Remembering Igor Kurnosov
There are four Grandmasters who were born on "This Day in Chess History:"
- Mikhail Golubev of the Ukraine (featured last year on "Today's Grandmaster"), born 1970, GM 1996.
- Harmen Jonkman of the Netherlands, born 1975, GM 2002.
- Ilmars Starostits of Latvia, born 1979, GM 2010.
- Igor Kurnosov of Russia, born 1985, GM 2003, died 2013.
Igor Kurnosov (Russian: Игорь Курносов; 30 May 1985 – 8 August 2013). In 2004 he won the 8th Open International Bavarian Chess Championship in Bad Wiessee edging out on tiebreak other five grandmasters. Kurnosov took clear first place at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø, Norway in 2008, 2008/9 Hastings Masters tournament and 2011 Politiken Cup in Helsingør, Denmark. In December 2011, he won the Zurich Christmas Open by tiebreak over Boris Grachev.
In 2012, by winning the semi-finals in Astana, Kurnosov qualified for the World Rapid Chess Championship final. In the same year he tied for 1st in the Biel Masters Open winning the tournament on count back. In May 2013 he won the Nakhchivan Open on tiebreak over Aleksandr Shimanov and Gadir Guseinov. Two months later, in July 2013, Kurnosov won the 20th Abu Dhabi Chess Festival, edging out Zahar Efimenko, Mikhailo Oleksienko and Avetik Grigoryan on tiebreak.
On the August 2013 FIDE rating list, Kurnosov ranked 84th in the world with a 2662 rating.
Kurnosov was hit and tragically killed by a car on 8 August 2013 at 2:45 am in his home town Chelyabinsk, aged 28. You can find an article about him here.
