February Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Ah, February! A month for romance and Valentine's Day...and birthdays. You must know someone born in this month, a curious month that every four years adds an extra day just to confuse us all. I say, on those rare occasions, just take that day off and focus on your first love, chess!!
Anyway, chess must be the first love of someone you know. After all, it was clearly an early love for all the chess lovers whose professional lives we are about to peer into. Inside you will find chess power couples such as Nellie Love and Jackson Whipps Showalter (the Kentucky Lion). Oh, wait, you never heard of them? Or maybe only him? Well, that's part of the exploration! Besides, her middle name was so perfect for a month of valentine surprises. His middle name is more reminiscent of 50 Shades of Something.
Then there are the chess professionals who have mated each other! You can start with @turtlepro's post The Lovebirds of Chess (updated Feb 2024) or @Pete's post 14 Famous Chess Couples (circa 2016). If you'd like to read about an untitled (like the majority of us) chess couple who leveraged chess.com as their unexpected dating service, I recommend @MomOnaBreak's Cupid's Move: A Chess.com Click That Sparked an Extraordinary Love Story. On the other hand, if you want a more leisurely read about various chess couples, from the highest-rated couple to couples-only tournaments to chess personalities, I'll point you toward @NathanielGreen's Chess Romances (updated February 2022). If you'd like to take a historic look (circa 2009) at the chess couples with a combined rating of 5000+ I'll point you towards @Vlad_Akselrod's Strongest chess couples: 5000+ club (note that he credits Natalia Pogonina's website as the primary source for his post.) That last is certainly due for an update! (More on that in October 2025!!)
But forget about all that. Here are the abiding questions:
What do the biographies of the chess personalities born on a given day say about the chess potential of those born that same day in February?
What might Wikipedia and other sources be saying about you and chess in the future? Will someone credit you for starting them on the path to World CC?
Like any good zodiac, it often admits to multiple interpretations. What? Did you expect more than pseudo-science? And for now, you'll have to draw your own inferences from the information provided. The lucre, and stunning lack thereof, received to date from these blogs hardly pays for me to walk over to the faucet and fill up my glass of water. Let alone to provide my keen insights into how people are influenced by those with whom they share a random day of birth.
Below you'll find images of photos, stamps, YouTube videos, paintings, book covers, or sketches of various chess luminaries, along with bios that range from short and pithy to chess-boy extremes, and a smattering of quotes culled from various sources. In some cases, you'll also find links to websites players maintain and their handle on various social media, including your fave, chess.com.
Scroll through the entire list or just click on a specific day, World CC, particularly famous player, or chess couple. And after looking at the bio of the birthday personality or personalities on a given day you should find a link that returns you here so you can select another day of the month. If you want. Enjoy!
Links to February Birth Dates:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
February Chess Couples
Showalter, Gulko, Efimenko, Skripchenko, Rapport, Cornette
February Classical World CCs (not blitz, rapid, Fischer Random, etc.)
Menchik, Yifan
Other February GM Notables
Gligoric, Taimanov, Bronstein, Tartakower
Looking for birthdays in other months?
October Babies: Chess Zodiac
April Babies: A Chess Zodiac - Chess.com
Sources for this information included chess.com, wikipedia.com, ChessBase, FIDE, individuals' websites, YouTube.com, news articles, books, and other sources including A-Z Quotes | Quotes for All Occasions. Plus, my faulty memories. I mixed, matched, cut, and pasted so much that separation is implausible. Particularly with quotes which are found in a thousand repositories, not to mention book covers, t-shirts, and the rantings of chess coaches of whom I've had more than a few thanks to Chess University and @AttilaTurzo (my primary instructor).
Jennifer Yu (February 1, 2002) is an American WGM and FM. She has achieved the necessary three IM norms but lacks the requisite rating, with a peak rating of 2379 in February 2018. Her rating has dipped to 2283 as of November 2024. A two-time U.S. Women’s CC, Jennifer won the Girls U12 World CC in 2014 and was a member of the U.S. team at the 2017 Women’s World Team CC and the 2018 Olympiad, earning an individual bronze on board five of the latter event. To date, one of her most impressive performances was winning the 2019 U.S. Women’s CC with a score of 9W-2D-0L and a performance rating of 2678.
Jennifer streams on Twitch. She is listed on chess.com as @ahappypawn but I found no games after August 2023. Jennifer is currently matriculating at Harvard as a member of the class of 2025, working on a BA in Economics.
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Galkin (Russian: Александр Александрович Галкин; born 1 February 1979) is a Russian GM. The World Junior U20 CC in 1999, his peak rating was 2626 in August 2012, but he technically remains a member of the 2600 club with a 2611 ELO since August 2014. He did play some FIDE-rated rapid and blitz games since then but has been inactive on the FIDE circuit since October 2022. His top world ranking was almost 19 years ago when he reached #96 in the world in April 2006.
Galkin is the author of three chess books, 101 Endgame Crimes and Punishments, 111 Middlegame Crimes and Punishments, and 101 Endgame Masterclasses: Rooks and Material Imbalances. So, the mathematician in me asks, are those binary numbers or decimal?
His chess.com profile @gm_aag indicates no games after May 2021.
Svetozar Gligorić (Gligo was the shortened version I heard him referred to when growing up) (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav GM and musician. FIDE lists his peak rating as 2600 in July 1971, good enough for #15 worldwide. A more accurate measure of his skill is offered by the ChessMetrics rating of 2743 in November 1958, placing him at #6 in the world.
An eleven-time Yugoslav CC, the record number of titles, he regularly participated in Candidates Tournaments. A participant in fifteen Olympiads, he won a first board gold medal at the 1958 Olympiad to add to a team gold medal earned in 1950. He finished with the most team medals in the history of chess, a gold, six silvers, and five bronzes.
A regular columnist for Chess Review and Chess Life, he also penned several well-received books. Probably his most-read book was Fischer vs. Spassky: The Chess Match of the Century. Gligorić is perhaps best remembered as an opening theorist, with well-known contributions to the KID, Ruy Lopez, and Nimzo-Indian.
In his 80s Gligo released an album in Belgrade. Perhaps surprising to many, this excellent musician’s compositions on that album included jazz, rap, and the blues.
FIDE established the Fair Play Svetozar Gligorić Trophy in 2019 that annually recognizes one player for sportsmanship, integrity, and the promotion of ethical behavior. You can learn more about Gligo at Greatest Chess Minds: Gligoric - Part 1, produced by chess.com's GM Dejan Bojkov.
Below is one of Gligo's most famous games, a KID victory against one of the sultans of defense, Tigran Petrosian.
Eugene Perelshteyn, 2 February 1980, is a Ukrainian-born, American GM and author who learned the game from his FM father, Mikhail. He won the US Junior Closed CC in 2000 and was awarded the Samford Chess Fellowship the following year. That allowed him to take two years off from the University of Maryland and play chess full-time, then return to complete his degree. His peak ELO was 2555 in July 2008, and he still appears on FIDE's lists at 2487.
