2006 in chess
Encyclopedia
May
- May 5 – The world's oldest living Grandmaster, Andor LilienthalAndor LilienthalAndor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...
, celebrates his 95th birthday. In his career Lilienthal played World Champions Emanuel LaskerEmanuel LaskerEmanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
, José Raúl CapablancaJosé Raúl CapablancaJosé Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
, Alexander AlekhineAlexander AlekhineAlexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, and Mikhail BotvinnikMikhail BotvinnikMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
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October
- Vladimir KramnikVladimir KramnikVladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
(Russia) defeats Veselin TopalovVeselin TopalovVeselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
(Bulgaria) in the 2006 World Championship title unification match to become undisputed world championWorld Chess ChampionshipThe World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
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December
- December 26 – The All India Chess FederationAll India Chess FederationThe All India Chess Federation is central administrative body for the game of chess in India. Founded in 1951, the federation is affiliated to Fédération Internationale des Échecs, , the world body for chess...
imposes a ten-year ban on Umakant Sharma for using a BluetoothBluetoothBluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
device sewn into his cap to gain assistance from a chess computer during a FIDE rated tournament in DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. - December 29 – 44th Indian Chess ChampionshipIndian Chess ChampionshipThe Indian Chess Championship is a yearly national chess championship of India. It was established in 1955 by the Andhra State Chess Association as a two-yearly event, but since 1971 it has been played yearly. The first edition was held in Eluru from May 15-May 28 and was jointly won by Ramchandra...
(National "A" Championship) in AtulAtulAtul is an industrial village developed due to the company Atul Ltd, located in District Valsad, State Gujarat, India. Althugh small village, it has very good educational and recreational facilities, banks, temples, post office and railway station. Its colony is also very well developed. The word...
won by GM Surya Shekhar GangulySurya Shekhar GangulySurya Shekhar Ganguly is an Indian chess Grandmaster and a chess prodigy from Kolkata. He started playing chess at the age of 5 and achieved great successes at National Junior and World Junior Championships since the age of 8. He also set a record of being the youngest player to beat a Grandmaster...
for the fourth consecutive year with the score 9/13. The tournament format was changed to a 13 round SwissSwiss system tournamentA Swiss-system tournament is a commonly used type of tournament where players or teams need to be paired to face each other for several rounds of competition. This type of tournament was first used in a Zurich chess tournament in 1895, hence the name "Swiss system". The Swiss system is used when...
instead of the 22 player round-robinRound-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...
used previously. - December 30 – Iranian Chess ChampionshipIranian Chess ChampionshipThe Iranian Chess Championship is the yearly national chess championship of Iran. Below is the gallery of champions, notice the gap between 1980 and 1990 , when chess was forbidden in Iran...
in TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
won by GM Ehsan Ghaem MaghamiEhsan Ghaem MaghamiEhsan Ghaem-Maghami is a chess grandmaster from Iran. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2583.In 2009, he won a 20 games combined match against Anatoly Karpov, played with a special rule: play to mate or dead draw...
at 8.5/11. The women's champion is WGM Shadi ParidarShadi ParidarShadi Paridar is an Iranian chess Woman Grandmaster. Played for Iran in the Women's Asian Team Chess Championships of 1995, 2003, 2005 and 2008.-External links:* at Chessgames.com*...
scoring 9.5/11.
Grandmasters
In 2006 FIDE awarded the title of Grandmaster to the following players:- Bassem AminBassem AminBassem Amin is an Egyptian chess grandmaster. He is one of only three Egyptian grandmasters.On the November 2009 FIDE list his Elo rating is 2553.-External links:...
(b. 1988) - Levan Aroshidze (b. 1985)
- David Arutinian (b. 1984)
- Valeriy AveskulovValeriy AveskulovValeriy Aveskulov is a chess Grandmaster and Ukrainian Champion in 2007.In 2006, he won the Femida Tournament in Kharkiv and tied for 4th–6th with Mikhailo Oleksienko and Nazar Firman in the Vasylyshyn Memorial in Lviv. In 2007, he came first in the OCF North American FIDE Open in Stillwater,...
(b. 1986) - Pascal CharbonneauPascal CharbonneauPascal Charbonneau is a Canadian Grandmaster of chess, a financial analyst, and an avid supporter of the NYC Club, Tenjune...
(b. 1983) - Pawel Czarnota (b. 1988)
- Chakkravarthy DeepanChakkravarthy DeepanChakkravarthy Deepan is an Indian chess Grandmaster .In 2004 he tied for 2nd-4th with Praveen Thipsay and Saidali Iuldachev in the Piloo Mody International Open in Lucknow...
