October Babies: A Chess Zodiac
So, you were born in October? Hey, so was my sister and one of my uncles. But never mind that. You were born in October and want to know which top-flight chess players, streamers, and/or authors were born the same day as you. Well, this doesn't cover everybody, but it offers a decent selection for every day of the month. And a few days had multiple entries. The last two days of the month are particularly spectacular!
What brought this on? Well, one of the members in BlogChamps had a birthday (duh, like that doesn't happen all the time on a site this large) and being that this is a chess site, it made sense to find out what famous players shared their birthday. And publish a quick bio on the famous individual in one of the club's forums. Then my OCD kicked in and it became a daily ritual for me to find one or more famous players for every day of the month and publish a quick bio for those persons.
Time passed (there's an original realization🤪), and it occurred to me that other folks on the site also might be curious about who in the chess stratosphere shares their birthday. So, finally, here we are. I meant to post this sooner...but it only occurred to me on 9 November. I'll try to do better for the month of November with a post in early December. That is, if anyone finds this interesting enough to view and offer encouragement in the comments.
So, here's the big question: 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 October?
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.
In the meantime, below you'll find images of photos, stamps, paintings or sketches of various chess luminaries. You can click on a date just below if you're only interested in a specific day. And after looking at the bio of the birthday personality or personalities on a given day you should find a button that returns you here so you can select another day of the month. If you want. Enjoy!
Links to Birth Dates: 1 Oct, 2 Oct, 3 Oct, 4 Oct, 5 Oct, 6 Oct, 7 Oct, 8 Oct, 9 Oct, 10 Oct, 11 Oct, 12 Oct, 13 Oct, 14 Oct, 15 Oct, 16 Oct, 17 Oct, 18 Oct, 19 Oct, 20 Oct, 21 Oct, 22 Oct, 23 Oct, 24 Oct, 25 Oct, 26 Oct, 27 Oct, 28 Oct, 29 Oct, 30 Oct, 31 Oct!
Looking for birthdays in other months?
February Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Sources for this information included chess.com, wikipedia.com, ChessBase, FIDE, and some news articles. As well as my own faulty memories.
October 1
Sam Shankland was born 1 October 1991. This American GM is renowned for his efforts on chess.com. His peak rating of 2731 was achieved in February 2019 when he was #24 in the world, and he is still rated 2677. He won an individual gold medal in the 2014 Olympiad and a team gold with the U.S. in 2016. In 2018 he won the U.S. CC.
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October 2
Jonathan Speelman was born 2 October 1956. He is an English GM, mathematician, chess writer and Twitch streamer for ICC games. He won the British CC three times and has been a regular member of English teams at the Olympiads. His peak rating was 2645 in July 1988 when he was ranked #5 in the world. He has written or co-authored several books including Analysing the Endgame, Endgame Preparation, Batsford Chess Endings and Best Games 1970–1980 that analyzed almost fifty top games.
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October 3
Zeinab Mamedyarov is an Azerbaijani WGM born 3 October 1983. She won the U18 Women’s World Youth CC in 2000 and earned a silver medal at the Olympiad that same year. A three-time Azerbaijani Women’s CC her peak rating of 2384 was reached in July 2007. Her rating has slid to 2145 as of February 2024. She is the older sister of GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and their sister Turkan also plays chess.
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October 4
Bartłomiej (Bartek) Macieja, born 4 October 1977, is a Polish GM. In 1994 he won the Polish U-18 CC and he was a two-time national CC. He has played on his national team in six Olympiads, in four FIDE Knockout Matches, and played an eight-game match against Karpov, but lost 6-2. His peak rating was 2653 in January 2004 when he reached #40 in the world. He still retains a 2520 rating as of November 2024. He is married to Mexican WIM Alejandra Guerrero Rodríguez, who herself won a national championship in her native Mexico. He currently serves as the head chess coach for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
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October 5 
Anna-Maria Botsari (Greek: Άννα-Μαρία Μπότσαρη; born 5 October 1972) is a Greek WGM. Botsari has won, or jointly won, the Greek Women's Chess Championship eight times, and has participated as a key member of her nation's women's teams in fifteen Olympiads, from 1986 - 2014. Her peak rating was 2394 in October 2003. She was a bronze medalist at the 1990 World Junior Chess Championship and silver medalist in 1991. She was the highest rated Greek female chess player for more than a decade. In 2002 she set a Guiness World Record by playing 1,102 opponents in just over a day. She won all but seven of those games, allowing seven opponents to skate with a draw.