He has authored books with Lev Alburt and Roman Dzindzichashvili: Chess Openings for Black, Explained: A Complete Repertoire and Chess Openings for White, Explained: Winning with 1.e4. Following publication he eventually converted those books into a website. Most recently he co-authored Evaluate Like a Grandmaster with Nate Solon.
On chess.com he can be found under the shockingly obvious @EugenePerelshteyn. He offers coaching services and is listed as a Top Blogger, but his last post was in July 2022. It has been about two years since he played a game on the site. The most recent blitz game I found was 12 February 2023.
Colin Anderson McNab, born 3 February 1961, is a Scottish GM, Correspondence IM, and Chess Problem Solving IM. One of the most unique features of his OTB GM title is that he was awarded the title six years before having a published rating of 2500. That anomaly was possible because FIDE rules at the time allowed rounding up of the highest rating during an event. His peak published rating of 2500 was achieved in January 1998, and he has been rated 2402 since Feb 2020. A four-time Scottish CC and one-time Commonwealth CC, he played for Scotland in eighteen Olympiads.
As an author Colin wrote a book on the KID and co-authored a book on the Pirc Defense with John Nunn. Additionally, he was a regular columnist for Scottish Chess magazine.
Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov (Russian: Никита Кириллович Витюгов; born 4 February 1987) is a Russian-born GM representing England since 2023 in protest of the invasion of Ukraine. The U18 Russian CC winner in 2005 he finished second in the same event the following two years, a podium position he also took at the 2006 World Junior CC. A tie for first in the 2017 Russian Superfinal found him losing to Peter Svidler in the tiebreak. The 2009 and 2011 World Team CCs saw him winning individual gold medals and in 2013 he earned an individual bronze medal.
A long-time super-GM who initially crossed the 2700 mark in 2010, he reached a peak rating of 2751 in November 2019. He almost breached the top ten in the world in May 2011 at #15. Vitiugov’s rating climbed a couple points based on December 2024 results and saw him at 2610 on the January 2025 list. Vitiugov was Nepo’s second during the two Candidates tournaments that Nepo won.
When Vitiugov plays on chess.com he does so as @Colchonero64 but I found no games after July 2024. In 2010 and 2012 he published two books on the French Defence. On his home page on chess.com he advises people against playing the opening!
Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina (Russian: Валентина Евгеньевна Гунина), born 4 February 1989, is a Russian GM who has played under the FIDE flag since 2023 in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A two-time Women’s World Blitz CC she has won the European Women’s Individual CC three times and the Russian Women’s CC five times. She was a member of the Russian team on three gold-medal winning Olympiads, six European Women’s Team CCs, and the Women’s World Team CC. Her peak rating was 2548 in June 2015 placing her #5 in the world for women. As of January 2025, her ELO sat at 2425.
She plays irregularly on chess.com as @Vanina1989.
Bronstein plays brilliantly in losing effort to Bogdan Śliwa
Bogdan Śliwa (4 February 1922 in Kraków – 16 May 2003) was a Polish GM and six-time Polish CC. Bogdan was on the winning side of Botvinnik’s Immortal Losing Game that you can view above. He won despite a series of brilliant Botvinnik tempting traps, salacious swindles, and perilous pitfalls. Though FIDE shows him with a peak rating of 2370 a more accurate measure of his strength is afforded by ChessMetrics which rated him at 2586 in March 1955, with a peak world rank of #63 in January 1954. He played for Poland in seven Olympiads, earning a silver medal on board four in 1952.
Harriet Vaughan Hunt (born 4 February 1978 in Oxford) is an English IM, WGM, and PhD in archaeogenetics. This 5-time British Women’s CC, most recently in 2021, also won a bronze at the World Youth CC (U-14 Girls) and silver at the 1996 U-18 event. Then she won the World Women’s U-20 CC in 1997. Harriet’s younger brother Adam is also an IM.
When she plays on chess.com she does so as @Nahguav87 but I found no games after August 2023.
Max Friedrich William Bezzel (4 February 1824 – 30 July 1871) was a German chess composer who created the eight queens puzzle in 1848. There are 92 solutions. Below is the only symmetrical solution.
Roman Savrovich Shogdzhiev, born 4 February 2015, is a Russian IM-elect as of 25 May 2025. He set a new record for the youngest IM ever at 10 years, 3 months, and 21 days, smashing Faustino Oro's previous record by almost five months. You can read about that at Shogdzhiev Smashes Oro's Record To Become Youngest International Master In History - Chess.com.
Roman was already the European U8 CC and World U8 CC.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin (Russian: Дмитрий Владимирович Андрейкин, born 5 February 1990) is a Russian GM. This 2019 World Junior CC and World Junior U10 CC is also a two-time Russian CC but has been playing under the FIDE flag since May 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. With a peak ELO of 2743 in June 2016, he reached #18 in the world in January 2015. He is still in the Top 50, sitting at #35 entering January 2025. Something I did not realize is that he played a classical match against Ding Liren in 2019, registering a victory with 1W-3D-0L.
Rated 3120 blitz and 3094 bullet on chess.com as of 19 January 2025, Dmitry is a regular player as @FairChess_on_YouTube. He won ten Titled Tuesday events in 2022.
Seyyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei (Persian: محمدامین طباطبایی; born 5 February 2001) is an Iranian GM with a peak rating of 2718 in July 2024 placing him #24 in the world. As of January 2025, he retains an ELO of 2668, good enough for #55 globally. He has played for the Iranian team in two Olympiads.
Tabatabaei plays blitz and bullet regularly on chess.com with ratings of 2976 and 2009 respectively, as of 16 January 2025. He can be found there at @amintabatabaei.
Tal Shaked, 5 February 1978, is an American GM and winner of the World Junior CC in 1997, defeating the #1 seed and future super-GM Morozevich and also scoring more than the future FIDE World CC Ponomariov. His performance in the 1996 U.S. CC was sufficiently impressive (he led after eight rounds) to earn him the Frank Samford Fellowship, allowing him to dedicate himself to chess full-time. Subsequently, he obtained all three GM norms within five months and reached his peak ELO of 2535 in January 1998.
Despite these early successes his last serious competition was the FIDE World CC in 1999. After that he chose to focus on computer science where he has done quite well at Google, Lyft, and then returning to Google as a Senior Director. Another talent lost to the reality that most cannot expect long-term financial stability let alone security as professional chess players. @batgirl wrote a blog about Tal Shaked in 2008 The OTHER Tal.
Five-time U.S. CC, World Chess Hall of Fame inductee, former #9 worldwide
Jackson Whipps Showalter, aka the Kentucky Lion, (February 5, 1859 – February 5, 1935) was a five-time U.S. CC when matches determined the title. Although Showalter won five matches, he lost six other matches for the title. He was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2010. ChessMetrics estimates his peak rating at 2676 in September 1897 and lists him as #9 in the world on the April and May 1902 lists.
