Alexei Shirov
Encyclopedia
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess
grandmaster
. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998. Shirov is also a well-regarded chess author.
in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to Ilya Gurevich
), and achieved the title of Grandmaster in 1990. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel
1991, Madrid
1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov
), Ter Apel
1997, Monte Carlo
1998, Mérida
2000, two time winner of the Paul Keres
Memorial International Chess Tournament in Tallinn
, Estonia
, with victories in 2004 and 2005 just to name a few. He won the 2005 Canadian Open Chess Championship
.
In 1998 Shirov's ranking rose to number four in the world. On the basis of his rating, he was invited to play a ten game match against Vladimir Kramnik
to select a challenger for World Champion
Garry Kasparov
. Shirov won the match with two wins, no losses and seven draws. However the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov instead played Kramnik for the world title in 2000
, Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.
In 2000, Shirov reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship
, losing 3.5–0.5 to Viswanathan Anand
.
In May–June 2007 he played in the Candidates Tournament
of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. He won his first round match against Michael Adams (+1 −1 =4, won in rapid playoff), but was eliminated when he lost his second round match to Levon Aronian
(+0 −1 =5).
In November–December 2007 Shirov played in the Chess World Cup 2007
. He made the final, but lost the final 2.5–1.5 to Gata Kamsky
.
In May 2009, Alexei Shirov achieved one of the greatest triumphs of his career by placing 1st in the Category 21 M-Tel Masters 2009
tournament, a double round tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria. He went undefeated while scoring 6.5/10—seven draws and three victories, two against Vassily Ivanchuk and the other against Magnus Carlsen
in the final round. By coming in 1st at M-Tel 2009, he was also given the opportunity to play in the Grand Slam Chess Final 2009 in Bilbao where he will meet Levon Aronian
, Sergey Karjakin
(winner of Corus 2009), and Alexander Grischuk
(winner of Linares 2009). After his performance at M-Tel 2009, Shirov was ranked #5 in the world with a virtual Elo rating of 2763.9, his highest rating ever.
In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in Shanghai from September 3 to 8, where he faced world #4 Levon Aronian
, world #5 Vladimir Kramnik
, and Wang Hao
; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world #1 Magnus Carlsen
and world champion Viswanathan Anand
. After drawing his first two games, Shirov then won three consecutive games, including his first victory over Kramnik since 2003. Finishing with 4.5/6, Shirov won the tournament, qualifying along with Kramnik for the Grand Slam final.
In January 2011, Shirov came first in the Remembering Paul Keres
Chess Tournament in Tallinn
.
In May 2011, Shirov won a strong GM round-robin in Lublin, Poland, the III Lublin Union Memorial 2011 with a score of 5/7. . In October 2011, Shirov announced that he will be switching back to Latvia before a blitz match with Alexander Morozevich.
, Verónica Alvarez, moved to Tarragona
, and became a citizen of Spain
. Although he still plays for Spain, he currently resides in Latvia
. He was married to Lithuania
n GM Viktorija Čmilytė
from 2001 to 2007. Shortly before the Shanghai 2010 tournament, Shirov got married for a third time to WIM Olga Dolgova
, under whom he studied in his youth.
Shirov played Black against future FIDE world champion
Veselin Topalov
and won with a piece sacrifice in a bishop and pawn ending:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8. Ba4 0-0 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. 0-0 e5 11. f3 Qe7 12. Be3 Rd8 13. Qc2 Nb6 14. Bb3 Be6 15. Rad1 Nc4 16. Bc1 b5 17. f4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Bg4 19. Rde1 Qc5 20. Kh1 a5 21. h3 Bd7 22. a4 bxa4 23. Ba2 Be8 24. e5 Nb6 25. f5 Nd5 26. Bd2 Nb4 27. Qxa4 Nxa2 28. Qxa2 Bxe5 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Bg5 Rd5 31. Re3 Qd6 32. Qe2 Bd7 33. c4 Bxd4 34. cxd5 Bxe3 35. Qxe3 Re8 36. Qc3 Qxd5 37. Bh6 Re5 38. Rf3 Qc5 39. Qa1 Bf5 40. Re3 f6 41. Rxe5 Qxe5 42. Qa2+ Qd5 43. Qxd5+ cxd5 44. Bd2 a4 45. Bc3 Kf7 46. h4 Ke6 47. Kg1 Bh3!! (see diagram) 48. gxh3 Kf5 49. Kf2 Ke4 50. Bxf6 d4 51. Be7 Kd3 52. Bc5 Kc4 53. Be7 Kb3 0–1
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998. Shirov is also a well-regarded chess author.
Career
Shirov became the World Champion (under 16) in 1988, the World Under-20 Vice-ChampionWorld Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to Ilya Gurevich
Ilya Gurevich
Ilya Gurevich is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster.He became a chess master at 12 years, 3 months. He was a student at Yeshiva Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts.In 1983, he won the U.S...
), and achieved the title of Grandmaster in 1990. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel
Biel/Bienne
Biel/Bienne is a city in the district of the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.It is located on the language boundary and is throughout bilingual. Biel is the German name for the town, Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both...
1991, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
), Ter Apel
Ter Apel
Ter Apel is a town in the municipality Vlagtwedde in the northern Netherlands, in the province Groningen in the region Westerwolde. The town lies on the stream Ruiten Aa, which has the valley that together with the Ter Apeler forest belongs to the national network of nature reserves, the...
1997, Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
1998, Mérida
Mérida, Spain
Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura, western central Spain. It has a population of 57,127 . The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.- Climate :...
