Nona Gaprindashvili is a Soviet Georgian chess Grandmaster. She was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978, and in 1978 she was the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. Noted for her aggressive play style, Gaprindashvili has been recognized with entry into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015.
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish–Argentine chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a leading world player in the 1940s and 1950s, and is also known for the Najdorf Variation, one of the most popular chess openings.
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent world champion.
Lubomir (Lubosh) Kavalek was a Czech-American chess player. He was awarded both the International Master and International Grandmaster titles by FIDE in 1965. He won two Czechoslovak and three U.S. championships, and was ranked as the world's No. 10 player in 1974. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2001. Kavalek was also a chess coach, organizer, teacher, commentator, author and award-winning columnist.
The Poland national men's ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Poland, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. They are ranked 21st in the world in the IIHF World Rankings, but prior to the 1980s they were ranked as high as 6th internationally. They are one of eight countries never to have played below the Division I level. As of 2024 the Polish national team plays at the top level of the World Championship.
Menachem Oren was a Polish-born Israeli chess player and mathematician.
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 third in the FIDE rankings as of April 2023.
Henryka (Henrijeta) Konarkowska-Sokolov is a Polish–Serbian chess master.
Alexey Pavlovich Sokolsky was a Russian chess player of International Master strength in over-the-board chess, a noted correspondence chess player, and an opening theoretician.
Kazimierz Plater (Broel-Plater) was a Polish chess master.
Clarice Benini was an Italian chess player. She was awarded the title International Woman Master by FIDE in 1950.
Mato Damjanović was a Croatian chess grandmaster who represented Yugoslavia in international team events. In 1964 he became the second Croatian grandmaster, after Mijo Udovčić.
Aleksander Sznapik is a Polish chess International Master.
Chess is one of the most popular sports in Azerbaijan, where it is governed by the Azerbaijan Chess Federation (ACF). On May 5, 2009 Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, who is also the chairman of the National Olympic Committee, signed an executive order initiating a state-supported chess development program, covering the years 2009–2014.
Anna Jurczyńska, was a Polish chess player who five times won the Polish Women's Chess Championship. FIDE Woman International Master (1981).
Grażyna Szmacińska is a Polish chess player who six times won the Polish Women's Chess Championship. She received the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM) in 1978.
Borislava Borisova, also Borislava Borisova-Ornstein, is a Bulgarian and Swedish chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman International Master (1974). She is a winner of the Bulgarian Women's Chess Championship (1976).
Andrzej Filipowicz is a Polish chess player. He received the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) in 1975, International Arbiter in 1984, and FIDE Honorary Member in 2006.
Jolanta Dahlin, was a Polish and Swedish chess player, who hold the FIDE title of Woman FIDE Master (1987). She was a winner of the Swedish Women's Chess Championship (1973).
Jacek Bielczyk is a Polish chess International Master (1979).