His wife Nellie was a strong player with a lead in the match for the American Women’s CC but had to withdraw due to an illness.
Gotta love her middle name.
Krystyna Hołuj-Radzikowska (5 February 1931 – 29 November 2006) was a Polish WGM and nine-time Polish Women’s CC. She played for the national team in five Olympiads and captured an individual gold medal on board one in 1957. An annual chess tournament is held in her honor in Wroclaw.
Hans Christian Tikkanen (6 February 1985) is a Swedish GM and five-time Swedish CC. He is best known to me as the co-author of The Woodpecker Method, written with Axel Smith. Tikkanen’s peak rating was 2596 in July 2011 with a decline to 2475 as of February 2024. His FIDE blitz and rapid ratings remain above 2500, but it has been at least five years since he played rated events at those time controls.
He is listed on chess.com as @brainwolf but I found no games for him after June 2022.
Mišo Cebalo (6 February 1945 – 2 September 2022) was a Croatian GM, FIDE Senior Trainer, and the 2009 Senior World CC. He played for Croatia in two Olympiads. FIDE lists his peak ELO as 2570 in January 1995. I feel we obtain a better sense of his true strength from ChessMetrics which cites a peak rating of 2632 in March 1985, placing him #80 globally. He tied for first in the 1985 Yugoslav CC but lost the playoff.
Below is one of his notable games. I provided some brief annotations to describe the action that sees Black making a great sac of their queen for two minor pieces and some pawns but later failing to find the best path forward. Watching White, Cebalo, turn the position hard right in his favor is a thing of beauty.
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (Russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was a Soviet and Russian GM who was among the world's top players for over twenty years and a world-class pianist who performed with his first wife as a piano duo. In 1956 he won the USSR CC, one of the record 23 USSR CCs he competed in (Geller is tied with him for the record).
I first heard Taimanov’s name when he lost a Candidates match to Bobby Fischer by the unhinged score of 6-0 in favor of the soon-to-be World Champion, an event Taimanov later wrote a book about. That tome was published after Soviet authorities removed restrictions on his ability to travel and also eliminated his annual stipend.
Mark’s peak FIDE ELO rating was 2600 in July 1971 at which time he was the #15 player in the world. Given that FIDE ratings had only been recently introduced, and that Taimanov was towards the end of his best years, ChessMetrics probably offers a more accurate sense of his rating (#15 still strikes me as quite imposing!) Mark had just won the 1957 Soviet CC, so it does not surprise me that ChessMetrics lists his highest rating as 2742 in January 1957, placing him at #5 in the world. Surprisingly, he only played in one Olympiad, scoring 6W-5D-0L as first reserve.
There are several opening variations in the Sicilian, Modern Benoni, and the Nimzo-Indian Defence named after Taimanov. He published at least seventeen books. It is no surprise that he is a member of the World Chess Hall of Fame. On a final note, he became the father of twins at age 78, so there is a gap of 57 years between his oldest child and the twins.
Sergey Viktorovich Volkov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Во́лков; born 7 February 1974) is a Russia GM and the 2000 Russian CC. His peak world ranking was #47 in October 2002, and he reached his highest ELO of 2659 about five years later. He competed in three FIDE World CC cycles in the early part of the 21st century and in the FIDE World Cup in 2007.
He plays regularly on chess.com as @VSERGUEI with a blitz rating of 2728 and also advertises coaching services at, imo, a very reasonable rate considering his title and peak ratings.
Karel Opočenský (7 February 1892 – 16 November 1975) was a Czechoslovak IM, IA, and chess theoretician. He was the chief arbiter for the 1951 and 1954 World CC matches and the 1952 Olympiad. He also participated in four Olympiads with an enviable record of 30W-17D-11L. Although never the recipient of an ELO rating, ChessMetrics rates him at 2618 in May 1936, #24 worldwide.
There are three opening variations named after him, one each in the Sicilian Najdorf and the Grunfeld, plus the Trompowsky Opening that is also known as the Opočenský Opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5).
Yuri (aka Yury) Lvovich Averbakh (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian GM, International Judge of Chess Compositions, IA, and author. Additionally, he was Chairman of the USSR Chess Federation for five years. As with many very strong players his best playing form occurred in the years before FIDE adopted a rating system. Consequently, FIDE lists his highest rating as 2550 in July 1971, placing him #32 in the world. ChessMetrics comes to our rescue again, rating him 2715 in February 1957 which would have been good enough for #8 globally.
Yuri was also an endgame theorist with over 100 studies published during his century on this planet. Additionally, he edited several Soviet chess periodicals and co-authored a four-volume endgame anthology with Chekover and others. There are Averbakh variations in the KID, Modern Defense, and Ruy Lopez.
Here’s a fun article about this chess icon Misha Osipov vs. Averbakh (95) | 4-Year-Old Plays World's Oldest GM. Averbakh later became the world's first centenarian GM. Yuri’s son-in-law was Mark Taimanov, whom tied for first with Averbakh and Spassky in the 1956 USSR CC.
Ilya Mark Gurevich (born February 8, 1972) is a Soviet-born American GM who quit playing at age 27 in 1999 to focus on a Wall Street career as an options trader. His peak rating of 2586 was achieved in July 1999. Prior to his abandoning his chess career he won the 1990 World Junior CC, taking first place ahead of Alexei Shirov on tiebreaks. Ilya played for the U.S. team that earned silver at the World U26 Team CC in 1991. I first remember learning about Gurevich when he won the 1983 U.S. National Scholastic Elementary School CC.
Boris Franzevich Gulko (Russian: Борис Францевич Гулько, IPA: [bɐˈrʲiz ɡʊlʲˈko]), 9 February 1947, is a Soviet-American GM. He is the only person to win both the Soviet CC and the U.S.CC. He won the latter twice. He also won the U.S. Masters CC once. Gulko played for the Soviet Olympiad team in 1978 and for the U.S. team in every Olympiad from 1988 – 2004. His peak ELO of 2644 in January 2000 was reached over a decade after his highest ranking among the world’s top players, which was #14 in January 1989.
At age 32 he lost seven years of his chess career because his prominence as a Soviet Refusenik led Soviet officials to prevent his attendance at peak tournaments. Perhaps they also feared his lifetime record of 3W-4D-1L against Kasparov! (That’s unlikely.) In 2004 Gulko lost a chance to compete in the FIDE World CC cycle when Libya refused to invite Jewish players to participate.
Boris’ wife Anna Akhsharumova is a WGM who won the Women’s Soviet CC twice and the U.S. Women’s CC once. Her peak rating was 2400. Their combined peak ratings put them in the club for couples rated over 5000 ELO at 5044.
Boris Leonidovich Avrukh (Hebrew: בוריס ליאונידוביץ' אברוך; Russian: Борис Леонидович Аврух), 10 February 1978, is a Soviet-born Israeli GM who was the World U12 CC in 1990. A two-time Israeli CC, his peak ELO was 2668 September 2009, about four years after he reached his peak of #50 in the world in July 2005. Avrukh has been a member of the Israeli team for six Olympiads and won a gold medal in 1998 at second reserve board and a bronze medal on fourth board at the 2006 event. Boris is also a published chess author including The Classical Slav.
