The world is enjoying a boom in chess playing following 'The Queen's Gambit' TV series' sweeping success. We've boiled down a list of Soviet chess legends who proved that chess is mental "body-building on steroids".

1. Garry Kasparov (b. 1963)

Kasparov is known as one of the greatest chess players of all time. He was born in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan to a Jewish father and an Armenian mother.