Vasilios Kotronias facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Vasilios Kotronias |
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Kotronias in 2014
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| Country | Greece Cyprus (1998–2004) |
| Born | 25 August 1964 Athens, Greece |
| Title | Grandmaster (1990) |
| FIDE rating | 2510 (April 2026) |
| Peak rating | 2628 (January 2008) |
| Peak ranking | No. 44 (July 1996) |
Vasilios Kotronias, born on August 25, 1964, is a famous chess player and writer from Greece. His first name is sometimes spelled Vassilios. He is known for being a Grandmaster, which is the highest title a chess player can achieve. He was actually the first Greek chess player to earn this special title!
Kotronias has won the Greek Chess Championship ten times. He earned the title of International Master in 1986. Four years later, in 1990, he became a Grandmaster. This title is given by FIDE, the world chess organization.
Between 1998 and 2004, Vasilios Kotronias played chess for Cyprus. After that, he returned to represent his home country, Greece, in chess competitions.
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Amazing Chess Achievements
Vasilios Kotronias has achieved many great things in chess tournaments around the world. He has won or shared first place in several international events.
Top Tournament Wins
- In 1988, he won the Acropolis International tournament in Athens.
- He took first place in Komotini and Corfu in 1993.
- Kotronias won the Gausdal tournament twice, in 1994 and 1995.
- He was first in Rishon le Zion in 1996.
- In 1998, he won the Panormo tournament.
- He shared first place with Nigel Short at the Gibraltar Chess Festival in 2003.
- Kotronias also shared first place at the Hastings International Chess Congress in 2003/04.
- In 2008, he tied for first at the Cappelle-la-Grande Open.
- Most recently, he won the Ikaros Chess Festival in 2020.
Playing for His Country
Vasilios Kotronias has played for Greece in many team chess events. These include the important Chess Olympiads since 1984. He often played on the top board, which is for the strongest player on the team. His overall score in these events shows he is a very strong player.
He also played in seven European Team Chess Championships. In 2001, at León, Spain, he won an individual silver medal. This was for his excellent performance on his board. At the Dresden Olympiad in 2008, he earned a bronze medal for his play on the second board. In 2013, he won a gold medal at the European Team Championship in Warsaw. This was for his performance on the reserve board.
Beyond the Chessboard
Besides his chess career, Vasilios Kotronias has also been involved in politics.
A Candidate for Public Office
In 2014, he was a candidate for the European Parliament. This is a group of elected officials who help make laws for countries in Europe. He ran with a political party called The River.
Later, Kotronias joined another political party called Syriza. He was a candidate in the general elections in 2019. However, he was not elected to office at that time.
Famous Chess Games
Here are some examples of exciting chess games played by Vasilios Kotronias:
- Vasilios Kotronias vs Evgeny Tomashevsky, European Individual Championships (2013)
- Vasilios Kotronias vs Hikaru Nakamura, Gibtelecom (2009)
- Peter Heine Nielsen vs Vasilios Kotronias, Hastings (2004)
- Vasilios Kotronias vs Nikolaos Skalkotas, 34th Greek Teams Championship (2005)
- Laurent Fressinet vs Vasilios Kotronias, 12th European Individual Championship (2011)