I found no chess.com games for him after August 2023 where he is listed as @Contora. That said, he had been online only 16 hours before I wrote this on 24 January 2025.
Giorgi Kacheishvili (Georgian: გიორგი კაჭეიშვილი; born 10 February 1977) is a Georgian GM and two-time Georgian CC with a peak rating of 2612 in April 2009. He still racks in at 2582 in January 2025, but he has been inactive since August 2019. A member of the Georgian team in three Olympiads his overall record in these events stands at 7W-14D-8L.
He plays with moderate frequency as @mgeli on chess.com.
Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov (Russian: Евгений Эллинович Све́шников; Latvian: Jevgēņijs Svešņikovs; 11 February 1950 – 18 August 2021) was a Russian GM with a peak ELO of 2610 in January 1994 and a peak global rank of #25 in January 1978. A two-time Latvian CC he won the World Senior 65+ CC in 2017. Sveshnikov represented Latvia in four Olympiads and was top board for the gold medalist Russian team in the 2016 World Senior 65+ Team CC.
He is best remembered for his work with GM Timoshchenko developing the Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian Defence. The variation was originally known as the Lasker-Pelikan variation, but Sveshnikov and Timoshchenko rehabilitated the system into a sharp line where a single slip by either player could produce fatal results. Sveshnikov was also a respected theoretician with respect to the Advance French and the Alapin Sicilian. His son, Vladimir, is an IM.
Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Дми́триевич Петро́в) (February 12, 1794 – April 22, 1867) was a Russian chess player, chess composer, and chess writer. He was prominent figure in the world of chess during the 19th century. Despite not competing in formal tournaments, he was widely recognized as the strongest player in Russia, having defeated all of his potential opponents in one-on-one matches. Annoyingly, for me, his name shows up in ChessMetrics but there are no estimates of his strength despite the fact he was supposedly the strongest Russian player for five decades.
The author of the first-ever Russian chess book, he also collaborated with Carl Jaenisch in analyzing the opening that became known as Petrov’s Defense (aka the Russian Game, ECO Code: C42), an opening first seen in a 1620 game between Greco and No-Name. Given Petrov's and Jaenisch's national origin, the opening is known by many as the Russian Defense.
In addition to his skill as a player, Petrov was also renowned for his ability to compose challenging chess problems. One of his most famous compositions was “The Retreat of Napoleon I from Moscow,” which was published in 1824. The black king is a symbolic representation of Napoleon, while the white king represents Czar Alexander I. The white queen represents Marshall Kutuzov, a military figure known for his extreme caution. The white knights represent the Russian Cavalry, specifically the Cossacks. Moscow is symbolized by the red square on b1, while Paris is represented by the yellow h8. The Berezina River is represented by the diagonal line that runs from h1 to a8 – blue squares.
The solution of this puzzle is also limited by one more rule: Marshall Kutuzov must remain near the Czar, which means that the white king and the white queen are obliged to stay on adjacent squares all the time.
Artur Mayakovich Yusupov (Russian: Арту́р Маякович Юсу́пов; German: Artur Majakowitsch Jussupow), February 13, 1960, is a Russian-born German GM. Ranked #3 in the world in July 1986, his ELO peaked at 2680 nine years later, in July 1995. He won the World Junior CC in 1977 and placed second in his first USSR CC in 1979. He has been stopped short of the ultimate world crown in three semi-final matches.
Artur produces content on multiple platforms. At Artur Yusupov: On Magnus Carlsen you can find GM Yusupov and GM Gustafsson weighing in on the reasons behind Carlsen’s success. Artur also gives numerous and quite entertaining interviews that can be found online. He published a book on the Petroff Defence in 1999 that was deemed the most comprehensive manual up to that time. He has since produced at least twelve chess books, a scant few of which are shown in the images above. A long-time mentee of Mark Dvoretsky, the two of them collaborated on several books. Yusupov was also a second to Anand and Leko during their quests for the World CC.
She plays on chess.com as @EfM13 and offers coaching services in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. The most recent games I found onsite were in July 2024.
She is married to GM Zahar Efimenko who has a peak rating of 2708. That makes this power couple part of the ELO 5000+ club with a combined peak rating of 5060.
Srinath Narayanan (14 February 1994) is an Indian GM, FIDE Senior Trainer, and streamer. He won the World Youth U12 CC in 2005 and played for the Indian team that won silver in the 2010 World Youth U16 Olympiad. With a peak rating of 2695 in March 2024, he was #40 worldwide in May of that year. Entering 2025 his rating was 2638 placing him #97 globally.
He has coached some of the best of India’s best including Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi, and Divya Deshmukh. As a team coach for various Indian teams their phenomenal results reflected his superb preparation. Those results include silver at the 2018 World Youth Olympiad. Then he served as vice captain of the Indian team that took gold in the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad and the non-playing captain of the team winning gold in the 2024 Olympiad.
Srinath has authored two lifetime repertoires on Chessable that cover the Catalan (a lucid, very well written course!) for White and the Sicilian for Black. He also co-authored a course with GM Sahaj Grover.
Smbat Gariginovich Lputian (also transliterated as Lputyan; Armenian: Սմբատ Լպուտյան; born 14 February 1958) is an Armenian GM and four-time Armenian CC. In 2006 he won a team gold medal at the Olympiad with teammates Aronian, Akopian, Asrian, Sargissian, and Minasian. His peak rating was 2640 in January 2005 but he rose as high as #17 in the world in January 1989.
He is the founder-president of the Chess Academy of Armenia, formed in 2002.
Lputian plays regularly on chess.com as @SML60.
Sergei Tiviakov (Russian: Серге́й Тивяков; born 14 February 1973) is a Russian–Dutch GM, three-time Dutch CC, and one-time European CC. With a peak ELO of 2699 he was among the world’s elite for over a decade as his peak ranking of #14 was reached in July 1995. Currently he is rated 2531 with his most recent FIDE-rated game in August 2024. He earned a team gold with Russia in the 1994 Olympiad and played for the Dutch team in the Olympiads from 2000 – 2005. As a member of the Dutch team his Olympiad record was 14W-33D-2L, so he was definitely a tough out for the other teams.
He has been a member of chess.com since 2013 as @Tiviakov but has not visited since September 2023 and I found no games in his profile, though he might have blocked access to that information. Sergei has multiple, approachable chess videos on YouTube.
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a GM who represented Austria, Germany, and Argentina at various times. Though learning the game at the relatively late age of twelve, by age sixteen he was the co-winner of the Austrian CC. Eliskases also tied for the Hungarian CC in 1934 and won the German CC in 1938 and 1939. In between those victories he served as Alekhine's second in the 1937 World CC.