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October 6
Levon Grigori Aronian (Armenian: Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, romanized: Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian-American GM. He is a former world rapid and blitz champion and a two-time Chess960 World CC. His peak rating was 2830 in March 2014 and his peak world ranking was #2 beginning in January 2012…placing behind you-know-who both times. It is no surprise he has done so well when considering he won the 1994 World Youth CC (U-12) ahead of future superstars Bacrot, Ponomariov, Vallejo Pons, and Grischuk.
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October 7
Loek van Wely (born 7 October 1972) is a Dutch chess player and politician. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1993, and was rated among the world's top ten in 2001 with a rating of 2714. In March 2019, he was elected to the Dutch Senate. He has won the Dutch Chess Championship on eight occasions: six consecutive times from 2000 through 2005, in 2014 and in 2017.
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October 8
Arthur Bisguier was an American GM born 8 October 1929, just in time for the Great Depression that started sixteen days later! He won two US Junior CC, three US Open CC, and the 1954 US CC that was restricted to the top players in the nation. His peak rating was 2455 in January 1980, but would no doubt have been higher had the rating system existed when he was at peak strength in the 1950s. Arthur served as second to Bobby Fischer at several international events. Bisguier was hired to play in towns throughout the country to popularize chess. He also wrote two books about his games and was a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine.
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October 9
Wesley So is a Filipino and American GM born 9 October 1993. A three-time US CC he was the first Fischer Random World CC in 2019, beating Magnificent Magnus to grab the crown. His peak rating was 2822 in February 2017, when he was rated #2 in the world behind you know who. His current rating is 2751. At the 2016 Olympiad Wesley won the individual gold on board three of the gold-medal winning US team. Wesley writes the analysis of his games in an entertaining and informative style.
October10
Daniel (Danny) Rensch was born October 10, 1985. He is an American IM whose peak ELO was 2416 in September 2011. He is currently rated 2402, but has only played in two FIDE events since 2012. In 2004 he tied for the National High School CC, then beat future GM Alex Lenderman to secure the title. He is, of course, best known as the public face of chess.com!! He has also written books on Rook endgames, IQPs, and pawn structures. I find his commentary quite refreshing.
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October11
Ruslan Ponomariov is a Ukrainian GM born 11 October 1983. He was the FIDE World CC from 2002 – 2004 after beating his countryman, Vasyl Ivanchuk. That made him the first teenager and youngest person ever to hold the title, at age eighteen! Oddly, he only won the Ukrainian CC once, in 2011. His peak rating was 2764 in July 2011 but his peak ranking occurred well before then, reaching #6 in the world in April 2002. He is currently rated 2655 and holds down the 61st spot on the top 100 in the world list. In the 2001 Chess Olympiad he earned the individual gold medal on board 2, playing for the Ukrainian team.
#32 chess.com Hall of Fame: Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was an American GM, psychologist, university professor, and the author of innumerable books. Born on October 11, 1914, his best lifetime result was a tie for first with the legendary Paul Keres in the incredibly strong 1938 AVRO tournament. Fine declined an opportunity to compete for the World CC in 1948. He also won four gold medals in Chess Olympiads and won the US Open seven times—every time he entered. ChessMetrics lists his peak rating as 2762 in July 1941 and ranks him #1 globally from Oct 1940 – March 1941.
Fine’s Basic Chess Endings was the endgame book for several generations of players. But any book of that length inevitably contained flaws. A good friend of mine, NM Curtis Carlson, regularly published improvements to Fine’s lines in Chess Life & Review. That was before the advent of computers that could point out nuances humans normally miss.
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October12
Michael Roiz was born 12 October 1983 in Russia but emigrated to Israel in 1995 where he earned his IM and GM titles. His peak rating of 2680 was achieved in July 2008, placing him at #40 in the world. His current rating is 2568. In 2012 he served as a second for Boris Gelfand in the World CC match. A chessable.com author (@gmmichaelroiz on their site), he has published two books for White on the English opening and one book for White on how to play against the Grunfeld and KID, plus a Short & Sweet on the same topic. The last two are brand new.
