| Anton Kovalyov | |
|---|---|
 Kovalyov at the Figueira da Foz tournament in 2009 | |
| Country | Argentina (until 2013) Canada (since 2013) |
| Born | 4 March 1992 Kharkiv, Ukraine |
| Title | Grandmaster (2008) |
| FIDE rating | 2631 (September 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2664 (November 2017) |
| Peak ranking | No. 80 (November 2017) |
Anton Kovalyov (born 4 March 1992) is a Ukrainian-born Canadian (formerly representing Argentina) chess grandmaster. [1] He has been a team member for Argentina and subsequently Canada at Chess Olympiads.
Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, [2] Kovalyov moved to Argentina in 2000, where he learned to play chess under the tutelage of Pablo Ricardi and Oscar Panno. [3]
In 2004, he finished equal first at the Pan American Under-12 Championship and was awarded the title of FIDE Master. [4]
In 2007 he moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with his family. [5]
In 2008 Kovalyov played for the Argentine team at the 38th Chess Olympiad. [6] He received the grandmaster title at the FIDE Congress held during the competition. [7]
In 2009 he won the Quebec Invitational Championship [8] as well as the Quebec Junior Championship for three consecutive years from 2010-12. [9]
In 2014, Kovalyov, who had switched to the Chess Federation of Canada in 2013, [10] played for Canada on the top board at the 41st Chess Olympiad. [11] He scored 7/11 (+4–1=6) for a performance rating of 2670. [12]
At the 2015 American Continental Chess Championship he scored 8/11 finishing in a tie for third with other five players, with whom he played a rapid playoff to earn a spot in the Chess World Cup 2015. [13] In the latter he knocked out Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Sandro Mareco in rounds one and two, respectively, but was eliminated by Fabiano Caruana in the third round.
In May 2016, he tied for second at the American Continental Chess Championship, qualifying for a place in the Chess World Cup 2017.
In September 2016, he competed for Canada on board 2 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad. He scored 8/10 (+6–0=4) for a performance rating of 2852. [14] His silver-medal winning performance on board 2 was second only to that of the former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, of Russia. [15]
At the Chess World Cup 2017, Kovalyov defeated Varuzhan Akobian and former world champion Viswanathan Anand in the first and second rounds, and was due to face Maxim Rodshtein in the third. [16] Shortly before the game with Rodshtein was due to start, tournament director Zurab Azmaiparashvili confronted Kovalyov regarding his dress. Heated words were exchanged and Kovalyov exited the venue, forfeiting the game and match. [17] Kovalyov said part of his anger came from Azmaiparashvili shouting that he was dressed like a 'gypsy,' a word that struck him as a racial slur. The Canadian Chess Federation filed a complaint about the incident, which received international coverage. [18] [19] [20]
Kovalyov graduated with a master's degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2019. As of 2024, he is pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering at the Statistical Signal Processing Research Laboratory at the University. [21]
Zurab Azmaiparashvili is a chess grandmaster from Georgia. His peak Elo rating was 2702, achieved in July 2003. He is currently, as of 2024, the president of the European Chess Union.
Arkadij Naiditsch is Latvian-German chess grandmaster who currently represents Bulgaria after previously representing Latvia, Germany (1998–2015) and Azerbaijan (2015-2024).
Anton Sergiyovych Korobov is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2003. Korobov is a four-time Ukrainian champion. He was voted the best male chess player of Ukraine of 2012.
Ni Hua is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's 15th Grandmaster at the age of 19. In April 2008, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzhi both became the second and third Chinese players to pass the 2700 Elo rating mark, after Wang Yue.
Maxim Rodshtein is an Israeli chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2017.
Manuel León Hoyos is a Mexican chess Grandmaster. He is the first Mexican chess player to break 2600 Elo in the official FIDE rating list with 2603 in October 2012.
The European Chess Union (ECU) is an independent association for the interests of European chess. The European Chess Union was founded on August 30, 1985, with the organization's founding meeting taking place in Graz, Austria.
Yu Yangyi is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He qualified for the Grandmaster title at 14 years, 11 months and 23 days old in 2009. He is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and the 2014 Asian Chess Champion.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev is a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia. He competed in the Chess World Cup in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023.
Bator Sambuev is a Russian-Canadian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster. He is a four-time winner of the Canadian chess championship and has represented Canada twice at Chess Olympiads.
Diego Flores is an Argentine chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 2008. He is a five-time Argentine Chess Champion.
Mauricio Flores Rios is a Chilean chess player who holds the Grandmaster title. As of January 2015 he has a FIDE rating of 2531, is number 1 in Chile among active players.
Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suárez is a Cuban chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Cuban Chess Champion.
Musunuri Rohit Lalit Babu is an Indian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2012. He is the 4th GrandMaster from Andhra Pradesh, part of the team that won India's first bronze medal in the 41st Chess Olympiad, Commonwealth gold medalist, Asian silver medalist, won the Indian Chess Championship in 2017, and Limca Book record holder. He has won 20 individual gold, 15 individual silver and 14 individual bronze medals in National as well as international tournaments.
Kacper Piorun is a Polish chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in September 2012. He is a six-time winner of the World Chess Solving Championship, and two-time winner of the Polish Chess Championship.
Cristóbal Guillermo Henríquez Villagra is a Chilean chess player. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 2017, at the age of 20.
Sandro Fabio Mareco is an Argentine chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Mareco competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. He has played for the Argentine national team in the Chess Olympiad since 2012.
The Chess World Cup 2017 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 2 to 27 September 2017. It was won by Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian. This was the second time he had won the Chess World Cup, 12 years after his first win in 2005. It was the 7th edition of the Chess World Cup.
Jovana Rapport is a Serbian chess player currently playing for Hungary. She holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM), which FIDE awarded her in 2009. She is a two-time Montenegrin women's champion and also a Serbian women's champion (2014).
Nikola Sedlak is a Serbian chess player who holds the titles of Grandmaster (GM) (2003), Serbian Chess Championship winner (2010), Chess Olympiad individual gold medal winner (2014), and EU Individual Open Chess Championship winner (2007).