While playing in the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Eliskases was one of several GMs who decided to stay in South America rather than return to Europe. Eliskases’ peak FIDE rating was 2430 in January 1977 when he was well past his prime. ChessMetrics estimates his highest rating at 2733 in January 1949 and placed him at #7 worldwide for July 1948.
Patrick Gideon Wolff (February 15, 1968) is an American GM and was the hedge fund founder of Grandmaster Capital Management. A two-time U.S. CC he also won the 1982 U.S. National High School CC and the 1987 U.S. Junior CC. With a peak rating of 2595 in January 1994, he served as Anand’s second for the 1995 World CC match against Kasparov.
Author of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess, Patrick also has a trophy, the Wolff Cup, named after him for an amusing reason. Wolff remains the only GM to have played for both colleges in the annual Harvard – Yale chess match. He originally matriculated at Yale but transferred and graduated from Harvard. In another interesting coincidence, Kasparov selected a 1993 game Wolff played against Ivanchuk in Biel 1993 and modified the game for use during the climax of The Queen’s Gambit.
Mark Lesland Hebden (15 February 1958) is an English GM and the British Rapid CC on seven occasions. FIDE lists his peak ELO at 2567 in October 2001, but he reached #88 in the world in July 1983. Though known for his play in the Grand Prix Attack, the Barry Attack, and the 150 Attack, I first learned about Mark Hebden while chewing through IM Lakdawala’s very informative and delightful book on the London System. Hebden spent a large portion of his career cratering other players’ intentions with his unique and aggressive approach to the opening. I’ve played through at least fifty of his games, perhaps more.
He has played on chess.com as @mhebden but not since 30 September 2024 and those eleven games are the only ones shown for 2024.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev (Russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Федосе́ев born 16 February 1995, is a Russian GM playing for Slovenia, one of several Russian players to switch federations after Russia invaded Ukraine. In 2013 he won the U18 European Youth CCs at all three time controls: standard, rapid, and blitz. This super-GM first crossed the 2700 threshold in June 2017 and has bounced below and above that mythical marker since then but if his results in Tata Steel 2025 continued he will have moved up again. Ranked #24 in October 2017 he entered January 2025 as the #26 player worldwide. His rapid rating peaked at 2810 in January 2018, and he is the reigning European CC in rapid and Chess960 and has twice taken the silver medal in the World Rapid CC.
He plays regularly on chess.com as @Bigfish1995, particularly in Titled Tuesday events, and is one of their streamers. One of his coaches is GM Khalifman.
Vera Francevna Mencikova (Russian: Вера Францевна Менчик, Vera Frantsevna Menchik; Czech: Věra Menčíková; 16 February 1906 – 26 June 1944) was a British-Czechoslovak-Russian chess player who became the world's first women's CC in 1927, going on to win the title eight times. ChessMetrics estimates her peak rating at 2535 In May 1929, good enough for #52 in the world.
Masters who lost to her became members of the unofficial Vera Menchik club, a group that included six individuals later accorded the official GM title or its honorary equivalent. Among the scalps she took were two defeats of Max Euwe as well as a positive lifetime score against the one-time World CC. The trophy for the Women’s Olympiad is named in her honor.
Vera’s younger sister Olga was also a chess master who took fourth place in the 1935 Women’s World CC.
She plays irregularly on chess.com as @AlmiraS but I found no games for her after September 2024. Skripchenko also competes at the highest levels in poker, with her bet take being almost $85K for a third-place finish in a French Poker Tour Season Grand Final.
Married to French GM Joël Lautier from 1997 – 2002, she later married French GM Laurent Fressinet, and they have a daughter. Given Fressinet's peak rating of 2720 they are hugely into the ELO 5000+ club for couples with a peak combined rating of 5221. [Yes, she also would have qualified for the club with her first GM-husband whose peak rating of 2687 would have placed the couple at 5188.]
Jovana Rapport (née Vojinović, Serbian Cyrillic: Јована Војиновић; born 18 February 1992) is a Serbian WGM who achieved her IM norms by November 2015 but lacks the 2400 ELO required. A two-time Montenegrin Women’s CC she is also a Serbian Women’s CC and the winner of the Mediterranean Women’s CC in 2009. Jovana’s peak rating was 2388 in February 2019 placing her #73 among all women. That said, her rating slipped to 2318 in February 2024, so she is quite far from achieving the requisite rating. She has played in five Women’s Olympiads, on first board four times and second board once. Her overall record is 21W-12D-12L.
She is married to Hungarian GM Richárd Rapport, and they live in Serbia. With his peak rating of 2776 they easily join the 5000+ couples club with a peak combined ELO of 5094.
Mladen Palac, 18 February 1971, is a Croatian GM, FIDE Trainer, and four-time Croatian CC. His peak rating was 2631 in July 2016 but that has declined to 2447 as of January 2025. ChessMetrics lists him as #86 globally for July 1999. He maintains a busy tournament schedule that sees his rating fluctuate almost monthly.
Helgi Áss Grétarsson (born 18 February 1977) is an Icelandic GM who won the World Junior 20 CC in 1994…only one year previously he played goal for the Icelandic U16 National Soccer Team in the UEFA U16 Championship. Granted a law degree in 2005 he finally became Icelandic CC in 2018, having previously tied for first in 1999 but losing a tiebreak match. Helgi has also won the Icelandic Blitz CC three times. Finally, he has played for the Icelandic team in multiple Olympiads. His peak ELO was 2563 in July 2000 but that has declined to 2418 as of December 2024 having had some mediocre results beginning in August 2024 that led to him losing almost 70 rating points.
He binges on chess.com as @DaggiGretarsson.
Yehuda Gruenfeld (Hebrew: יהודה גרינפלד; born 18 February 1956) is a Polish-born Israeli GM with a peak ELO of 2550 in July 1986. A two-time Israeli CC he played for Israel in six Olympiads with an overall record of 15W-22D-13L. ChessMetrics provides a better measurement of his strength, rating him 2654 in March 1987 and as high as #46 globally in June 1980. Although deaf he can read lips and speak hoarsely.
Ahmed Adly (Arabic: أحمد عدلي, born 18 February 1987) is an Egyptian GM. A four-time winner of Arab Youth CC, he was the World Junior CC, snagging a major title that has often foretold greater success! Adly continued that success and won the African CC four times and the Mediterranean CC once.
With a peak rating of 2640 in January 2011, he concluded that his upside was limited because he had not received enough support early in his career. That realization led him to form the FIDE-Official Adly Chess Academy in Cairo to assist younger players. He still played occasionally but has been inactive for FIDE purposes since November 2023 with a rating of 2597.
However, he maintains an active presence on chess.com as @A-Adly where he played numerous bullet games in January 2025. His current chess.com bullet rating is 2876, #244 globally, and his blitz rating is 2937, #214 globally.
In 2022 Adly served as FIDE’s Chair of the Athletes Commission for six months, a rotating position.