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October13
Nana Alexandria is a Georgian WIM born 13 October 1949. She is also an International Arbiter and was the chairperson of the FIDE Women’s Commission from 1986 to 2001. A three-time Soviet Women’s CC she twice challenged for the Women’s World CC, losing to Nona Gaprindashvili in 1977 and drawing with Maia Chiburdanidze in 1981, the latter retaining the title. She played for the Soviet national team in six Women’s Chess Olympiads.
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October14
Jaan Ehlvest was born 14 October 1962 in Estonia. The Estonian CC in 1986 he received his GM title the following year and was a member of the Estonian team at every Olympiad from 1992 - 2004. He has represented the US since 2006. His peak rating was 2660 in January 1996, but he was ranked as the #6 player in the world in 1990. His current rating is 2531.
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October 15 
Duško Pavasovič is a Slovenian GM born 15 October 1976 (in what was then Yugoslavia). He is a three-time Slovenian CC. His peak rating of 2615 was reached in January 2004 when he was ranked #86 in the world. He is currently rated 2517.
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October 16 
Rafael Artemovich Vaganian (Armenian: Ռաֆայել Արտյոմի Վահանյան, Rrafayel Artyomi Vahanyan) is an Armenian GM born 15 October 1951. The Soviet CC in 1989 he achieved his peak rating of 2670 in January 2005. Somewhat curiously, he was ranked #4 in the world twenty years before that, in 1985. Not that there’s any inflation in the ELO system😉. He has won a number of major international tournaments including Las Palmas 1979, Hastings 1982/83, the 1985 Biel Interzonal, and had ties for first in events such as Moscow 1982, Tallinn 1983 and the 2004 Aeroflot Open. He is married to WIM Irina Vaganian.
Abhijeet Gupta was born 16 October 1989. An Indian GM he was the first player to win the Commonwealth CC five times. He was the Junior World CC in 2008 ahead of talents such as Rodshtein, Howell, and Hou Yifan. He won an individual silver medal in the 2012 Chess Olympiad while playing board four for the Indian team. With a peak rating of 2667 in October 2012 he reached #83 in the world that same month. His current FIDE rating is 2573.
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October 17 
Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa was a German chess master. Born 17 October 1818 he was also a chess historian. He studied law and served as a Prussian diplomate to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Rio de Janeiro, and other places before retiring in 1864 to dedicate himself to chess. As a measure of his strength consider only that he defeated Adolf Anderssen 4 and 2 in 1845 and again in 1851 by a score of 10 and 5. He also bashed about Johann Löwenthal by a trouncing of 6 and 1 in 1846 and narrowly edged Howard Staunton by 7 and 6 in 1853. His primary contribution to the modern chess world was as the primary author of the Handbuch des Schachspiels, first published in 1843. His extensive chess library is still intact at Kórnik Castle near Poznań.
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October 18
Olexandr Bortnyk was born October 18, 1996. A Ukrainian GM he recently won back-to-back Bullet Brawl titles, becoming only the third player to do so. His older brother is an IM. His peak classical rating of 2610 was reached in December 2017. He is still rated 2603 but has played classical OTB games rarely since 2020. He and his wife moved to the USA in 2018 and founded the Bortnik School of Chess.
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October 19
Erik Blomqvist is a Swedish GM and two-time Swedish CC. Born 19 October 1990 his peak rating was 2574 in January 2017. He is currently rated 2483.
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October 20 
Lubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko (Ukrainian: Любов Жильцова-Лысенко) is a WIM and was born October 20, 1956. Her primary legacy is her starring role in the International Braille Chess Association. She won the IBCA Women’s World CC five times between 1989 and 2005, every four years, and earned the bronze medal in 2009. In the Women’s Chess Olympiads she won an individual gold medal in 1994 and 2006 on first board as a member of the IBCA team in nine of these competitions. She also won the Ukrainian Women’s CC in 1978.
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October 21 
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL) was born on the 21st of October 1990. He earned the GM title at age 14 and was the World Junior CC at 18. The three-time French CC also won the Biel GM tournament four consecutive years beginning in 2013 and snared the Sinquefield Cup twice. Finally, he won the World Blitz CC in 2021. MVL’s peak rating was 2819 in August 2016, making him the seventh highest-rated player of all time, and #2 in the world behind Magnus. He is currently rated 2735. You can read his personal blog at MVL - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
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October 22 
Federico Perez Ponsa is an Argentine GM born 22 October 1993, a Scorpio in the Chinese Year of the Rooster. His peak classical rating was 2594 in October 2017, but that has gradually slipped to 2540. In February 2019 he entered the FIDE Top 100 in both blitz and rapid! Then in 2022 he became the Argentine CC after winning a three-person tiebreaker. He has represented Argentina in four Olympiads.
