chess prodigy Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on a square board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to ...

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Corus chess tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

Norway Chess Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...

Candidates Tournament 2014 The Candidates Tournament 2014 was an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from 13 March to 31 March 2014. Participants The participants, in order of rules announced by FIDE, were: Priz ...

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapi ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Candidates Tournament 2022 The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022, Following the expiration of his ban, Karjakin has refused to participate in events where he is barred from playing under the Russian flag; this, in conjunction with FIDE's ban on Belarusian and Russian flags, meant that Karjakin has been inactive, dropping out of FIDE's rating lists in June 2024.

Prodigy

Karjakin learned to play chess when he was five years old. He joined the A.V. Momot Club in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, and was coached by Vladislav Borovikov, becoming an

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

at age 11years and 11months. He won the U10 European championship in 1999 and the U12 world championship in 2001. Also in 2001, Karjakin tied for first place in the U14 European championship with Borki Predojević and Rauf Mamedov, taking the silver medal on tiebreak. In January 2002, he was the official second of fellow Ukrainian

Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and is the youngest holder of the title at the age of 18 years and 104 days, though the title was split ...

during the final of the FIDE World Championship, though Karjakin had only just turned 12 at the time. By scoring grandmaster norms at the

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament organised through the joint efforts of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Russian Ministry of Sport with the sponsorship from the Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot. It is played in Moscow, ho ...

in Moscow,

Alushta Alushta (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and Russian language, Russian: ; ; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a region internationally recognised as ...

tournament in May 2002 and Sudak in August 2002, he surpassed

Bu Xiangzhi Bu Xiangzhi (; born December 10, 1985) is a Chinese chess player. In 1999, he became the 10th grandmaster from China at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 13 days, at the time the youngest in history. In April 2008, Bu and Ni Hua became the s ...

to become the world's youngest grandmaster at the age of 12years 7months―a record that lasted for 19years until 2021, when American player Abhimanyu Mishra achieved the qualifications for the title at the age of 12years, 4months, and 25days. Both Karjakin and Mishra have faced scrutiny for the methods with which they won their qualification, however; Karjakin's father has been accused of using methods skirting the norms of chess in enabling such an early attainment of the title. In 2003, Karjakin won a six-game match against

Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (; born 23 April 1984) is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion ...

("Dannemann Classico") in

Brissago Brissago (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Locarno (district), district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, bordering Italy. Brissago lies on the western shore of Lake Maggiore and includes the Brissago Is ...

by a score of 4–2 and tied for second in the Ukrainian championship. He competed in the 2004 FIDE World Championship in Tripoli, where he lost in the first round to Mikhail Kobalia. Soon after, Karjakin took part in the

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an open chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Until 2020, Dortmund was an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund was awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot ...

. Here he defeated the reigning world champion,

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...

, in a blitz game. In October, Karjakin was the only human to win against a computer in the Man vs Machine World Team Championship in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Spain, where he was the youngest and lowest-rated player, beating Deep Junior. At the

36th Chess Olympiad The 36th Chess Olympiad (; ), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (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 tourna ...

in Calvià, he was the youngest member of the gold-medal-winning Ukrainian team. He also won an individual gold medal thanks to his score of 6½/7 points playing the second reserve board. In December 2004, Karjakin finished second, behind

Boris Gelfand Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player. A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...

at the

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

tournament. In the following month, he won the GroupB of the

Corus Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

, thus qualifying for the 2006 GroupA. Karjakin entered the world's top 100 in the April 2005

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

list, at 64th with an

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

of 2635. He scored 8½/11 points (+7=3–1) to win the Young Stars of the World tournament held in

Kirishi Kirishi (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Kirishsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volkhov River, southeast of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as ''Soltsy'' (unti ...

, Russia in May. In July, he tied for third place in the European Individual Championship.