#25 chess.com Hall of Fame: David Bronstein | Chess Lessons - Chess.com
David Bronstein (Russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet GM. He almost became the World CC in 1951 after tying Botvinnik 12 -12, 5W-14D-5L each, but the reigning champion prevailed in the case of a tied match. Because FIDE’s rating system did not go into effect until 1970, Bronstein’s peak rating is cited as 2595 in May 1974 with a peak ranking of #17 in July 1971. Just another case where ChessMetrics offers more useful measurements! That site suggests the most accurate quantitative measurement of his rating was 2792 in June 1951 and they placed him #1 in the world on 19 different months between June 1950 and December 1951.
Bronstein had numerous tournament and Interzonal victories and played for the Soviet team in four Olympiads in the 1950s, winning board prizes each time, losing only one game, and securing four team golds. A leading figure in renovating the KID and King’s Gambit, there are variations named after him in the Caro-Kann and the Scandinavian Defence. A creative genius OTB, with endgames perceived as his greatest weakness, Bronstein was also a phenomenal writer with two particularly revered books imo, the Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 and The Chess Struggle in Practice.
Some of Bronstein’s most famous quotes were:
The most powerful weapon in Chess is to have the next move.
In chess, as in life, opportunity strikes but once.
To lose one's objective attitude to a position, nearly always means ruining your game.
A game of chess is not an examination of knowledge; it is a battle of nerves.
If you have made a mistake or committed an inaccuracy there is no need to become annoyed and to think that everything is lost. You have to reorientate yourself quickly and find a new plan in the new situation.
When everything on the board is clear it can be so difficult to conceal your thoughts from your opponent.
Chess is infinite, and one has to make only one ill-considered move, and one's opponent's wildest dreams will become reality.
Theory regards this opening as incorrect, but it is impossible to agree with this. Out of the five tournament games played by me with the King's Gambit, I have won all five.
When you play against an experienced opponent who exploits all the defensive resources at his command you sometimes have to walk time and again, along the narrow path of 'the only move'.
What the devil possessed me to reply 1. ... e5?? I compltely forgot that Spassky, like Spielmann in the past, very much likes to play the King's Gambit.
In the middlegame one should not hesitate to advance a central passed pawn.
There is no disputing that in the eyes of Schlechter, Teichmann or even Rubinstein, the backward pawn was something more substantial than lively piece play, but in our day the latter is more often preferred.
Some pieces in the King's Indian appear on a 'special price' list: the dark square bishops are at the top of that list.
For anyone who wants to better understand Bronsteins' ability to explain a chess game I invite you to look at @simaginfan's My Favourite Annotators. Part Four. David Bronstein.
Sergey Viktorovich Dolmatov (born February 20, 1959) is a Russian GM, FIDE Senior Trainer, and former World Junior CC. With a peak rating of 2630 in July 1993 and peak rank of #13 in January 1990, Dolmatov never quite managed that final breakthrough and has been relatively inactive since 2004 with no FIDE-rated games since 2009.
Dolmatov served as a second for Kasparov in 1987 and Kramnik in 2005 and has led training sessions with Alisa Galliamova and Evgeny Alekseev.
Savielly Tartakower (also known as Xavier or Ksawery Tartakower, less often Tartacover or Tartakover; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish GM and author/journalist in the 1920s and 1930. ChessMetrics estimates his peak rating at 2719 in January 1921 and finds him at #3 globally for the March 1921 list. Twice the Polish CC he represented the nation in seven Olympiads winning one gold and two bronze individual medals to go with a team medal count that included one gold, two silvers, and two bronzes. In the 1950s Tartakower relocated to France where he won the 1953 French CC.
A significant contributor to opening theory, there are variations named after him in the Dutch, QGD, Torre Attack, Caro-Kann, and he may have originated the Catalan Opening in 1929. His books included 500 Master Games of Chess, 100 Master Games of Modern Chess, and My Best Games of Chess 1905 – 1954. Considered quite the wit, any number of aphorisms have been attributed to him:
most famous quotes were:
It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men.
An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard.
The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.
The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
No game was ever won by resigning.
I never defeated a healthy opponent.
Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do.
Moral victories do not count.
Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders.
Chess is a struggle against one's own errors.
Every chess player should have a hobby.
A game of chess has three phases: the opening, where you hope you stand better; the middlegame, where you think you stand better; and the ending, where you know you stand to lose.
Stalemate is the tragicomedy of chess.
To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.
A draw can be obtained normally by repeating three moves, but also by playing one bad move.
Whenever you have to make a rook move, and both rooks are available for said move, you should evaluate which rook to move and, once you have made up your mind, move the other one.
The player that takes risks may lose, the player that doesn't always loses.
Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 21, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American IM, honorary GM, and chess author. A promising boxer, he started to gain attention in the chess world at age fifteen by winning a NYC interscholastic CC. Later Denker won two U.S. CCs. With his strongest playing days well before the advent of FIDE adopting a rating system, his peak ELO is listed as 2340 in July 1978, still roughly better than 99% of all chess players ever. But since one of my goals is to seek ways to level the playing field, once more I will dip into ChessMetrics which estimates Denker’s peak rating at 2677 in January 1935 which would have ranked him at #8 in the world at the time.
In 2004 Denker became only the third person honored as a Dean of American Chess by the U.S. Chess Federation.
László Bárczay (21 February 1936 – 7 April 2016) was a Hungarian GM and ICCF GM. A four-time Hungarian CC he rose to international prominence for his first-place tie with Mikhail Tal in a tournament held in Budapest. A prominent member of the Hungarian national team in Olympiads for almost two decades, he was part of the gold-medal winning team in 1978. As part of the bronze-medal winning team in 1966 he earned a gold medal on sixth board with 10W-2D-0L. Though FIDE lists his peak ELO at 2485 in January 1976, ChessMetrics suggests that his actual strength reached 2582 in January 1969 (a year prior to FIDE instituting a rating system) and placed him at #69 globally in February 1963.
An annual tournament is held in his honor, the Zalakaros Chess Festival – Barczay Laszlo Memorial. The 2025 edition will hold its opening ceremony on May 24th.
Mikhail Gurevich (Russian: Михаил Наумович Гуревич, romanized: Mikhail Naumovich Gurevich; born 22 February 1959) is a Soviet-born Belgian GM, FIDE Senior Trainer, and IA with a peak rating of 2694 in January 2000 and #11 globally, but his peak world rank of #5 was a decade earlier in January 1990. He won the Ukrainian, Soviet, Belgian, and Turkish CC once each over a period of almost twenty years. Gurevich is renowned for his opening expertise in the French Defense, the Nimzo-Indian, and the Petrosian variation of the QID.
He has been a member of chess.com since 2016 but has not played as @GurevichMikhail since March 2023.
James (Jim) Tarjan, February 22, 1952, is a U.S. GM with a peak rating of 2540 in July 1981. ChessMetrics profiles list him at 2659 In May of the same year, good enough for #37 globally. A member of the gold-medal winning American team at the 1969 World Student’s Olympiad he played for the U.S. in five Olympiads and winning two individual golds in those events but then stepped away from chess for thirty years beginning in 1984.
