Peter Svidler is a Chess Grandmaster from Russia with Elo ratings exceeding 2600 from FIDE, making him one of the best Russian chess players of all time.
Last Updated: August 12, 2022
Full Name: Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler
Title: Grandmaster (1994)
International Master (1991)
Place of birth: Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Born: June 17, 1976
Federation: Russia
Ratings
World ranking: 56
Rapid: 2752
Blitz: 2725
Classical: 2683
Peak rating: 2769 (May 2013)
Peak ranking No: 4 (January 2004)
Profiles
Biography
Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler is a Russian chess Grandmaster, born on June 17th, 1976 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He has won the Russian Chess Championship eight times (1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2017), and currently, he works as a chess commentator in competitive chess matches and tournaments on the chess site Chess24. Svidler is a father of two sons. Apart from chess, he enjoys cricket and cheers on the England cricket team.
The Beginning
Pyotr Svidler began his career at the age of six years. In 1989, he made his championship breakthrough at the USSR Junior Tournament in Pinsk, where he scored 5/11. In 1990, he scored 7 points out of 11 games to share the eighth position in the USSR Juniors and 5 points out of 9 games in Oakland. He became an International Master in 1991 and shared the top spot with Ragim Gasimov and Vadim Zvjaginsev in the final USSR Junior Tournament in Yurmala in 1992, scoring 8 points out of 11 games.
In 1994, he won the Russian Championship in Elista with 8 points out of 11 games, won the U18 category of the World Youth Tournament in Szeged, made his first appearance for Russia at the Chess Olympiad in Moscow, having scored 5.5/8 on the reserve board two, and earned three Grandmaster norms. Svidler as well became victorious in the Linares Anibal Open, which ran concurrently with the invitational tournament and shared the top spot with four other contestants at the St Petersberg Chigorin Memorial. In October 1994, the brief Competent Chess Association ranked him number 165 globally, with a rating of 2542.
Between 1995 & 2003, and from 2006 to 2016, Svidler competed in the European Chess Club Cup on twenty occasions, being victorious with Ladya in 1997, Paris NAO in 2003, and Saint Petersburg in 2011. Svidler finished second with Chigorin St Petersburg (2000), Baden-Baden (2008), Saint Petersburg (2012), and Mednyi Vsadnik- from Saint Petersburg in 2016. He bagged personal silver for the second board in 2003 and the first board in 2009, as well as bronze for the second board in 2000.
Furthermore, Svidler reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Chess World Cup held in Khanty-Mansiysk, after defeating Darcy Lima (1.5-0.5), Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen 4-2 after blitz seedings, Fabiano Caruana 4-2 after rapid seedings, Kamsky 2-0, and Judit Polgar (1.5-0.5). He won the World Cup after defeating Grischuk in the final (2.5-1.5) to avenge his 2001 Tournament setback to Ponomariov. Svidler faced difficulties at the European Team Championships in November, finishing fifth with a score of 3.5 points out of 8 games. With 4,5 points out of 9 games, he finished 7th in the Tal Memorial.
Svidler’s Notable Achievements
His most notable achievements include;
- Competed in three World Championship tournaments: Split first place in the 2002 & 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship and 2007 World Chess Championship after reintegration. In addition, he participated thrice in the Candidates Tournaments (2013, 2014, and 2016). His best finishes at this stage were 3rd in 2005 and 2013.
- He won the Russian Champion eight times (1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017), and has played for Russia on ten occasions (1994-2010, 2014), earning five team gold medals, two team silvers, and an individual bronze.
- Svidler guided Russia to bagging a gold medal at the 33rd Chess Olympiad in 1998, defeating the Netherlands (3.5-0.5) in the final set.
- Svidler won the Chess World Cup in 2011, finished second in the 2006 World Blitz Championship, and also triumphed at Fontys Tilburg, Biel, and Gibraltar.
- Svidler also finished 1st in Dortmund, the Aeroflot Open, and the Karpov Poikovsky.
- In addition, he helped Vladimir Kramnik during the Classical Tournament games held in 2000 and 2004.
- Svidler finished 2nd with Anand; 3rd on the number of victories in deciding set at the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, from September to October, scoring 8.5 points out of 14 games, 112 points behind the champion, Veselin Topalov.
- In 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, he attained victory in the French Team Championship with Paris NAO. Svidler triumphed in the league with Évry Grand Roque in 2009 and finished second in 2010.
Did you enjoy reading about Peter Svidler? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Hans Niemann, Bobby Fischer, and Rey Enigma.
Sources
- http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4011527/russian-super-final-svidler-gunina-win-141013.aspx
- https://www.chess.com/news/view/stop-the-war-44-top-russian-players-publish-open-letter-to-putin
- http://al20102007.narod.ru/ch_urs/1990/ch_jun90.html
- http://www.crestbook.com/node/1390
- http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-11-09/news/9711090112_1_garry-kasparov-judit-polgar-vladimir-kramnik
- http://en.chessbase.com/post/svidler-i-am-a-better-player-than-my-current-results-show
- http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5199
- https://web.archive.org/web/20140603234340/http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/
- http://www.olimpbase.org/1997t/1997rus.html