Veselin Topalov
Chess Player
Bulgarian chess master who is one of the most highly regarded and highly ranked players in the world, holding the number one position for a total of 27 months.
He learned to play chess when he was eight and was considered a chess prodigy by age 12.
He won the 2005 World Chess Championship and the 2010 Linares chess tournament.
His father was his first chess teacher.
Only Garry Kasparov and a handful of others were ranked number one longer than him.