Tarjan returned with a vengeance after retiring from his day job as a librarian in 2014 and performed quite well including a FIDE 2671 performance rating at the 2017 Isle of Man Open where he defeated Kramnik in their game. He beat a chess power couple at the same event, GMs Pavel Tregubov and Alexandra Kosteniuk. You can read more about that event at GM @Gserper’s post from 15 Oct 2017 The Strongest Chess Librarian In The World. Jim Tarjan was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2022.
Deimantė Cornette (born Deimantė Daulytė; 22 February 1989) is a Lithuanian IM and WGM who won the Lithuanian Women’s CC five times. She competed in the Women’s World CC in 2015 and after two draws at classic time controls, she checkmated her opponent in the first rapid game and could have done so in the second with one move but instead lost her queen. After that, the tiebreak went completely sideways, so we’ll leave it at that. Her peak rating was 2470 in July 2018. She still plays actively with a 2375 rating coming into January 2025.
She is married to GM Matthieu Cornette. With his peak rating of 2629 their combined peak ELOs easily place them in the 5000+ chess power couples club at 5099.
Mária Ivánka, aka Ivánka-Budinsky, was born 23 February 1950. She is a Hungarian WGM and 9-time Hungarian Women’s CC. She collected four silver and two bronze Olympiad medals between 1969 and 1986 and twice defeated the reigning Women’s World CC, Nona Gaprindashvili, in tournaments. With a peak ELO of 2320 in January 1976 Mária was the #6 woman in the world at that time.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly, 24 February 1983, is an Indian GM. A six-time National CC he was also the Asian CC in 2009. As a member of the Indian World Team CC team, he twice won an individual gold medal and earned one team bronze. He participated in six Olympiads for his country and in 2005 was the recipient of the Arjuna Award for outstanding achievement in sports. With a peak rating of 2676 in July 2016 and a peak ranking of #55 in March 2010 Surya has remained near the top of the pantheon though his rating slipped to 2578 after losing twenty rating points in November 2024, placing him at #228 globally. Due to his obvious talents, he was part of Anand’s team of seconds in World CC matches against Kramnik, Topalov, and Gelfand.
He rarely plays on chess.com but does so as @suryaganguly on those infrequent occasions. I found only one blitz game in 2024, but he sports a 2900+ rating in that format.
Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Serbian GM and ranked as high as #5 in the world in the early 1920s according to ChessMetrics, with a peak rating of 2706 in May 1921 and ranked #2 globally in March 1921 and January 1922. A one-time Romanian CC, he was a two-time winner of the Yugoslav CC, though in 1935 he shared that title with Pirc (clearly some Federations don’t have a problem with ties for a championship.😉)
Though he won multiple strong tournaments (e.g., Hastings 1921/22) he was best known for his world tours, visiting locations such as Australasia, the Far East, Africa, India, and Siberia to expand interest in chess. Amusingly, one game in Africa was played on the equator with the two players in different hemispheres. Kostić is now a relatively unknown player, so it should surprise no chess.com blogging fan that @simaginfan wrote a greatly expanded post about this forgotten player in 2019 titled 'Uncle Bora'. A Quick Look at Boris Kostic.
Vasif Durarbayli (Azerbaijani: Vasif Durarbəyli; born February 24, 1992) is an Azerbaijani GM and one-time national CC with a peak ELO of 2638 in May 2022, and still a member of the 2600+ club with a 2614 rating in January 2025 after losing eight rating points in December 2024. Winner of the World Youth U14 CC in 2006 he won the European Youth CC U18 in 2010. In the 2021 World Chess Cup he sailed through the first four rounds, beating Navara in round three and Abdusattorov in round four.
He frequently participates in Titled Tuesday events as @Durarbayli and offers coaching services.
Prior to May 2022 he also blogged regularly in a singularly informative series of which I’ll include only his last post Game of the Week XXII-Maghsoodloo,Parham (2701) - Adams,Michael (2698). What I deemed particularly useful for the majority of chess players is that he includes some introductory discussion of important chess concepts followed by an always well analyzed game of the week he selected for putting under the magnifying glass.
Sethuraman Panayappan (S.P.) Sethuraman (born 25 February 1993) is an Indian GM, World U16 CC, 2-time National CC, and Asian CC. With a peak rating of 2673 in September 2018, he reached #69 globally. His January 2025 rating resides at 2560 after December 2024 saw him shedding 26 rating points. S.P. shared in the Indian team’s 2014 Olympiad bronze medal.
He has authored five Chessable courses, covering a fairly wide swath of openings as evidenced by the fact one of his Lifetime Repertoires (LTRs) covers 1.e4 for White and another covers 1.e4 e5 for Black.
He plays regularly on chess.com as @Sethu0025; all the recent games I found were Chess960!
Karen H. Grigoryan (Armenian: Կարեն Հ. Գրիգորյան; born 25 February 1995) is an Armenian GM with a peak ELO of 2666 in January 2021 and his world ranking topped out a #71 in April 2020. A one-time Armenian CC he was the European U16 CC in 2010. A member of the 2600 club as recently as December 2024 he had a miserable month and lost 50 rating points to fall to 2572.
A regular player on chess.com as @K_GRIGORYAN, he offers coaching services.
Asa Hoffmann, 25 February 1943, is a U.S. FM, chess teacher, and author known as "the sparring partner of champions." With his peak playing years corresponding to a time before FIDE implemented their ELO system it is no surprise that his peak rating is shown as 2365 in January 1982. Rated #21 in the U.S. in 1966 he played for more than 50 years. A Chessmetrics peak rating of 2448 suggests he was of IM strength.
Good friends with Bobby Fischer, the two played countless blitz games when they were not earning pocket money playing others in NYC clubs and parks. Portrayed in the 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer, Asa refused to be involved in the making of the film as he felt it portrayed him inaccurately. Later, Hoffman was interviewed for the 2011 documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World.
Levan Pantsulaia (Georgian: ლევან ფანცულაია; born February 26, 1986) is a GM, two-time Georgian CC, and World Youth U16 CC. With a peak rating of 2629 in January 2008, placing him at #94 globally, the past two and a half years have been unkind to his rating, seeing a decline from 2609 in October 2022 to 2522 as of January 2025.
He binges blitz on chess.com fairly regularly, playing as @GM_Levan_Pantsulaia.
Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakh: Бибісара Асаубаева, Bibısara Asaubaeva; born 26 February 2004) is a Kazakhstani IM and WGM and two-time Women’s World Blitz CC. When she won her first world blitz title in 2021, she simultaneously earned an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records as the youngest-ever women’s blitz champion. That same year she finished second to Kosteniuk in the Women’s World Rapid CC.
In 2017 she was accused of cheating during the 2017 World Youth U14 tournament by GM Solozhenkin. The FIDE Ethics Commission later suspended him for unfounded allegations and a Russian court ordered him to apologize, delete the articles, and pay 100K rubles in compensation. She was one of many female players who were victims of former IM Strebkovs who had his title revoked this year. Bibisara’s peak rating is 2492 as of December 2024.
