Top 20 Chess Player celebrities in Ukraine
Here is the latest list of the world's top 20 Chess Player celebrities [Updated January 28, 2023].
Vassily Ivanchuk was born
on March 18, 1969
in Ukraine.
At the peak of his career he was the number two ranked player in the world and he was the 2007–2008 World Blitz Chess champion.
Leonid Stein was born
on November 12, 1934
in Ukraine.
He won the Soviet Championship in 1963, 1965 and 1966 and the Ukrainian Championship in 1960 and 1962.
David Bronstein was born
on February 19, 1924
in Ukraine.
He became a Soviet Master when he was only 16 years old.
Alexander Chernin was born
on March 6, 1960
in Ukraine.
In 1999 he won a Hungarian team silver medal at the Chess Olympiads where he represented the country.
Mark Taimanov was born
on February 7, 1926
in Ukraine.
He tied for first place two times throughout the 23 USSR Chess Championships in which he competed.
Sergey Karjakin was born
on January 12, 1990
in Ukraine.
He won the 2012 World Rapid Chess Championship.
Yuri Vovk was born
on November 11, 1988
in Ukraine.
He won the Cappelle-la-Grande Open in France, a tournament entered by hundreds of the world's greatest players.
Lev Alburt was born
on August 21, 1945
in Ukraine.
He won three Ukrainian Championships and then, after defecting to the United States to escape Soviet control, he won three U.S. Championships.
Kira Zvorykina was born
on September 29, 1919
in Ukraine.
She is a three time Soviet Women's Champion, winning in in 1951, 1953 and 1956.
Irina Krush was born
on December 24, 1983
in Ukraine.
She was the youngest U.S. Women's Champion of all time and in 2013 FIDE ranked her the best American female chess player.
Efim Geller was born
on March 8, 1925
in Odessa, Ukraine.
He won four Ukrainian Championship titles, was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions, and he had a doctorate in physical education.
Eduard Gufeld was born
on March 19, 1936
in Ukraine.
Boris Verlinsky was born
on January 8, 1888
in Ukraine.
He never had the opportunity to play chess outside of the Soviet Union despite winning his 6th Soviet Championship in 1929.
Anna Ushenina was born
on August 30, 1985
in Ukraine.
She won the Women's World Championship in November, 2012 making her Ukraine's first women's world chess champion.
Alexander Moiseenko was born
on May 17, 1980
in Ukraine.
He is the 2013 European Individual Chess Champion and has played for Ukraine at the Chess Olympiads three times.
Alexander Konstantinopolsky was born
on February 19, 1910
in Ukraine.
He won the first Soviet Correspondence Chess Championship in 1951 and he received an honorary Grandmastership later in life, in 1983.
Adrian Mikhalchishin was born
on November 18, 1954
in Ukraine.
He was the Vice President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation and he won the European Cup in 1984.
Ossip Bernstein was born
on September 20, 1882
in Ukraine.
He was caught fleeing Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution by the Checka and was ordered shot by a firing squad because he was a legal advisor to bankers but was saved when the superior officer recognized him as a famous chess player.
Samuel Lipschütz was born
on July 4, 1863
in Ukraine.
He was a six-time United States Chess Champion, winning the championships from 1889 to 1894.
Vereslav Eingorn was born
on November 23, 1956
in Ukraine.
His career peek was when he was ranked twelfth in the world in 1986.