(b. 1987) - Dzhakay Dzhakaev (b. 1980)
- Grzegorz GajewskiGrzegorz GajewskiGrzegorz Gajewski is a Polish chess player holding the title of Grandmaster .He was a member of the Polish team at the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden where he played on the fourth board scoring 6,5 points out of 10 games. Gajewski is probably most known in the chess world by the gambit type move...
(b. 1985) - José González GarcíaJosé González GarcíaJosé González García is a FIDE chess grandmaster from Mexico. In the May 2010 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2514....
(b. 1973) - Andrey Gutov (b. 1978)
- Gennadij Ginsburg (b. 1971)
- Bartlomiej Heberla (b. 1985)
- Peter Horvath (b. 1972)
- Alojzije Janković (b. 1983)
- Radosław Jedynak (b. 1982)
- Zoran Jovanovic (b. 1979)
- Meelis Kanep (b. 1983)
- Melikset KhachiyanMelikset KhachiyanMelikset Khachiyan is an Armenian-American Grandmaster of chess, originally from Armenia, who now resides in Los Angeles.Khachiyan began playing chess at the age of eight. Two years later he won the Baku Junior Championship. When he was twelve he became a Soviet candidate master. Among his own...
(b. 1970) - Ibragim Khamrakulov (b. 1982)
- Aleksandr Kharitonov (b. 1986)
- Petr Kostenko (b. 1976)
- Tigran KotanjianTigran KotanjianTigran Kotanjian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster. On the September 2009 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2553, ranking him number twelve in Armenia....
(b. 1981) - Sergei Krivoshey (b. 1971)
- Yuriy KryvoruchkoYuriy KryvoruchkoYuriy Kryvoruchko is a Ukrainian chess Grandmaster .He came third in the 2004 European Youth Chess Championship in Ürgüp and in the 2006 World Junior Chess Championship in Yerevan. In 2008 he tied for 1st–8th with Vugar Gashimov, David Arutinian, Sergey Fedorchuk, Konstantin Chernyshov, Andrei...
(b. 1986) - Vitaly Kunin (b. 1983)
- Viktor LaznickaViktor LáznickaViktor Láznička is a chess grandmaster from the Czech Republic.-Early moves:After learning the game at age six, he progressed quickly to playing junior tournaments and achieved many prize-winning performances in the national championships across the range of age limits...
(b. 1988) - Quang Liem Le (b. 1991)
- Constantin LupulescuConstantin LupulescuConstantin Lupulescu is a Romanian chess Grandmaster . He took part in the Chess World Cup 2011, but was eliminated in the first round by Daniel Fridman....
(b. 1984) - Nidjat MamedovNidjat MamedovNidjat Mamedov is an Azerbaijani chess Grandmaster . In 2011 he won the Azerbaijani Chess Championship.In 2007/08 he tied for first with Vadim Malakhatko and Valeriy Neverov in the Hastings International Chess Congress...
(b. 1985) - Mikulas Manik (b. 1975)
- Andrei Murariu (b. 1986)
- Das Neelotpal (b. 1982)
- Magesh Panchanathan (b. 1983)
- Eugene PerelshteynEugene PerelshteynEugene Perelshteyn is a chess grandmaster and author. He earned the International Master title in 2001 and the Grandmaster title in 2006. He won the U.S. Junior Closed Championship in 2000....
(b. 1980) - Reefat Bin-SattarReefat Bin-SattarReefat Bin-Sattar is a chess player from Bangladesh and the third grandmaster to emerge from the country.An International Master since 1993, Bin-Sattar finally achieved the International Grandmaster title in 2006, when his FIDE rating reached the 2500 level required. All three of his qualifying...
(b. 1974) - Davor Rogic (b. 1971)
- Andrey Rychagov (b. 1979)
- Bator Sambuev (b. 1980)
- Vasile Sanduleac (b. 1971)
- Konstantine Shanava (b. 1985)
- John Shaw (b. 1968)
- Andrey Sumets (b. 1980)
- Jurij Tihonov (b. 1978)
- Todor Todorov (b. 1974)
- Marko Tratar (b. 1974)
- Yge Visser (b. 1963)
- Jan WerleJan WerleJan Werle is a Dutch chess player with the title Grandmaster.-Junior success:He learned the moves at the age of five, after watching his father play with a friend. Rapid progress brought him much junior success across the various age groups of both national and regional championships...
(b. 1984) - Andrey Zhigalko (b. 1985)
- Zhou JianchaoZhou JianchaoZhou Jianchao is a Chinese chess Grandmaster. In 2006, he became China's 21st Grandmaster at the age of 17. In March 2009, Zhou became for the first time in his career a player in the world...
