Hristos Banikas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hristos Banikas |
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Banikas in 2016
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| Full name | Hristodoulos Banikas |
| Country | Greece |
| Born | 20 May 1978 Salonica, Greece |
| Title | Grandmaster (2001) |
| FIDE rating | 2599 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2646 (July 2014) |
Hristodoulos Banikas (born May 20, 1978) is a Greek chess grandmaster. He comes from Thessaloniki, a city in Greece. A grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can achieve.
Chess Achievements
Hristos Banikas started playing chess at a young age. He quickly showed great talent.
- In 1990, he won the Greek championship for players under 12.
- In 1993, he became the Greek champion for players under 16.
- In 1996, he won the Greek championship for players under 20.
He won the main Greek championship eight times! These wins happened between 2000 and 2005, and again in 2008 and 2009. The international chess organization, FIDE, gave him the Grandmaster title in 2001.
Important Matches and Tournaments
In 2001, Banikas played a special match against a chess computer called Deep Junior. He lost this "Man vs. Machine" game.
The next year, in 2002, Banikas won the European Rapid Chess Championship. This event took place in Panormo, Crete, Greece. He also won the 2nd Balkan Individual Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, that same year.
Banikas has often played for the Greek national team. He represented Greece in almost every Chess Olympiad since 1996. He also played in the 2010 World Team Chess Championship. There, he won a silver medal for his individual performance. He has also played in every European Team Chess Championship since 2001, winning an individual silver medal in 2005.
Playing Style
Hristos Banikas is known for his exciting and complex playing style. He likes to get into tactical situations. This means he often creates positions where many pieces are attacking and defending at the same time.
When he plays with the black pieces, he often uses the Sicilian Defence opening. He uses this against the move 1.e4. When he plays with the white pieces, he usually starts with 1.d4. Sometimes, he also plays 1. Nf3 or 1.c4. These are all common opening moves in chess.