2000, two time winner of the Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
Memorial International Chess Tournament in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, with victories in 2004 and 2005 just to name a few. He won the 2005 Canadian Open Chess Championship
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
.
In 1998 Shirov's ranking rose to number four in the world. On the basis of his rating, he was invited to play a ten game match against Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
to select a challenger for World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
. Shirov won the match with two wins, no losses and seven draws. However the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov instead played Kramnik for the world title in 2000
Classical World Chess Championship 2000
The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, known at the time as the Braingames World Chess Championships, was held from October 8, 2000 – November 4, 2000 in London, United Kingdom. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Vladimir Kramnik...
, Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.
In 2000, Shirov reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
, losing 3.5–0.5 to Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
.
In May–June 2007 he played in the Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. He won his first round match against Michael Adams (+1 −1 =4, won in rapid playoff), but was eliminated when he lost his second round match to Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
(+0 −1 =5).
In November–December 2007 Shirov played in the Chess World Cup 2007
Chess World Cup 2007
The Chess World Cup 2007 served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2009. It was held as a 128-player single-elimination tournament, between 24 November and 16 December 2007, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia....
. He made the final, but lost the final 2.5–1.5 to Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
.
In May 2009, Alexei Shirov achieved one of the greatest triumphs of his career by placing 1st in the Category 21 M-Tel Masters 2009
M-tel Masters
M-Tel Masters is an annual super-GM chess tournament held since 2005 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, sponsored and organized by the leading Bulgarian mobile network operator, M-Tel. According to the regulations, each of the six participants plays two games against every other, thus making it a...
tournament, a double round tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria. He went undefeated while scoring 6.5/10—seven draws and three victories, two against Vassily Ivanchuk and the other against Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
in the final round. By coming in 1st at M-Tel 2009, he was also given the opportunity to play in the Grand Slam Chess Final 2009 in Bilbao where he will meet Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
, Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was a chess prodigy and holds the record for both the youngest International Master, eleven years and eleven months, and grandmaster in history, at the age of twelve years and seven months...
(winner of Corus 2009), and Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster and Russian Champion in 2009.-Chess career:In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, Grischuk he made it to the semifinals, losing to Alexei Shirov....
(winner of Linares 2009). After his performance at M-Tel 2009, Shirov was ranked #5 in the world with a virtual Elo rating of 2763.9, his highest rating ever.
In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in Shanghai from September 3 to 8, where he faced world #4 Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
, world #5 Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
, and Wang Hao
Wang Hao (chess player)
Wang Hao is a Chinese chess Grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang Hao became the fourth ever Chinese player to cross the 2700 Elo rating mark. He is the reigning Chinese Chess Champion, with a ranking of No. 1 in China, No. 2 in Asia behind Viswanathan Anand and No. 19 in the world...
; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world #1 Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
and world champion Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
. After drawing his first two games, Shirov then won three consecutive games, including his first victory over Kramnik since 2003. Finishing with 4.5/6, Shirov won the tournament, qualifying along with Kramnik for the Grand Slam final.
In January 2011, Shirov came first in the Remembering Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
Chess Tournament in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
.
In May 2011, Shirov won a strong GM round-robin in Lublin, Poland, the III Lublin Union Memorial 2011 with a score of 5/7. . In October 2011, Shirov announced that he will be switching back to Latvia before a blitz match with Alexander Morozevich.
Personal life
In 1994 Shirov married an ArgentineArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Verónica Alvarez, moved to Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
, and became a citizen of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Although he still plays for Spain, he currently resides in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. He was married to Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n GM Viktorija Čmilytė
Viktorija Cmilyte
Viktorija Čmilytė is a Lithuanian chess player with the titles of Woman Grandmaster and Grandmaster . She won the gold medal at the Women's European Individual Chess Championship in 2011...
from 2001 to 2007. Shortly before the Shanghai 2010 tournament, Shirov got married for a third time to WIM Olga Dolgova
Playing style
Shirov is noted for his attacking style and for seeking complications, a tendency which has led to comparisons with fellow Latvian and former world champion, Mikhail TalMikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
, under whom he studied in his youth.
Sample game
During the 1998 Linares chess tournamentLinares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
Shirov played Black against future FIDE world champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
and won with a piece sacrifice in a bishop and pawn ending:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8. Ba4 0-0 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. 0-0 e5 11. f3 Qe7 12. Be3 Rd8 13. Qc2 Nb6 14. Bb3 Be6 15. Rad1 Nc4 16. Bc1 b5 17. f4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Bg4 19. Rde1 Qc5 20. Kh1 a5 21. h3 Bd7 22. a4 bxa4 23. Ba2 Be8 24. e5 Nb6 25. f5 Nd5 26. Bd2 Nb4 27. Qxa4 Nxa2 28. Qxa2 Bxe5 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Bg5 Rd5 31. Re3 Qd6 32. Qe2 Bd7 33. c4 Bxd4 34. cxd5 Bxe3 35. Qxe3 Re8 36. Qc3 Qxd5 37. Bh6 Re5 38. Rf3 Qc5 39. Qa1 Bf5 40. Re3 f6 41. Rxe5 Qxe5 42. Qa2+ Qd5 43. Qxd5+ cxd5 44. Bd2 a4 45. Bc3 Kf7 46. h4 Ke6 47. Kg1 Bh3!! (see diagram) 48. gxh3 Kf5 49. Kf2 Ke4 50. Bxf6 d4 51. Be7 Kd3 52. Bc5 Kc4 53. Be7 Kb3 0–1