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Vadim Zvjaginsev
VSvjaginzev09.jpg
Zvjaginsev in 2009
Full name Vadim Victorovich Zvyagintsev
Country Russia
Born (1976-08-18) 18 August 1976 (age 48)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Title Grandmaster (1994)
FIDE rating 2617 (June 2025)
Peak rating 2688 (January 2012)
Peak ranking No. 23 (October 2002)

Vadim Zvjaginsev (born August 18, 1976, in Moscow) is a famous Russian chess player. He earned the top title in chess, Grandmaster (GM), in 1994. Vadim has played for Russia in big team events. He helped his team win gold medals at the 1997 World Team Chess Championship and the 1998 Chess Olympiad.

He studied at Moscow State University and finished in 1996.

Vadim Zvjaginsev: A Chess Journey

Early Chess Life and Big Wins

Vadim Zvjaginsev began playing chess at a young age. He trained at the Moscow Chess School of Olympic Reserve. Soon, he became one of the youngest "Candidate Masters" and then "Masters of Sport" in the USSR.

In 1992, Zvjaginsev won the European Youth Chess Championship for players under 16. Two years later, he shared first place at the Reykjavik Open. He tied with Hannes Stefánsson and Evgeny Pigusov.

Competing on the World Stage

In 1997, Vadim played in the FIDE World Championship in Groningen. He showed amazing skill by beating many strong players from the U.S. He defeated Joel Benjamin, Gregory Kaidanov, and Yasser Seirawan. Later, he lost to another Russian Grandmaster, Alexey Dreev. That same year, Zvjaginsev also won the Vidmar Memorial tournament in Portorož.

He continued to win tournaments. In 2000, he took first place in Essen, Germany. He won there again in 2002, beating players like Leko. At the Mainz Chess Classic in 2003 and 2004, he finished second. In 2005, he placed well in the Russian Chess Championship. In 2006, he tied for second at the Poikovsky Karpov Tournament.

In 2002, Zvjaginsev was part of the "Russia vs Rest of the World" match in Moscow. This was a special event where top players from Russia played against top players from other countries.

Recent Tournament Successes

Vadim won the Russian Cup knockout tournament in 2011. He beat Denis Khismatullin in the final match. In 2013, he tied for first place at the Chigorin Memorial in Saint Petersburg. Many strong players shared the top spot with him. In 2016, he also tied for third place at the Aeroflot Open.

Team Achievements

Zvjaginsev has been a key player for the Russian national chess team. In 1997, he won team and individual silver medals at the European Team Chess Championship. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad, he helped the Russian second team win a bronze medal. He was still an International Master at that time.

In the 1997 World Team Chess Championship, he won two gold medals: one for the team and one for his individual performance. With the main Russian team, he helped win team gold at the 1998 Chess Olympiad and team silver in 2004.

Vadim's Unique Chess Style

Vadim Zvjaginsev is known for his very aggressive and tactical playing style. This means he likes to attack and look for clever moves. Famous chess player Viktor Korchnoi once said that Vadim is a very original player. He has a unique way of looking at life, and this shows in his chess games.

Vadim is famous for using surprising new moves at the start of a game, called "opening novelties." He does this to catch his opponents off guard. This helps him avoid common chess ideas and his opponent's prepared moves. Around 2005, he even created a shocking new way to play against the Sicilian Defence. This opening, 1.e4 c5 2.Na3!?, surprised the whole chess world. He even used it to beat former FIDE World Champions Alexander Khalifman and Ruslan Ponomariov.

Amazing Games by Vadim Zvjaginsev

Here are some examples of Vadim Zvjaginsev's brilliant chess games. They show his tactical and creative style.

Zvjaginsev vs. Seirawan, 1997

This game shows how Vadim looks for chances to attack. White (Zvjaginsev) finds weaknesses in Black's (Seirawan's) position. This leads to a winning situation.