(b. 1988) - Yaroslav Zinchenko (b. 1987)
Woman Grandmaster
In 2006 FIDE awarded the title Woman Grandmaster to the following players:- Evgeniya Doluhanova (b. 1984)
- Marina Guseva (b. 1986)
- Anastasia Gutsko (b. 1985)
- Sopio Gvetadze (b. 1983)
- Thi Bao Tram Hoang (b. 1987)
- Beata Kądziołka (b. 1986)
- Julia Kochetkova (b. 1981)
- Tatiana KostiukTatiana KostiukTatiana Kostiuk is a Ukrainian chess player who has earned the Woman Grandmaster title.- Biography :Born in Chernigov, Ukraine, Tatiana studied Management in hotel, resort and tourism at the National Municipal Academy in Kharkov, where she gained a Masters degree in 2006.- Chess career :Kostiuk...
(b. 1982) - Liubov Kostiukova (b. 1983)
- Lija Kucherova (b. 1986)
- Naira Movsisian (b. 1977)
- Jessica Nill (b. 1979)
- Niina Sammalvuo (b. 1971)
- Anna SharevichAnna SharevichAnna Sharevich is a Belarusian chess master. She achieved the required norms for the title Woman Grandmaster in 2006. She won the Ladies' Belarusian Chess Championship in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2011 and played for Belarus in the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2002 to 2008 .-External links:...
(b. 1985) - Shen Yang (b. 1989)
- Elena TairovaElena TairovaElena Tairova was a Belaussian and Russian chess player, Woman Grandmaster and International Master.-Chess career:...
(1991–2010) - Carmen Voicu (b. 1981)
Deaths
- January 15 – Herbert AvramHerbert AvramHerbert Avram was an American chess player, and Lieutenant Commander in US Navy. He was born in New York.During and after World War II, he worked at the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency...
(1913–2006), 92, United States. - May 13 - Ratmir KholmovRatmir KholmovRatmir Dmitrievich Kholmov was a Russian chess Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe during his career, and tied for the Soviet Championship title in 1963, but lost the playoff...
(1925–2006), 80, Soviet/Russian Grandmaster. - May 13 – Burt HochbergBurt HochbergBurt Hochberg was an expert on chess and other games and puzzles. He authored and edited many books on chess, and served as editor of both Chess Life , and GAMES magazine...
(1933–2006), 73, chess writer and editor, editor of Chess LifeChess LifeChess Life is a monthly chess magazine published in the United States. The official publication of the United States Chess Federation , it reaches more than a quarter of a million readers every month. A subscription to Chess Life is one of the benefits of Full Adult, Youth, or Life membership in...
. - May 20 – Wolfgang UnzickerWolfgang UnzickerWolfgang Unzicker was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead....
(1925–2006), 80, German Grandmaster, "world champion of amateurs". - July 2 – René LetelierRené LetelierRené Letelier Martner was a Chilean chess player with the title of International Master.-Biography:...
(1915–2006), 91, Chilean International Master. - July 14 – Aleksander WojtkiewiczAleksander WojtkiewiczAleksander Wojtkiewicz was a Polish International Grandmaster of chess. He was born in Latvia. In his early teens he was already a strong player; a student of ex-world champion Mikhail Tal whom he assisted in the 1979 Interzonal tournament in Riga. He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1981...
(1963–2006), 43, Polish Grandmaster. - July 23 – Rudolf TeschnerRudolf TeschnerRudolf Teschner was a German chess master and writer.Teschner was seven times Champion of Berlin. In 1948, he won an East-Zones Championship in Bad Doberan, and later in 1951 took the German Championship .Teschner was leading member of the German Chess Olympic team in 1952 and 1956...
(1922–2006), 84, German Grandmaster and chess writer. - July 26 – Jessie GilbertJessie GilbertJessica "Jessie" Gilbert was a British chess player.-Biography:Jessica was the daughter of Angela and Ian Gilbert and was raised in Woldingham, Surrey. She attended Croydon High School. Her father was a career manager with the Royal Bank of Scotland...
(1987–2006), 19, English Woman FIDE Master. - August 14 – Adriaan de GrootAdriaan de GrootAdrianus Dingeman de Groot was a Dutch chess master and psychologist, who conducted some of the most famous chess experiments of all time in the 1940s-60...
(1914–2006), 92, Dutch chess master and psychologist. - November 29 – Krystyna Hołuj-Radzikowska (1931–2006), 75, Polish Woman Grandmaster.
- December 5 – David BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
(1924–2006), 82, Soviet/Ukrainian Grandmaster and renowned chess writer, challenger in the 1951 World Championship matchWorld Chess ChampionshipThe World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
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