These smartest people were picked based on their IQ (Intelligence quotient) test. IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. The purpose of the test is measure the mental ability and horse power of the brain for any person. I have noticed that many of these people are Chess players and champions. I don’t know if there is any link between intelligence and chess, but this is my observations. Many of my resources confirmed the name and the IQ score for each of the people on the list. There were couple of other names with high IQ score but I couldn’t really confirm that 100%. Note: All these people are still alive as of 2010. IQ scores reflect general capacity for performing intellectual tasks, such as solving verbal and mathematical problems.

The average IQ score is 100.  The standard deviation of IQ scores is 15.  So, this means:

Genius IQ is generally considered to begin around 140 to 145, representing ~.25% of the population (1 in 400). Here’s a rough guide:

So, here is what I came up with. Please comment of you have any suggestions.

Yong is a Korean child prodigy.  He showed his intelligent ability since he was little. He started speaking at 6 months, he was able to read Japanese, Korean, German, English and many other language by his third birthday. At age 3, he was able to solve complicated calculus equations easily with no problems. He got his Ph.D. in physics at Colorado State University when he was 16 years old. Kim has the highest score in the planet, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ”; the book estimated the boy’s score at over 210.

“The Smartest Man In America“, thats what the media called him when he scored 195 on the IQ test. Langan was born in San Francisco and spent most of his early life in Montana. He began talking at six months, taught himself to read before he was four, and was repeatedly skipped ahead in school. During high school he started teaching him self, advanced physics, math, philosophy, Greek and Latin. Then he went to college but dropped out because he thought he could teach the professor more than they could teach him. for over 20 years he worked several jobs, he worked as construction worker, cowboy, forest service firefighter, and farmhand. In 2004, Langan moved with his wife Gina (née LoSasso), a clinical neuropsychologist, to northern Missouri, where he owns and operates a horse ranch. On January 25, 2008, Langan was a contestant on NBC’s 1 vs. 100, where he won $250,000.

Emeagwali was born in Akure, Nigeria on 23 August 1954. He dropped out of school in 1967 because of the Nigerian-Biafran war. He became an engineer and computer scientist/geologist who was one of two winners of the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, a prize from the IEEE, for his use of a Connection Machine supercomputer to help analyze petroleum fields. in 1991, He was studying for his PhD degree, but his thesis was rejected by committee of internal and external examiners and thus he was not awarded the degree.

Garry Kasparov is the World Chess Champion. He was born on April 13 1963 in Russia. Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. He continued to hold the “Classical” World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Kasparov announced on March 10, 2005, that he would retire from serious competitive chess. He cited as the reason a lack of personal goals in the chess world. Garry wasn’t only an excellent chess player, he wrote several books related to chess.

Born in St.Louis Missouri on August 11, 1946, she is an American magazine columnist, author, lecturer, and playwright who rose to fame through her listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ”. Since 1986 she has written Ask Marilyn, a Sunday column in Parade magazine in which she solves puzzles and answers questions from readers on a variety of subjects. Vos Savant studied philosophy at the Washington University in St. Louis despite her parents’ desire for a more useful subject. After two years, she dropped out to help with a family investment business, seeking financial freedom to pursue a career in writing. You can visit her official website here.