In the last list of the top Grandmasters in each country series, we went over the best Australian Chess players. Now in this article, we’re going through the ten best Greek Chess players from Greece. We’re going in order from the tenth highest FIDE rated player to the number one spot.
10) Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis
Full name: Kourkoulos-Arditis, Stamatis
Title: International Master (IM) 2018
FIDE Master (FM) 2014
Born: 1998
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 759
Rapid: 2316
Blitz: 2359
Classical (Std): 2500
Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis is a Greek chess International Master (IM) since 2018 and a FIDE Master since 2014. He won the Greek Championship in 2019. He went on to claim the 13th Paleochora Open in 2020, winning with a score of 7.5/9. In the European Championship, he defeated GM Maxim Lagarde in round 9 and won with a final score of 6/11.
9) Athanasios Mastrovasilis
Full name: Mastrovasilis, Athanasios
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2005
International Master (IM) 2000
FIDE Master (FM) 1997
Born: 1979
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 576
Rapid: 2530
Blitz: 2535
Classical (Std): 2523
He is the older brother of Grand Master Dimitrios Mastrovasilis. He was the Greek champion in 2015 and 2018. He represented Greece in four Chess Olympiads. He also took part in three European team tournaments and the World Team Championship. In 2000, he received the title of International Master (IM). He was given the Grandmaster (GM) award in 2005.
8) Antonios Pavlidis
Full name: Pavlidis, Antonios
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2014
International Master (IM) 2010
Born: 1993
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 525
Rapid: 2614
Blitz: 2613
Classical (Std): 2531
Antonios Pavlidis was born in Kavala, Greece. He joined the local Chess Club of Kavala as a kid and is still a member there. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he studied for five years in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Antonios Pavlidis has three Greek Chess Cup wins to his credit: in 2011, 2012, and 2016. He represented Greece at the 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi. In 2010, he was granted the title of International Master (IM). In 2014, he was given the Grandmaster (GM) rank. Greece has won the Greek Team Championship four times, and Antonios is a member of the Greek National Team in the Team Section.
7) Andreas Kelires
Full name: Kelires, Andreas
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2016
International Master (IM) 2015
Born: 1999
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 504
Rapid: 2062
Blitz: 2110
Classical (Std): 2535
Kelires, who was born in 1999, won the Cypriot Chess Championship in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, he earned his international master’s title, and in 2016 he received his grandmaster certificate. Kostas Mitroglou made a move to Greece in 2016. As of February 2018, he is ranked No. 8 among Greek players. In March 2018, he took part in the European Individual Chess Championship.
6) Stelios Halkias
Full name: Halkias, Stelios
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2002
Born: 1980
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 487
Rapid: 2576
Blitz: 2575
Classical (Std): 2537
He was named the 2002 GM in 2010. His performance at the European Championship (2010) allowed him to qualify for the World Cup (2011). Stelios Halkias was the Greek Under-12 and Under-16 champion. He won the European U12 title as a bronze medalist in 1992. He played Russian super-GM Alexander Morozevich in a classical game mini-match in the first round, winning two drawn games but losing 2-0 in the 25-minute rapid game match tiebreaker. In September 2015, he was the top finisher at the Lev Gutman 70th birthday GM tournament in Lingen, Germany.
5) Loannis Nikolaidis
Full name: Nikolaidis, Ioannis
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 1995
International Master (IM) 1994
Born: 1971
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 434
Rapid: 2535
Blitz: 2513
Classical (Std): 2549
Ioannis won the Greek Chess Championship in 1995 and placed third in the Balkan Individual Chess Championship of 2002 in Istanbul. In 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006, Nikolaidis represented Greece in the Chess Olympiads. In 2008, he won the 16th edition of the Nikea international competition. In 2005, he finished second–third in the Ikaros Chess Festival with Maxim Turov.
4) Nikolas Theodorou
Full name: Theodorou, Nikolas
Title: International Master (IM) 2016
Born: 2000
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 313
Rapid: 2559
Blitz: 2351
Classical (Std): 2576
Nikolas Theodorou is an 18-year-old International Master from Greece. He has represented his nation in several junior tournaments and is ranked eighth in Greece. Nikolas is a typical example of a Chess Master: Theodorou has won the Greek championship in his age group five times. He is presently a student at Saint Louis University, majoring in Engineering Physics.
3) Hristos Banikas
Full name: Banikas, Hristos
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2001
Born: 1978
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 260
Rapid: 2615
Blitz: 2601
Classical (Std): 2592
Banikas won the 1990 Greek U-12 title, the 1993 Greek U-16 crown, and the 1996 Greek U-20 championship. From 2000 through 2005, he won eight Greek titles. In 2001, Banikas was granted the Grandmaster designation by FIDE. Since 1996, Banikas has represented Greece in every Chess Olympiad except 2004, winning an individual silver medal in the 2010 World Team Chess Championship and team gold in 2002. In each European Team Chess Championship since 2001, he had won a silver in 2005.
2) Dimitrios Mastrovasilis
Full name: Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 2003
International Master (IM) 2002
Born: 1983
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 190
Rapid: 2534
Blitz: 2577
Classical (Std): 2614
In team competitions, Mastrovasilis represented Greece in the Chess Olympiad, World Team Chess Championship, and European Team Chess Championship. At the European Youth Chess Championships of 2000, Mastrovasilis won the silver medal in the under 18 division. In 2016, he was a member of Team Europe, which won the 8th Lublin Union Memorial against Team Poland.
1) Loannis Papaioannou
Full name: Papaioannou, Ioannis
Title: Grandmaster (GM) 1998
Born: 1976
Federation: Greece
World Ranking: 134
Rapid: 2614
Blitz: 2666
Classical (Std): 2633
The Greek team’s first board, Ioannis Papaioannou, usually keeps a low profile. However, after defeating Alexander Beliavsky in his game few years ago, he took the chance of visiting the Olympiad Expo Center. Papaioannou was born in October 1976 and became a grandmaster in 1998. In 1997, he won the Greek Chess Championship for a record four times. As of October 2021, he is FIDE Greece’s Number One Chess Player.
That concludes the list of the ten best Greek Chess players from Greece. If you like list posts like this, you may also be interested in seeing the ten best Indian Chess players or the best Canadian Chess players.