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GM Dzindzichashvili was once one of the top players in the world. Born in Georgia, his chess first developed in the USSR. While still an International Master, he defeated opponents like Botvinnik and Bronstein before emigrating, first to Israel where he became a Grandmaster, and then to the United States. His accomplishments in the U.S. include two U.S. Championship first places, and one World Open. He has not played actively in tournaments recently, but has become even more famous perhaps in the U.S. for quality instructional materials, in particular chess videos!
Video Lessons by GM Dzindzichashvili
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Considered one of "the" premier chess trainers in America for more than ten years, Chess.com is very proud to add Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov to its list of prestigious Video Authors. Arguably one of the strongest GMs never to have won the US Championship, GM Kaidanov's list of accomplishments does however include first place finishes in many other major events, including first place at both the World Open and US Open in 1992. A certified FIDE Senior Trainer, his reputation as a chess coach precedes him internationally. Gregory currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky with his wife Valeria and their three children.
Video Lessons by GM Kaidanov
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Grandmaster Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player of all time. Ranked #1 in the world for just shy of 25 years, Judit's contributions to chess both on and off the chess board are many. Besides being one of the best chess players in history, she serves as an ambassador for the game through the Judit Polgar Chess Foundation for Education Benefits, is the recipient of the prestigious Hungarian "Order of Merit" award, and is an author of multiple chess books. Judit's program, "Chess Palace" has been adopted as a part of the National Curriculum for Hungarian Schools, and she is also the author of the series, Judit Polgar Teaches Chess.
Video Lessons by GM Polgar
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Melik began playing chess at the age of 8, won the Baku Junior Championship two years later and became a Soviet Candidate Master two years after that. He began coaching early in his career and has brought up three Junior World Champions (among them Levon Aronian). In 2001, he immigrated to the US, where he qualified to play in the U.S. Championship several times. He earned his Grandmaster title in 2006.
Video Lessons by GM Khachiyan
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A "true" chess professional, Grandmaster Alex Lenderman learned to play the game at the age of ten, was an expert at twelve, National Master at thirteen, International Master at sixteen and a Grandmaster at nineteen years old. A gold medalist, scoring an incredible 9-of-11 score, at the World Youth Championship Under-16 in 2005. A US Chess League MVP in 2008, Alex is also the winner of multiple prestigious events in the "American Chess Scene", including: the Philadelphia International; US Open; Marshall Club Championship, Eastern Open and the National Chess Congress. Alex's peak FIDE rating was 2601 and he currently trains hard with his coach, GM Giorgi Kacheishvili.
Video Lessons by GM Lenderman
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In 2004 Timur became the youngest-ever chess grandmaster from Asia at age 16( originally from Uzbekistan). Timur was a part of the University of Texas at Brownsville's Chess Team from August 2005 to August 2006 where he helped the University obtain its first National Collegiate Chess Championship. He is the winner of many International chess events. Timur is a regular feature of Chess.com/TV - where he trains using our Blindfold Chess Pieces, with hopes of eventually breaking the world record for most "Blindfold Chess" games played simultaneously.
Video Lessons by GM Gareev
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Sam learned chess at age 11 from the Berkeley Chess School program. Within four years, he had become a National Master, and two years later, he became an International Master when he tied for first in the world u-18 championship, a result unmatched in the last decade of international play by American players. At 20, he has already played in several U.S. Championships, placing 3rd in 2011.
Video Lessons by GM Shankland
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A true "Chess Professional", Grandmaster Ben Finegold has been competing on the highest levels of chess for nearly 25 years. As a player Ben has won numerous major open events, including the 1994 and 2007 U.S. Opens, the 2002 World Open, and the 2005 and 2008 National Open Championships in Las Vegas. He has competed in 8 U.S. Closed Championships and was the first "GM in Residence" at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. His laid back, humorous teaching style is his trademark and he is excited to join the Chess.com Video Author Team!
Video Lessons by GM Finegold
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Dejan Bojkov is a Grandmaster, originally from Bulgaria. As a youngster, Dejan was the winner of numerous Youth Championships -- including Boys Under 14 and Boys Under 18 Bulgarian Champion. This translated to success on the international stage, with his most recent victory coming at the Sydney International Open in Australia (2010). As a trainer his work has known little failure, and some of his students include Antoaneta Stefanova-former World Womens Champion.
Video Lessons by GM Bojkov
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GM Perelshteyn learned chess from his father, a professional chess coach. His record of accomplishments is long; some of his honors include: 2000 US Junior Champion, represented the U.S. in 5 World Jr. Championships, led UMBC to 5 national college titles, and first place in 2003 Generation Chess Invitational, 2006 Foxwoods Open, and 2007 Spice Cup. As a chess teacher, he is the author of two bestsellers: Chess Openings for Black, Explained and Chess Openings for White, Explained (with GMs Dzindzihashvili and Alburt).
Video Lessons by GM Perelshteyn
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Josh grew up in New Hampshire under the tutelage of NM Hal Terrie. He never improved very fast, but he never stopped either. At this date, Josh has passed 2500 fide and earned the GM title. In 2008, Josh had several strong results in top US events: shared fourth in the US Champs (last GM norm), shared fourth in the Chicago Open, shared first in the National Open, and second in the Continental Championship.