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October 23 
Gabriel Schwartzman is a Romanian-born US GM born 23 October 1976, therefore a Scorpio in the Chinese Year of the Dragon. He earned his GM title in November 1993 making him one of the youngest GMs in the world at that time. In 1996 he won the US Open, the youngest to do so since King Bobby and also won the Internet World Student CC that year. But he retired in 2000 to focus on a career in business as he already had an MBA from Wharton, one of the preeminent business schools in America. While still active his peak rating of 2537 was achieved in January 2000, the year he chose to retire from chess.
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October 24 
Ding Liren (Chinese: 丁立人) is the reigning World CC and was born 24 October 1992, a Scorpio in the Year of the Water Monkey. A three-time Chinese CC he also won the 2019 Grand Chess Tour and the 2019 Sinquefield Cup. He also won an individual gold medal in the 2018 Olympiad. At various times he has been the #1 rated player in the world in blitz and rapid formats. But his highest classical ranking was #2 behind you know who in November 2021. Ding’s peak classical rating of 2816 was achieved in November 2018 but he has slumped over the last two years and his current rating is only 2728, leaving him just outside the top twenty in the world. He briefly held the longest unbeaten, classical streak at 100 games until Magnus surpassed that record a year later. I did not realize Ding Liren is a graduate of the Peking University Law School.
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi was born 24 October 1994, so like Ding Liren he was born a Scorpio but in the Year of the Dog. I’d place him according to the Indian Zodiac but that also requires knowing his time and place of birth. Maybe one of the BlogChamps members knows. Vidit is an Indian GM with a peak rating of 2747 in February 2024 and a peak world ranking of #14 in January 2024. He won the U14 World Youth CC in 2008 and finished second in the U16 World Youth CC in 2009. Vidit captained the gold medal-winning Indian team in the 2020 Online Olympiad, and he went undefeated in their 2024 finish, scoring 5W and 5D. In the 2024 Candidates Tournament he defeated Nakamura in both their games.
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October 25 
Arkadij Naiditsch, born 25 October 1985, is a Latvian-German GM currently representing Bulgaria. He has previously represented Latvia, Germany, and Azerbaijan. Apparently, there’s money to be made by switching federations! Well, if you’re a super-GM. This Scorpio born in the year of the Ox had a peak rating of 2737 and peak ranking of #18 in the world in December 2013. He is still rated 2636, leaving him just outside the top 100 in the world at #103. One of his biggest wins came in August 2014 when he used the black pieces to defeat the World CC (Magnus) in the Olympiad. At the time he was representing the German Federation. In the 2024 Olympiad he represented the Bulgarian national team at the Olympiad.
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Adrianus Dingeman (Adriaan) de Groot (there, now we all know where the name of the character in Guardians of the Galaxy came from) was born 26 October 2014, the year of the Tiger, also known as the year “The Great War” started. Hmph, not so great for several generations decimated because of trench warfare, pointless charges with bayonets fixed, and poison gas. Anyway, this Scorpio played for the Netherlands in the 1937 and 1939 Olympiads. But his real mark was as a psychologist “who conducted some of the most famous chess experiments of all time in the 1940s-60.” [Wikipedia] A key finding was that the most important decisions of the next move were reached “during the first few seconds of exposure to a new position.” My takeaway? Guess we should all be playing blitz, everything beyond those first few seconds is just grasping at straws!
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October 27 
Nazí Paikidze is a Georgian-American IM and WGM born 27 October 1993, the year of the Water Rooster. Twice the World Girls CC she has also won two US Women’s CC titles. Her peak rating was 2455 in January 2011 and stood at 2314 in July 2024. I had the brief privilege of being one of her students as part of Chess University in several online group sessions where she talked to us, and we could DM across the entire group.
