In the last list of the top Chess players we published, we went over the best Cuban Chess players. Now in this article, we’re ranking the best Ukrainian Chess players from Ukraine, starting with the number ten spot in FIDE.
10. Yuriy Kuzubov
Full name: Yuri Kuzubov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: January 26th, 1990
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 110
Rapid: 2643
Blitz: 2548
Classical: 2642
Profiles
Kuzubov in 2005, was awarded the FIDE grandmaster title. He was the winner of the Harmonie Invitation Round-robin championship in 2004 on a tiebreak against Visser Yge, Nijboer Friso, and Van der Wiel John. That year he clinched the Ukrainian under 14 tournament. Yuriy was the winner of the Ukrainian chess tournament in 2004, SPICE CUP A Group in 2009, Parsvnath Open Tournament in 2011, and the Ukrainian chess championship in 2014 played in Lviv.
9. Ruslan Ponomariov
Full name: Ruslan Ponomariov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: October 11th, 1983
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 109
Rapid: 2673
Blitz: 2605
Classical: 2642
Profiles
Ruslan became a grandmaster in 1998 and before that, he had been awarded the International Master title in 1997. In 2002 he was number 6 in peak ranking and a peak rating of 2764 in 2011. Between 2002 and 2004 he was ranked by FIDE as the world chess sportsman. In the 2009 world cup chess and 2005, world cup chess he came second whereas in 2011 he reached the semi-finals and the quarter-finals in 2007 in the same tournament. He was a gold medalist in 2004 at the 2004 edition of the Chess Olympiad held in Spain.
8. Kirill Shevchenko
Full name: Kirill Shevchenko
Title: Grandmaster
Born: September 22nd, 2002
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 107
Rapid: 2573
Blitz: 2624
Classical: 2644
Profiles
Shevchenko, Kirill in 2016, earned the title of International Master and in 2017, he was awarded the title of a grandmaster from FIDE. Before that, In 2010 and 2015, FIDE awarded him the Candidate Master title and FIDE Master title respectively. He has competed at the Aeroflot Open and the European Individual Chess Championship both in 2008 and set himself good standards. He triumphed in the Lindores Abbey Blitz championship in November 2021 ahead of Caruana Fabiano and Erigaisi before heading to represent his country at the European Team Chess Championship that same month.
7. Alexander Areshchenko
Full name: Alexander Areshchenko
Title: Grandmaster
Born: June 15th, 1986
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 73
Rapid: 2588
Blitz: 2627
Classical: 2667
Profiles
Alexander Areshchenko was awarded 2001 the title of International Master and in 2002, the title of grandmaster. In the years; 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2021, he was among the contenders for the FIDE World cup. He clinched both the Chigorin Memorial tournament and the 9th Parsvnath Open championship in 2011 and also the 20th Open International Bavarian Championship in 2016. He became a bronze medalist at the world team chess tournament in 2011 and 2013 and a silver medalist in the European team chess tournament in 2007.
6. Anton Korobov
Full name: Anton Korobov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: June 25th, 1985
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 67
Rapid: 2677
Blitz: 2650
Classical: 2671
Profiles
Korobov, Anton got his grandmaster title in 2003 and the international master title in 2001. He was Ukraine’s best male chess sportsman in 2012- and a four-time Ukrainian cup winner. In 2010, secured the Master’s championship of the Abu Dhabi chess carnival and the Nakhchivan Open in 2011. He became an individual gold medal winner at the world team chess championship in 2013 and hence helping the national team in securing the bronze medal. At the 43rd chess Olympiad in 2018, he clinched the gold medal by becoming the excellent sportsman on the reserve board.
5. Igor Kovalenko
Full name: Igor Kovalenko
Title: Grandmaster
Born: December 29th, 1988
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 64
Rapid: 2620
Blitz: 2560
Classical: 2674
Profiles
Kovalenko, Igor is a Ukrainian FIDE grandmaster title holder awarded to him in 2011 and International Master in 2008 by FIDE. He has a peak rating of 2702 and a peak ranking of 44. He is a 2013 and 2014 Latvian Chess championship victor and also a 2019 winner of the Riga Technical University open.
4. Yuriy Kryvoruchko
Full name: Yuriy Kryvoruchko
Title: Grandmaster
Born: December 19th, 1986
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 63
Rapid: 2697
Blitz: 2594
Classical: 2674
Profiles
Kryvoruchko, Yuriy is a Ukrainian grandmaster and was awarded the title in 2006 by FIDE. Before that, FIDE gave Kryvoruchko, Yuriy, the International Master title in 2004. He has a peak ranking of 2717 and he is number 33 in peak ranking. He was a competitor at the 2009 and 2013 FIDE world cup. Also, in 2013, he became Ukraine’s champion after defeating Ponomariov Rusian in a tiebreak. He helped the national team win the bronze medal at the European team chess championship.
3. Pavel Eljanov
Full name: Pavel Eljanov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: May 10th, 1983
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 58
Rapid: 2653
Blitz: 2601
Classical: 2681
Profiles
Eljanov, Pavel, in 2001, earned the Grandmaster title, and in 1999 he had earned the International Master title from FIDE. He has a peak rating of 2765 and is number six in the peak ranking. He has claimed two gold medals and a silver medal at the Chess Olympiads. Pavel has won other notable tournaments which include; the 2009 Bosna Chess Championship, B championship of the Gashimov Memorial, and the 48th International Dortmund Schachtage Deutschland Grand Prix.
2. Andrei Volokitin
Full name: Andrei Volokitin
Title: Grandmaster
Born: June 18th, 1986
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 52
Rapid: 2659
Blitz: 2505
Classical: 2684
Profiles
Volokitin, Andrei became a grandmaster in 2001, with a peak rating of 2725 and a peak ranking of number 20. He earned the International Master’s title in 2000. He has taken part in four competitions of the Chess Olympiad in which he helped his team win gold in 2004 and bronze in 2012. Also, he is a Ukrainian champion on two occasions; 2004 and 2015. In addition, he is a two times gold medalist in the World Youth chess tournament.
1. Illya Nyzhnyk
Full name: Illya Nyzhnyk
Title: Grandmaster
Born: September 27th, 1996
Federation: Ukraine
Ratings
World ranking: 45
Rapid: 2658
Blitz: 2694
Classical: 2692
Profiles
Nyzhnyk is a highly ranked chess player in Ukraine. Illya earned his FIDE Master title in 2007, International Master title in 2009, and the title of grandmaster in 2011. He emerged victorious in 2007 at both the 2007 Moscow Open and the European Youth chess tournament. In 2008, Nyzhnyk clinched both the Nabokov Memorial and the under 16 European Youth chess tournament. He was also a runner-up at the Tata Steel chess championship in 2011 and a winner of the US Open tournament and the US Thanksgiving Open in 2019.
That concludes the list of the best Ukrainian Chess players. 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.
Sources
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