %

    “Vladimir Kramnik”

    World Champion in 2006 and 2007

  • person avatar

    3 %

    “Sergey Karjakin”

    The youngest grandmaster in history

  • person avatar

    2 %

    “Viswanathan Anand”

    World Champion between the years 2007...2013

  • person avatar

    1 %

    “Levon Aronian”

    Three-time Olympic champion in the Armenian national team

  • person avatar

    1 %

    “Fabiano Caruana”

    Four-time Italian champion in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011

  • person avatar

    60 %

    “Don’t know from where”

    US 57%, UK 62%

  • person avatar

    15 %

    “Russia”

    7 World Champions in the last 50 years

  • person avatar

    5 %

    “United States”

    10% of Americans think so, only 3% of the UK citizen

  • person avatar

    4 %

    “China”

    Actually, there were no Chinese World Champions ever

  • person avatar

    2 %

    “Armenia”

    An Armenian was a World Champion as a citizen of the USSR

  • person avatar

    2 %

    “United Kingdom”

    The only British was a World Champion in the XIX century

  • person avatar

    2 %

    “Georgia”

    Actually, there were no Georgian World Champions ever

Here’s a formal report for the nerds:

AnswerTotalUSUKMenWomen18...2425...3435...4445...5455+
336613092057163317334055445845061327
Which one, if any, of the following do you think is the current World Chess Champion?
“Garry Kasparov”4%4%4%4%3%4%4%4%3%4%
“Viswanathan Anand”2%2%1%2%1%3%2%2%1%1%
“Fabiano Caruana”1%2%1%2%1%4%2%2%0%0%
“Magnus Carlsen”7%9%7%12%3%14%12%8%5%4%
“Sergey Karjakin”2%2%2%2%2%4%2%2%2%1%
“Vladimir Kramnik”3%3%2%3%3%4%4%4%1%2%
“Levon Aronian”1%2%1%2%1%5%3%2%0%0%
“None of these”3%4%3%3%4%6%6%5%2%1%
“Don’t know”77%72%80%71%82%57%64%72%85%87%
In which one, if any, of the following countries do you think the current World Chess Champion was born?
“Russia”15%13%16%17%13%9%14%16%19%15%
“India”2%1%2%2%2%2%2%2%3%2%
“United States”5%10%3%6%5%8%11%7%2%3%
“China”4%4%4%4%4%9%7%5%3%2%
“Norway”6%7%6%10%3%11%8%8%5%4%
“Armenia”2%2%2%2%1%2%2%2%1%1%
“United Kingdom”2%2%2%2%2%5%3%2%1%1%
“Georgia”2%2%2%2%2%3%2%1%1%2%
“None of these”2%2%1%1%2%2%4%3%0%0%
“Don’t know”60%57%62%54%66%48%47%53%64%71%

The survey was conducted from 13 to 16 June 2022 in the UK and USA by YouGov on behalf of World Chess.