Zvjaginsev (2635) – Seirawan (2630) [D63] FIDE WCh KO Groningen NED (3.4), 16.12.1997 [1] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 a6 9.b3 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.Bf5 g6 13.Bh3 Re8 14.0-0 Nf8 15.Ne5 N6h7 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.g3 Qd6 18.Bg2 Rd8 19.Qc2 Ne6 20.Rfd1 Kg7 21.Qb2 f6 22.Nd3 Nhf8 23.b4 g5 24.Nc5 bxc5 25.bxc5 Qc6 26.e4 Red7 27.exd5 Rxd5 28.Nxd5 Rxd5 29.Rb1 Nd8 30.Qe2 Qd7 31.Rxb7 Nxb7 32.c6 Qxc6 33.Qe7+ Kg8 34.Qe4 1–0

Cifuentes-Parada vs. Zvjaginsev, 1995

In this game, Zvjaginsev makes a stunning series of sacrifices. He gives up pieces to create a powerful attack. This leads to a forced checkmate against White's king.

Cifuentes-Parada vs. Zvjaginsev, 1995


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8 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black rook {{{square}}} black rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 8
7 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black bishop {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black queen {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn 7
6 {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black bishop {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black knight {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} white bishop 6
5 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 5
4 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black knight {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 4
3 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white knight {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king 3
2 {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white queen {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white knight {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white bishop {{{square}}} white pawn 2
1 {{{square}}} white rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white king {{{square}}} black king 1
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Position after 24.Bg2

Cifuentes-Parada – Zvjaginsev, Wijk aan Zee Open 1995 [2] 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Be2 Bb7 8.0-0 Be7 9.Rd1 0-0 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Qc7 12.Nc3 c5 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5 a6 15.Nh4 g6 16.Bh6 Rfe8 17.Qd2 Bd6 18.g3 b5 19.Bf3 b4 20.Ne2 Ne4 21.Qc2 Ndf6 22.Ng2 Qd7 23.Ne3 Rad8 24.Bg2? (see diagram)

Black sacrifices a knight, then an exchange (a rook for a bishop), and finally his queen! This forces a checkmate against White's king.

24...Nxf2! 25.Kxf2 Rxe3! 26.Bxe3 Ng4+ 27.Kf3 Nxh2+ 28.Kf2 Ng4+ 29.Kf3 Qe6! 30.Bf4 Re8 31.Qc4 Qe3+!! 32.Bxe3 Rxe3+ 33.Kxg4 Bc8+ 34.Kg5 h6+ 35.Kxh6 Re5 0–1

Black threatens to checkmate White in two different ways. White cannot stop both. This game was voted the best game in that issue of Chess Informant.

Malakhov vs. Zvjaginsev, 2004

Here is another brilliant game by Zvjaginsev. This time, he plays against a very strong player, Vladimir Malakhov.

Malakhov vs. Zvjaginsev, 2004


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8 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 8
7 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn 7
6 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king 6
5 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 5
4 {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 4
3 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white knight {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black bishop {{{square}}} black king 3
2 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king 2
1 {{{square}}} white rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white king {{{square}}} white queen {{{square}}} black queen 1
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Position after 41.Qg1

Malakhov (2700) – Zvjaginsev (2654), 5th Karpov Tournament, Poikovsky 2004 [3] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 e5 7.d4 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 Bd7 11.b3 c6 12.Bb2 Qb6 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.c5 d5 16.Nb6 Rad8 17.Bc3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bxa5 Nf5 20.Nc4 Qb8 21.Bxd8 Rxd8 22.b4 Be6 23.Qe1 Nd4 24.Na5 Qc8 25.Rd1 Bh6 26.Kh1 Bf4 27.a4 Bd5 28.Bc4 Nf3! 29.Qe2 Nxh2 30.Bxd5 cxd5 31.f3 Nxf1 32.Rxf1 e3 33.c6 d4 34.Rd1 Bg3 35.f4 e4 36.Nb3 d3 37.Qxe3 Qg4 38.Rb1 Qh4+ 39.Kg1 Qh2+ 40.Kf1 Qh1+ 41.Qg1 (see diagram) 41...e3!! 42.Qxh1 e2+ 43.Kg1 d2 0–1

White has an extra queen, but Black's two connected passed pawns are too strong. They will march forward and become new queens. For example, if White tries 44.Nxd2, Black plays 45.Re1 Rd1!, and White cannot stop the pawns. This game was voted the fourth-best game in that issue of Chess Informant.
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