Alexander Grischuk facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alexander Grischuk
Grischuk in 2018
Full name	Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
Country	Russia
Born	(1983-10-31) October 31, 1983 (age 41) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster (2000)
FIDE rating	2777 (August 2025)
Peak rating	2810 (December 2014)
Ranking	No. 7 (July 2021)
Peak ranking	No. 3 (May 2014)

Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a famous chess player from Russia. He was born on October 31, 1983. He is a Grandmaster, which is the highest title a chess player can get.

Alexander won the Russian chess championship in 2009. He also won the World Blitz Chess Championship three times. This makes him one of the best blitz chess players in the world.

He has played in five Candidates Tournaments. These tournaments decide who gets to challenge the World Chess Champion. Grischuk also reached the semifinals of the FIDE World Championship in 2000.

Alexander Grischuk has won many medals for his country in team chess events. These include gold medals at the Chess Olympiads and the World Team Chess Championship.

Alexander Grischuk's Chess Journey

Early Years and Achievements

Alexander Grischuk in 1992 at Duisburg,
2nd at the World Chess Championship under 10

Alexander Grischuk started playing chess at a young age. In 1996, he competed in the World Youth Festival. He also played in the Disney Rapid Chess Championships.

By 1998, Grischuk became a FIDE Master. This is an important title in chess. He continued to play in many tournaments across Russia.

In 1999, he kept improving his skills. He tied for first place at the Chigorin Memorial tournament. This showed he was becoming a strong player.

Becoming a Grandmaster

In January 2000, Alexander Grischuk earned his first Grandmaster norm. A norm is a high-level performance needed to become a Grandmaster. He then won the Lausanne Young Masters tournament. This success helped him enter the FIDE Top 100 list of chess players.

Later in 2000, he officially became a Grandmaster. He also won the Torshavn International tournament. At the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, he won an individual bronze medal. He reached the semifinals of the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship.

In 2002, he finished second at the Corus chess event. In 2004, he reached the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship. He also shared first place at the Poikovsky tournament.

Competing for the World Championship

In 2005, Grischuk qualified for the 2007 Candidates Tournament. He won his matches against Vladimir Malakhov and Sergei Rublevsky. This allowed him to play in the 2007 FIDE World Chess Championship.

In 2009, Grischuk won the Russian Chess Championship. He also won the Linares tournament that year.

He qualified for the 2011 Candidates Tournament. He won against strong players like Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik. He reached the final, but lost to Boris Gelfand. The winner of this tournament would play for the World Championship title.

Alexander Grischuk also played in the 2013 Candidates Tournament. In November 2014, he won the Tashir Chess Tournament. This win helped him reach a very high Elo rating of over 2800.

Recent Tournaments and Successes

In 2016, Grischuk won a match against Ding Liren. In 2017, he tied for first place at the FIDE Grand Prix series in Sharjah. He also won a match against Yu Yangyi in China.

In December 2017, Grischuk won the men's Basque chess event. This was part of the IMSA Elite Mind Games in China.

In 2019, Grischuk played in the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix tournament. He finished second in this event. He also won the Hamburg tournament. These results helped him qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2020.

The 2020 Candidates Tournament was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It started again in April 2021. Grischuk finished in sixth place in this tough competition. In 2022, he played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 series.

Team Chess Achievements

Chess Olympiads

Alexander Grischuk has represented Russia in many Chess Olympiads. These are big team chess competitions. He has won several medals for his country.

Blitz Chess Skills

Alexander Grischuk is especially good at blitz chess. This is a fast version of chess where players have very little time.

In 2006, he won his first World Blitz Chess Championship in Israel. He won it again in 2012 in Kazakhstan. In 2015, he won the World Blitz Championship for a third time in Berlin. This makes him one of the most successful blitz players ever.

In 2023, he won the Tata Steel India Blitz open. He finished ahead of other strong players.

Personal Life

Alexander Grischuk is married to Kateryna Lagno. She is also a chess grandmaster. They have three children together.

See also

In Spanish: Aleksandr Grischuk para niños