Video Lessons by GM Friedel
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He started to play chess at the early age of 4! He was coached by his brother, IM Alex Mikhalevski. While in school, he won innumerable championships of Belarus for his age group, and played not less than five Soviet Junior championships with world famous players Kramnik, Svidler, Shirov and many others taking part. In the beginning of 1991 Victor immigrated to Israel, where he won two Israel Junior Chess Championships in 1991 and 1992. Skipping ahead of many great accomplishments to January 2008, Victor achieved his peak rating of 2632 and was placed 92nd in the world and fourth in Israel. In 1989 Victor started coaching and his students won medals in the World and European Youth chess championships. Mikhalevski was awarded the IM title in 1993 and the GM title in 1996. In 2013 Victor published his first book Grandmaster Repertoire 13- The Open Spanish.
Video Lessons by GM Mikhalevski
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At age 14, Daniel earned the status of U.S.C.F. National Master, an achievement that was a record for Arizona chess players at the time. Daniel was ranked in the Top 10 for his age in the United States every year from the age of 12 - 21years old, and at one point he was the highest rated 19-year old in the country. He earned the IM title at age 23. As a Chess Coach/Trainer, Danny has developed multiple State and National Champions. Recently, he has cut back his teaching duties significantly to focus on the growth of Chess.com and ChessKid.com, and to strive towards the GM title.
Video Lessons by IM Rensch
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International Master Jacek Stopa, originally from Poland, started playing chess at the age of 8 after randomly buying a chess set on a winter vacation. His father taught him how to play and he soon became addicted. Jacek earned his International Master title at age 18 and was the European Team Chess Champion in Solving Chess Problems in 2008. He has developed into a very effective chess instructor over the last six years, helping many young chess players reach their maximum potential.
Video Lessons by IM Stopa
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International Master Mackenzie Molner is one of the rising young stars in America. He has been ranked amongst the top juniors in the United States for more than ten years. Originally, from New Jersey, "Mac" recently graduated from NYU with a Bachelor's Degree in Romance Languages, with a specialty in Spanish (he also speaks German, French and Russian). Mac considers himself a Professional Chess Player/Coach.
Video Lessons by IM Molner
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At the age of twelve, David was lucky to be brought by his mother to a session of the Berkeley Chess School's Friday night kid's chess club, where he met NM Robert Haines, who showed him what chess was. Eighteen years later, he is still in love with the game. He has shared first in a few major tournaments, eg: American Open, North American Open, and Open Rohde (France), and played in several US Championships.
Video Lessons by IM Pruess
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Mark learned chess at age 6 but only at age 13 was he informed that tournaments existed! He received the International Master title at age 22 and had a peak USCF rating of 2578 in 1993. Mark has twice been the Manhattan Chess Club Champion, and has also played quite a bit overseas in Belgium, Holland, England, and Switzerland. Mark has a PhD in Information Systems from NYU. Mark currently resides in Tucson, AZ and has been Co-State Champion of Arizona twice. Chess is a difficult proposition to teach because it combines logic and imagination, but Mark believes that if logic is applied then imaginative ideas work better. This belief comes through in his teaching style and practices...
Video Lessons by IM Ginsburg
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Thomas learned chess at the age of 5 and was immediately hooked. In 1999 he won the United Kingdom Schools Chess Challenge ahead of 35,000 other competitors and remins the youngest ever winner of the event. Thomas became an International Master in 2006 and got a GM norm at the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters where he finished 5th (along with Michael Adams and Ivan Sokolov). Thomas is now a regular chess coach with England at the World and European Youth Championships.
Video Lessons by IM Rendle
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Women's Grandmaster Camilla Baginskaite learned to play chess from her father ate the age of eight in her home town of Vilnius, Lithuania. She earned the title of Women's Master at the age of 15, and went onto win the Girls Under 20 World Championship. She has competed in a total of seven chess Olympiads between Lithuania and the United States. She is a former U.S. Women's Champion, and continues to play at the highest levels of chess in the U.S. for women, while maintaining her family life and teaching chess.
Video Lessons by WGM Baginskaite
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International Master Keaton Kiewra is a native of Lincoln, Nebraska - USA where he set multiple state records, including nine consecutive state championships. A professional chess instructor now, Keaton is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas, and he has trained with many of the best chess players in the United States. He offers chess lessons that you can find more about on his home profile page.
Video Lessons by IM Kiewra
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Valeri feels fortunate to have learned to play chess from his father when he was only three, immediately becoming seriously engaged. By the age of seven he was able to play blindfold chess in several games at the same time. At the age of eight, he achieved a record-breaking ELO of 1985, and subsequently became the European Individual School Chess Champion U10 in Moscow, Russia. He has won over 30 medals in national and international competitions, and in 2008 achieved his highest rating of 2443 and the title of FIDE master, as well as two IM norms.
Video Lessons by FM Lilov
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April 25 is actually "Elliott Liu Day" in San Diego County! The young FIDE Master from San Diego earned that special distinction by winning the 2005 U.S. Cadet Championship, 2006 Pan-American Games U18, 2 IM norms, and playing in one U.S. Championship and three World Youth Championships. The 19-year old is just completing his freshman year at Stanford University.
Video Lessons by FM Liu
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Charles picked up chess in middle school after his mother bought him what was then Chessmaster 7000. The one and only chess club in town was in an establishment previously owned by his father so needless to say he felt right at home. Locally, he excelled at the scholastic level going on to become Florida's K-12 Champion and Denker representative. He currently attends College where he plays Board two for one of our coutry's top chess teams.
Video Lessons by FM Galofre
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Todd's tournament experience began with a bang, winning the u1200 section of his first tournament. In one year of feverish study and play he gained an unprecedented 1000 rating points. Since establishing himself as a strong master, he has turned to teaching, and found it extremely rewarding as well. He has also been quite successful: his students have won national championships.
Video Lessons by FM Andrews