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October 28 
Tiger Hillarp Persson was born October 28, 1970, the year of the Dog in the Chinese Zodiac. Did you know his birth name was Tigger Christopher Robin Hillarp Persson? His parents were Winnie the Pooh fans! This Scorpio had a peak FIDE rating of 2618 in October 2024. He has slowed down a bit and is only rated 2455 at this time. A three-time Swedish CC, he is also a high-level Go player, rated as a 3-Dan. As a 2-Dan in the martial art Tae-Kwan-Do I can tell you that his achievement requires exceptional skill and dedication. He has written two books on the Modern Defense.
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October 29 
Xu Yuhua was born 29 October 1976. This Chinese GM was the Women’s World CC from 2006 – 2008, earning the title in the strenuous 64-player knockout event played in 2006, finally wresting the title by winning a best-of-four final match 2-1/2 to ½ against IM Alisa Gallimova. Her peak rating was 2517 in April 2006, but she has not played a FIDE-rated game since 2011. Her final rating was 2465.
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October 30 
Charles II, Duke of Brunswick, was born 30 October 1804. In the chess world he is renowned for his loss in the Opera Game where he and Count Isouard de Vauvenargues lost to Paul Morphy. In his royal life, he assumed rule of the Duchy of Brunswick at age 11. He lasted in that role until 1830 when he was forced to flee from an enraged mob and the palace was destroyed. It had to be a bitter moment when his brother, William, was joyfully welcomed to the throne. Karl spent most of his remaining years, until 1873, alternating between Paris and London.
Ľubomír Ftáčnik is a Slovakian GM. He was born in Czechoslovakia on October 30, 1957, and won the national championship four times. His peak rating of 2618 was reached in January 2001 while his peak world ranking was #15 in July 1984. I know him primarily from his wonderful analyses in ChessBase. In 2004 he co-authored Winning the Won Game with Danny Kopec, a topic that does not receive enough attention. He remains active and plays league chess in the German Bundesliga.
Jeffery Xiong was born October 30. 2000 and was the fourth youngest American GM ever, achieving the title at age fourteen. Just days short of his birthday this year he won his first Titled Tuesday on 23 October, edging out Magnus Carlsen on tiebreaks after scoring 9.5 points. Jeffrey reached his peak rating of 2712 in November 2019 and his peak ranking of #30 in the world in August 2021. He is currently rated 2646, keeping him inside the world’s top 100 players at #88.
Xie Jun was born October 30, 1970, and is a GM and two-reign Women’s World CC. She retained the title several times, but also had separate windows where she sat atop the world. Xie also holds titles as an International Arbiter and FIDE Senior Trainer. She was an important member when the Chinese women’s team took gold in the 1998 Olympiad and became president of the Chinese Chess Association in 2019. Her peak rating was 2574 in January 2008, and she has been inactive since then.
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Chess Hall Of Fame - 40:Mikhail Chigorin - Chess.com
Hall Of Fame - 5: Alexander Alekhine - Chess.com
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine was born on Halloween 1892 and died in March 1946, but avoided an ending on the Ides of March, succumbing to unknown causes on the 26th. The fourth World CC defeated José Raúl Capablanca in 1927 to wrest the title from a man many considered undefeatable, and then assiduously avoided a rematch, with both sides making numerous claims about why a rematch never occurred. A highly regarded author (I consider him among the top 50 chess writers of all time), it is suspected that some of Alekhine’s claims exaggerate his abilities to have seen complicated calculations to their final conclusion during the game. Alekhine’s Defense is (duh) named after him, as are a number of other opening variations. A staggeringly brilliant player even when intoxicated, Alekhine supposedly sobered up for his rematch against Euwe in 1937.
Alexander Igorevich Grischuk, born on Halloween 1983, is a Russian GM and three-time Blitz World CC. He won the Russian CC in 2009 and earned two team golds, three team silvers, and one team silver at Chess Olympiads. Surprisingly, he has only one individual Olympiad medal, a bronze. His peak rating was 2810 in December 2014; he had reached his peak world ranking earlier in the year as #3 in the world. He is currently rated 2689 and ranked #40 in the world.
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Omnes vota natalicia tibi sint! (May all your birthday wishes come true!)
I hope you enjoyed this blog. It scratched my interest in historical and contemporary chess figures. And along the way I found some very interesting games as some of the sites I visited list "famous" games that I had never heard of, including any number of Immortal Games. I might include some of those brilliancies in future posts, but it's time to post this one while October is still fresh in our memories.
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 before putting in the time on a list of November titled players who might share a birthday with you or someone you know. After all, anybody can look up Magnus' birthday.
