Nino Kirov (; 11 September 1945 – 25 September 2008) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Grandmaster (GM) (1975), two-times

Bulgarian Chess Championship The Bulgarian Chess Championship is an event inaugurated in 1933 to crown the best chess player in Bulgaria. The championship has been held on a nearly annual basis since, with only a few years missed. In recent years some of the very best Bulgaria ...

winner (1973, 1978).

Biography

In the 1970s and 1980s Nino Kirov was one of the leading Bulgarian chess players. In 1962, he won Bulgarian Junior Chess Championship. From 1971 to 1985 Nino Kirov participated in

s and two times won gold medal: 1973 and 1978. Nino Kirov was winner of many international chess tournament awards, including first place or shared first place in

Čoka Čoka ( sr-Cyrl, Чока, ; , ; ; ) is a town and municipality located in the North Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 3,119 and the municipality has 8,556 inhabitants. The Lederer ...

(1973),

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

(1975),

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

(1978),

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

(1978),

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(1980),

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

(1996). Nino Kirov played for Bulgaria in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

s: * In 1974, at second reserve board in the

21st Chess Olympiad The 21st Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 26th Chess Olympiad The 26th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 26i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

(+0, =5, -1). Nino Kirov played for Bulgaria in the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

s: * In 1977, at fifth board in the 6th European Team Chess Championship in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(+1, =3, -1), * In 1980, at fourth reserve board in the 7th European Team Chess Championship in

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

(+2, =3, -2). Nino Kirov played for Bulgaria in the World Student Team Chess Championship: * In 1972, at first board in the 19th World Student Team Chess Championship in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

(+4, =9, -1). Also Nino Kirov nine times played for Bulgaria in the Men's Chess Balkaniads (1974-1977, 1979-1981, 1984-1985) and won 1 gold (1974), 4 silver (1975, 1976, 1979, 1984) and 4 bronze (1977, 1980, 1981, 1985) medals in team competition, and won 3 gold (1974, 1979, 1985), 1 silver (1981) and 2 bronze (1976, 1977) medals in individual competition. In 1972, he was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title and received the FIDE Grandmaster (GM) title three years later.

References

External links

*
Nino Kirov
chess games at 365chess.com 1945 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Blagoevgrad Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century Bulgarian chess players {{Bulgaria-chess-bio-stub