Ruslan Ponomariov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ruslan PonomariovРуслан Пономарьов |
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Ponomariov in 2008
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| Full name | Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Born | 11 October 1983 Horlivka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (1998) |
| World Champion | 2002–2004 (FIDE) |
| FIDE rating | 2631 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2764 (July 2011) |
| Peak ranking | No. 6 (April 2002) |
Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (Ukrainian: Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в) was born on October 11, 1983. He is a super talented Ukrainian chess player. He holds the highest title in chess, called Grandmaster. Ruslan was the FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004. He was the youngest person to win this title, at just 18 years old! He also won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2011.
Ruslan Ponomariov has done very well in many big chess events. He was second place in the Chess World Cup 2005 and Chess World Cup 2009. He also reached the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarterfinals in 2007.
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Becoming a Chess Star
Ruslan Ponomariov was born in Horlivka, a city in Ukraine. His dad taught him how to play chess when he was only 5 years old. By the age of 9, he was already a very good player. In 1993, he moved to Kramatorsk to attend a special chess school. There, he was trained by Boris Ponomariov.
In 1994, when he was ten, Ruslan came in third at the World Youth Chess Championship for players under 12. He won the European Youth Chess Championship for under-18 players when he was just twelve! The next year, he won the World Under-18 Championship. In 1998, at 14, he became a Grandmaster. At that time, he was the youngest player ever to get this title. In 1999, he helped the Ukrainian youth team win the U-16 Chess Olympiad.
Ruslan also had other great results. He won a tournament in Donetsk in 1998. He played very well in the European Chess Club Cup in 2000, even beating the FIDE World Champion at the time. In 2001, he won a gold medal for Ukraine at the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul.
Winning the World Championship
In 2002, Ruslan Ponomariov became the FIDE World Chess Champion. He beat another Ukrainian player, Vasyl Ivanchuk, in the final match. Ruslan was only 18 years old, making him the youngest world champion ever! However, at that time, there were two different world chess champions. So, his title was not considered "undisputed."
After winning the world title, he came in second at the strong Linares tournament in 2002. He finished behind the legendary player Garry Kasparov.
There were plans for Ruslan to play a big match against Kasparov in 2003. The winner would then play another match to unite the two world chess titles. But this match did not happen. Ruslan remained the FIDE champion until Rustam Kasimdzhanov won the title in 2004.
Life After the Championship
On his 20th birthday in 2003, Ruslan Ponomariov had a strange moment. He lost a game because his mobile phone rang during play! This happened at a team championship in Bulgaria.
In 2004, Ruslan won another gold medal with the Ukrainian team at the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Calvià, Spain.
In 2005, he won the "Ciudad de Pamplona" tournament. He also won a quick chess tournament in Odesa and a blitz tournament in Moscow. That same year, he reached the final of the 2005 Chess World Cup. He played against Levon Aronian, who won the final. Ruslan also famously beat a chess computer called Fritz in a tournament. This was the last time a human player beat a top computer in a fair match!
In 2006, he shared first place with Aronian and Peter Leko at the Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow.
Ruslan's second-place finish in the 2005 World Cup allowed him to play in the 2007 Candidates tournament. This tournament decides who gets to challenge for the World Championship. However, Ruslan lost in the first round and has not qualified for a Candidates tournament since.
In 2009, he shared first place at a festival in San Sebastian, Spain. He also came in second at the 2009 Chess World Cup. He played a very close final match against Boris Gelfand, but Gelfand won in the end.
In 2010, Ruslan won the important Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund. Later that year, Ukraine won another gold medal at the 2010 Chess Olympiad. Ruslan was a key player on that winning team.
In 2011, he showed great skill at the Aeroflot Blitz tournament, finishing second. In June 2011, he won the 80th Ukrainian Chess Championship. This was considered the strongest chess championship ever held in Ukraine.
Family Life
Ruslan Ponomariov is married to Ines, who is from Spain. She works as an interpreter. They have known each other since 2008. Ruslan and Ines live in Bilbao with their son, Yaroslav.
Awards and Honors
- Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
See also
In Spanish: Ruslán Ponomariov para niños
