The Israeli Chess Championship is a chess event held every year in Israel.
From 1951 to 1971, the men's and women's championships were held every two years, eventually becoming an annual event. The 1998 Championship was held 8–24 November in Ramat Aviv. The single-elimination tournament, 32 players in the men's section and 16 in the women's, used an unusual time control of 100 minutes for 30 moves + 30 seconds per move. GM Eran Liss won the men's final over GM Victor Mikhalevski. After tying their 2-game match with one victory apiece, they then tied an active chess playoff with one win and two draws each. In a 5-minute blitz playoff, Liss won 2–0. Irina Yudasina won the women's final over Ella Pitem with one win and one draw.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Humpy became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.
Mark Callano Paragua is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He won the Philippine Chess Championship in 2012. He was the youngest Filipino master ever, at nine years of age. He also became the youngest Filipino GM ever at 20, beating Eugenio Torre's record by about two years.
Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster. Grischuk was the Russian champion in 2009. He is also a three-time world blitz chess champion.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. Once a chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE.
The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions, another objective of this tournament is to determine a number of players who qualify for the FIDE World Cup and the knockout Women's World Championship.
China is a major chess power, with the women's team winning silver medals at the Olympiad in 2010, 2012, and 2014; the men's team winning gold at the 2014 Olympiad, and the average rating for the country's top ten players second in the FIDE rankings at the end of 2014.
Wang Hao is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang became the fourth Chinese player to break through the 2700 Elo rating mark.
Wesley Barbossa So is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822, making him the fifth-highest rated player in history.
Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States at the time.
Below is a list of events in chess during the year 2008, and a list of the top ten players during that year:
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi, is a Russian chess grandmaster.
Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He is the highest rated Chinese chess player in history and is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup, as the first player since 2007 to beat Magnus Carlsen in a playoff. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest rated Blitz player in the world.
The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cover a wide range of chess activities, including tournaments suitable for norm and title seekers, junior events, amateur competitions, simultaneous exhibitions, coaching, and lectures.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin is a Russian chess grandmaster, World Junior Chess Champion in 2010 and two-time Russian Chess Champion. He won the Tashkent leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 and finished runners-up in Chess World Cup 2013 and Belgrade leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022.
Oliver Barbosa is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He earned his International Master title in 2008 and his grandmaster title in 2011. Barbosa won the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Tournament in New Delhi, with 9.5/11 and an astounding Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) of 2710. By winning the said tournament, he also raised his ELO Live Rating from 2573 to 2627 as he gained 53.8 ELO rating points to become the Philippines 3rd Super GM. He earned his first GM norm in the Asian Individual in Mashad, Iran and his second norm in the Philippines National Championships. In 2014, he tied for 1st–2nd with Francisco Vallejo Pons in the Thailand Open Chess Championship.
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is an Indian chess grandmaster. He attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. As of August 2022, he is the second highest rated player in India (behind Viswanathan Anand. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating threshold of 2700.
Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest ever 2800-rated player, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months.
John Paul Gomez is a Filipino chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) in 2007 and International Grandmaster (GM) in 2009. He is a three-time Filipino national junior champion and has also won the Filipino Chess Championship.
Enrico Sevillano is a Filipino and American chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in September 2012. He plays for the United States Chess Federation (USCF) where he has a Regular Rating of 2542, Quick Rating of 2488 and Blitz Rating of 2572. He is ranked #112 among all players in the US, #72 among all active players, #235 in the American Continent and #1796 among all players in the world. Per FIDE, he reached a peak rating of 2537 and currently has an ELO standard rating of 2447 and blitz rating of 2515.