Chess has been dominated by players from the Soviet Union and Russia from the 1950s to the present. The Soviet dominance of chess is considered to have begun when Mikhail Botvinnik won the World Championship in 1948. From 1948 till the dissolution of the Soviet Union all World Champions were Soviet players with the notable exception of the American Bobby Fischer who won the World Championship in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in the famous match in Reykjavik which was publicized as a cold war confrontation. The Soviet dominance of the world championship is reflected in the number of Soviet and Russian grandmasters. Other regions of eastern Europe such as Yugoslavia have also had a lot of grandmasters for their size. Svetozar Gligorić is considered to be the greatest Yugoslavian chess player ever. 

As show on the 1950s chart, the early chess grandmasters were overwhelmingly from eastern Europe, especially the Soviet Union. This changed somewhat in the 1960s when western chess players became prominent. It's worth noting that several of the American grandmasters on the 1960s chart were eastern Europeans who later joined the American chess federation after emigrating. The 1980s can be said to mark a peak in western chess where 3 of the top 4 countries were western countries. Despite this, all World Championships in the 80s were won by 2 Soviet players, Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov.

Russia and the former Soviet Union in general has remained dominant part of the world to the present day, re-asserting their dominance in the 1990s as American chess has declined. In the 2010s, India has become 2nd to Russia with the former Soviet country, Ukraine, in 3rd place.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway is currently the undisputed world's best player, winning the last 4 world championships. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, achieving the highest ever peak FIDE rating of 2882.