Both grandmaster and PhD/doctorate

Question

Who have PhDs/doctorates that are also grandmasters?

Conditions:

1. standard GM only eg no WGM (see there for WGM version), no International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster

2. no honourary PhDs/doctorates

3. maybe kind of a cheat but I'll allow JD/MD (and LLB to the extent that LLB=JD) i.e. doesn't have to be Doctor of Juridical Science/Doctor of Medical Sciences. Also the other stuff here eg doctor of education or doctor of engineering, just no honourary.

4. Regarding Emanuel Lasker, I guess I'll allow like either world champion even if not a GM. As for the kinds of world champions allowed...ah fine just all of them: world standard, world rapid, world blitz, world fischer random (wesley so doesn't have a PhD. NEXT), world team chess, World Championship of Chess Composition, World Chess Solving Championship, and women's version of the preceding.

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Re CW vs new answer: I personally don't care. But sites have rules/guidelines/discouragements so whatever. See the ff 2 comments re this

@BCLC A separate answer for each doctor/grandmaster? How many answers will that be, a hundred? Is that how these sites are supposed to work? I think they should all be in one ("community wiki") answer, and I suggested adding it to yours because it's the most extensive list that's been posted. – bof

and

@bof ok fine now it's community wiki but i don't care personally you can post answers but if it's better for the site then fine edit cw post or post your own answer or whatever – BCLC

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Adding here in case comment gets deleted AGAIN (also seriously a downvote on the question after all the time I spent adding from the article of SecretAgentMan? WOW):

• Related article from ChessManiac.com (2014): The Education of Grandmasters – SecretAgentMan

• @SecretAgentMan 1st thought - yeah i think i saw that at the time i made this Q&A 2nd thought (after reading more) - hell i sure i missed a lot if i've seen that post before. ok maybe i haven't. thanks! 3rd thought - ah wait...i think it's not that i missed a lot but that some that i read i couldn't find a source eg karpov, Miroslav Filip, etc. anyway adding now thanks!

Answer 1

Here is a list of what I have so far.

Miscellaneous

1. Hou Yifan (UNSURE): same with the Robert Byrne thing as to what 'professor' means (I mean come on, PhD, really? I don't think so).
2. Victor (Viorel) Bologan: PhD thesis was about chess!
3. Benjamin Blumenfeld (as in Blumenfeld Countergambit): 1 of those pre-GM title people, PhD thesis was about chess!
4. Robert Hübner: phd in classical philology
5. Jesse Kraai has a Ph.D. in Philosophy. – patbarron
6. Lars Bo Hansen: PhD in Sports Management
7. Bolat Asanov: PhD in history
8. Jonathan Rowson: PhD in philosophy

Maths

1. Karsten Müller: phd in (pure/theoretical, I guess) maths
2. Max Euwe: phd in (pure/theoretical, I guess) maths
3. John Nunn: phd in (pure/theoretical, I guess) maths
4. Thomas Ernst: phd in (looks like both pure and applied) maths
5. Emanuel Lasker: phd in (pure/theoretical, I guess) maths
6. Jan Michael Sprenger: math and philosophy
7. Noam Elkies: world chess solving champion, PhD at the age of 20
8. Gedeon Barcza: 8-time chess champion of Hungary, maths
9. Jon Speelman: a twitch streamer too!

Law (either JD/LLB or Doctor of Juridical Science)

1. Paul Morphy: if the LLB equals a JD
2. Michael Rohde: I guess just JD/LLB
3. Alexander Alekhine (UNSURE): JD/LLB, but most sources seem to be unsure
4. Florian Handke: practicing judge
5. Xu Yuhua: if the LLB equals a JD
6. Stanislav Bogdanovich (RIP): I guess just JD/LLB
7. Ding Liren is a graduate of Peking University Law School. I guess just JD/LLB.
8. Not sure if Meliton Borja, 2-time Philippine chess champion (1953,1957) counts. I guess just JD/LLB.
9. Rosendo Balinas Jr., 'considered the strongest Asian player during the 1960s and 1970s, before the emergence of compatriot Eugenio Torre'. I guess just JD/LLB.
10. Ossip Bernstein: actual JSD and not merely JD/LLB: 'He earned a doctorate in law at Heidelberg University in 1906, and became a financial lawyer.'
11. Petar Trifunović (as in Trifunovic Variation): actual JSD and not merely JD/LLB: 'The young Trifunovic was also an excellent scholar, obtaining a law degree in 1933, followed by a doctorate.'
12. Savielly Tartakower (as in Tartakoverisms and Tartakower–Makogonov–Bondarevsky System): 'He graduated from the law faculties of universities in Geneva and Vienna'