UPDATE: She earned her third GM norm Giri Wins 2025 Sharjah Masters, Assaubayeva Earns GM Title, crossing the 2500 threshold.
She plays regularly on chess.com as SaraBlackPanther.
Hou Yifan (Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán), 27 February 1994, is a Chinese GM, four-time Women’s World CC, two-time Chinese Women’s CC, World Youth Girls U10 CC, FIDE Caissa Cup recipient, and has been the #1 ranked woman since September 2015. Her peak rating was 2686 in March 2015, and she reached #55 globally two months later. She won an individual silver as part of the Chinese women’s team at the 2006 Olympiad.
Since 2018 she has focused on her career as a college professor and plays OTB less frequently. The most recent results I found for Hou were from a tournament in October 2023 when she gained four rating points to raise her ELO to 2633, #105 in the world as of January 2025.
Hou Yifan plays blitz somewhat irregularly on chess.com as @yifan0227. Rather than challenge her, you can just play her bot under the Top Players category Play Chess Online Against the Computer.
A final, random neuron just fired: Are there any Abbott and Costello fans in the reading audience who can replicate the entire baseball skit “Who’s on first.”
Jacques Mieses (27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British GM, an inaugural recipient of the title when FIDE began granting such recognition in 1950. ChessMetrics estimates his peak rating at 2660 in August 1907 and his top world rank as #9 in January 1921 just before he turned 56 years old. He remained a dangerous player throughout his life, winning the brilliancy prize at Hastings 1946 when Mieses was in his 80s and his opponent was only 22.
The Scandinavian Defense was greatly influenced by his innovative efforts early in the 20th century and there are Mieses variations in both the Vienna Game and the Scotch. The opening move 1.d3 is named after Mieses.
Genrikh Kasparyan, aka Kasparian, (27 February 1910 – 27 December 1995) was an Armenian IM, International Judge of Chess Compositions, and GM of Chess Composition. This ten-time Armenian CC is reckoned by ChessMetrics to have peaked at a 2625 rating in January 1948, good enough for #31 worldwide. He is best known for his chess compositions, particularly endgame studies, and won the USSR Composing Championship several times. All told his studies earned 57 first prizes. His books included Domination in 2,545 Endgame Studies and 888 Miniature Studies.
Below is a puzzle based on a game won by Kasparyan in the 1938 Armenian CC that has been included in many tactics books.
Anna Olehivna Muzychuk (Ukrainian: Анн́а Оле́гівна Музичу́к; Slovene: Ana Muzičuk; born 28 February 1990) is a Ukrainian GM and the fourth woman in history to cross the 2600 threshold. A two-time Women’s World Blitz CC and one-time Women’s World Rapid CC, she was the runner-up in the 2017 Women’s World CC. She also won the World Youth Girls CC for U16 and later U20. Anna won the Ukranian Women’s CC twice. In 2016 she won an individual gold medal at the Olympiad. Her peak rating was 2606 in July 2012, placing her at #197 worldwide.
In 2017 Anna drew widespread media attention for boycotting the 2017 World Rapid and Blitz CCs for their discriminatory policies against women.
You can play Anna-bot on chess.com but you’re unlikely to get a game against @Anna_Muzychuk because I found no games on the site after May 2022. She does list multiple platforms where you can follow her!
Anna’s parents were both chess coaches and her younger sister, Mariya, was the 2015 Women’s World CC.
Daniel (Danny) Kopec (February 28, 1954 – June 12, 2016) was an American IM, Scottish CC, chess author, and PhD in computer science with a focus on Machine Intelligence. Danny won his Scottish CC while completing his doctorate in Edinburgh.
In the arcane world of chess openings, he promoted his Kopec System against the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bd3!?). In total, he published eight chess books and nine feature-length chess instruction videos. With a peak ELO of 2493 his primary focus was clearly on academia, and he co-developed the Bratko – Kopec Test in the 1980s, a testing standard for 1980s chess software.
Nicolas Rossolimo (Russian: Николай Спиридонович Россоли́мо, romanized: Nikolai Spiridonovich Rossolimo; February 28, 1910 – July 24, 1975) was a Russian-born GM who acquired Greek citizenship at age 19 and then emigrated to France, where he won a French CC, followed by leaving for the United States. ChessMetrics estimates his peak rating at 2663 in December 1951 and places him at #23 worldwide during four different months in 1950 – 1951. The Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence is named for him.
While living in New York City he supported his family as a waiter, taxi driver, accordion player, singer, and owner of The Rossolimo Chess Studio, a café that served food, drinks, and chess. People could gather and play chess and famous figures such as Marcel Duchamp frequented the studio-café. Rossolimo wrote two chess books, the second being self-published. He also recorded songs, in three languages, and held a brown belt in judo.
One of his occupations sparked GM Gserper to write the following blog The Cab Driver Who Knew How to Play Chess.
February 29
What? You thought I’d leave this day out because this isn’t a leap year? Hey, there were still people born this day. I am not going to make them wait for a 2028 update that lets them know they share a birthday with a chess quadrennial!
Niclas Huschenbeth, born 29 February 1992, is a German GM, two-time German CC, and chess content creator. With a peak rating of 2628 in November 2019, he reached his peak world ranking at #146 in January 2024. He played for the German team in two Olympiads. He is rated 2593 going into February 2025 having lost three rating points the month prior.
He has worked as a second for Hikaru since 2019. On YouTube he has 112K subscribers! Finally, Niclas has published two books on chessable.com, both covering 1.e4 for beginners.
Niclas plays regularly on chess.com as @GM_Huschenbeth.
Let's Wrap it Up!
I hope you enjoyed this blog. It continued to scratch my interest in historical and contemporary chess figures. To the extent time and my lack of diligence allowed, there are links to personal websites, chess.com usernames, and individual home pages. There are even references to some of their online presences. Along this journey, I also found some interesting games. Given all the material, I was only able to include a smattering of games, book images, and video clips. I hope you found some of interest.
If there were any errors, please advise me and I'll correct those. And if there is some other information you would like included in every future chess player bio, I'll do what I can to oblige. Please note that at this point I do not intend to list up front the players who had a birthday in a given month. That would reduce the surprise factor, akin to your parents giving you a list of gifts you can expect well in advance of some special event. Plus, they could just be messing with your head. Not that I've ever done that to my kids.
If you did enjoy this post, please let me know as there is a bit of labor involved in putting this together and "me" as an audience of one would be either a testimony to rampant narcissism or perhaps to a masochistic bent. If there is no enthusiasm for this type of blog, I'll retire it after I've published for all twelve months...it's a marathon at this point. Plus, there might be one person out there anxiously awaiting to see if their birthday in September (the last month to complete since I started these posts with October 2024) aligns with the stars, but they're too lazy or busy to find out themselves.