Medicine (either MD or Doctor of Medical Sciences)

1. Bassem Amin: I guess just MD
2. Alex Scherzer (not sure if same person): I guess just MD
3. Yona Kosashvili, husband of Sofia Polgar: I guess just MD
4. Helmut Pfleger: I guess just MD
5. Siegbert Tarrasch: I guess just MD

Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Biology, Computer Science

1. Daniel Stellwagen: PhD in inorganic chemistry (heterogeneous catalysts)
2. Jonathan Mestel: obtained his PhD with the thesis "Magnetic Levitation of Liquid Metals" at University of Cambridge. He teaches Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London.
3. Bart Michiels: PhD in engineering physics - from Maxwell86 (btw i guess not Bart Michels)
4. Milan Vidmar looks a good call as well - "He was a professor at the University of Ljubljana, a member of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the founder of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Between 1928 and 1929 he was the 10th Chancellor of the University of Ljubljana. In 1948 he established the Institute of Electrotechnics that now bears his name" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Vidmar – Ian Bush
5. Mikhail Botvinnik: could be PhD in electrical engineering or doctor of engineering
6. Tal Shaked - PhD student in computer science

Economics, Finance, Psychology

1. David Smerdon: earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute under Theo Offerman for a thesis: “Everybody’s doing it: Essays on trust, social norms and integration.”
2. Anatoly Karpov (UNSURE): I'm trying to find credible sources that say Karpov got a non-honourary PhD in economics. Some sources say it's honourary.
3. Eliot Hearst: Ph.D. in experimental psychology
4. Reuben Fine: doctorate in psychology (not sure if a PhD or a PsyD).
5. Jonathan Penrose, brother of 2020 Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose: doctorate in psychology.
6. Andrii / Andriy / Andrey Baryshpolets who ran in the 2022 FIDE elections and then lost to re-elected Arkady Dvorkovich

Answer 2

GM Pepe Cuenca likes to act a little bit like a fool, but he has got a PhD in applied maths.

https://youtu.be/jfNR16G34l0

Answer 3

One more: Jonathan Mestel has a PhD in applied mathematics (full details in first paragraph of the article) and works as a university professor.

Answer 4

GM Ken Rogoff has a PhD in economics.

Answer 5

Both Mauricio Rios Flores and Parimarjan Negi are PhD students+ GM, they will get their PhD soon.

Answer 6

Wong Meng Kong, originally from my country (Singapore) is a GM who's also a medical doctor.

I don't know him personally but I know another guy who's a good friend and medical colleague but "only" an IM (mainly because he's simply not motivated to progress further). But you only asked about GMs.

Answer 7

Carl Jaenisch,

He dedicated his life to mathematics and chess, two subjects which he considered closely related. He tried to show their connections in his work Découvertes sur le cavalier (aux échecs),[4] published in Petersburg in 1837.

He was one of one of the strongest players in 1840, and he had published and cited work in Mathematics.

Answer 8

Some addenda, collected from Lauterbach "Faszinierendes unsterbliches Spiel". Please counter-check with Wikipedia first.

Math: Anderssen taught it, Kieseritzky had it as a job. Spielmann, Nimzowitsch, Reti, Keres and Eliskases absolved a studium.

Electro-enginneering: Steinitz, Maroczy and Bogoljubow began a studium. (Vidmar and Botwinnik confirmed by source)

Psychology: Add German GM Pfleger.

Medicine: Zukertort

Jura: Bernstein, Unzicker, Lothar Schmid, Max Lange

I left out names from "lower echelon" (e.g. Rödl, jurist and "only" IM)