Career

2006

In 2006, Karjakin played for the first time in the

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

Corus A tournament, scoring 7/13 points (4 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses). In the same year, he took part in the NH Chess Tournament in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

; it was a match between two teams, "Rising Stars" (made up of Karjakin,

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

, Wang Hao, Daniel Stellwagen, and

Jan Smeets Jan Smeets (born 5 April 1985) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He is a two-time Dutch Chess Champion. Playing record 2004 was the year that his participation in senior tournaments began to yield encouraging results. He finished in second place i ...

) and "Experience" (

Alexander Beliavsky Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky (, , ; also romanized ''Belyavsky''; born December 17, 1953) is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Slovenian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1975. He is also a chess coach and in 2004 wa ...

, Artur Yusupov,

John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was form ...

, and

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Chess career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. ...

), held with the

Scheveningen system The Scheveningen system () is a method of organizing a chess match between two teams. Each player on one team plays each player on the other team. The team with the highest number of games won is the winner. This system was a popular way to cr ...

. The former won by 28–22.

2007

Karjakin played again in the NH Chess Tournament for team "Rising Stars", which beat "Experience" by 26½–23½. He was the best player, having scored 7/10, and this earned him an invitation for the 2008 Amber chess tournament. In October 2007, Karjakin finished second behind Bu Xiangzhi in the

blindfold chess Blindfold chess, also known as ''sans voir'', is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces and do not touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are commun ...

World Cup in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, scoring 17 points after five wins, two draws and three losses (the scoring system was 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss). During the

Chess World Cup 2007 The Chess World Cup 2007 served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2010. It was held as a 128-player single-elimination tournament, between 24 November and 16 December 2007, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In an event att ...

, which served as a qualification tournament for the

World Chess Championship 2010 The World Chess Championship 2010 match pitted the defending world champion, Viswanathan Anand, against challenger Veselin Topalov, for the title of World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. The match took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from 24 ...

, Karjakin reached the semi-finals, in which he lost to

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, ; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championshi ...

. On the January 2008 FIDE rating list, published just before Karjakin's 18th birthday, he passed the 2700 mark for the first time, often seen as the line that separates "elite" players from other grandmasters, with a new rating of 2732 and a world rank of 13.

2008–2010

In July 2008, Karjakin convincingly won a

rapid chess Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

match against GM

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...

7½–2½. In February 2009, he won his first elite tournament in the A group of the

Corus chess tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...

in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

(category XIX), with a score of 8/13. He won the ACP World Rapid Cup, which was conducted from 27 to 29May 2010, defeating Dmitry Jakovenko in the final by 4–3.

2011

In June 2011, Karjakin took second place in the

Bazna Bazna (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Baußen''; ) is a commune located in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bazna, Boian (''Bonnesdorf''; ''Bonnesdref''; ''Alsóbajom'') and Velț (''Wölz''; ''Welz''; ''Ve ...

Kings Tournament in

Mediaș Mediaș (; , , Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Medwesch''/''Medveš''/''Medwisch'', ) is the second largest municipiu, town and municipality in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania. Geography Mediaș is located in ...

,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, after sharing the lead with Magnus Carlsen in the final round, and after ranking was then determined by the tournament's official tie-break regulations. The final standings listed Carlsen followed by Karjakin, then

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraTeimour Radjabov Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; , ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster in March 2001 at age 14, ...

,

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhailovych Ivanchuk (; born March 18, 1969) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading chess player since 1988, Ivanchuk has been ranked at No. 2 on the FIDE world rankings thr ...

, and

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Romanian chess grandmaster. His peak FIDE rating was 2707 in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the highest rated Romanian player ever. Only in September 2022 his rating ...

. The results affected the world rankings, as Carlsen reclaimed first place, and Karjakin passed Kramnik for fourth place. In November, Karjakin shared third place with

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhailovych Ivanchuk (; born March 18, 1969) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading chess player since 1988, Ivanchuk has been ranked at No. 2 on the FIDE world rankings thr ...

and

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

in the category 22 Tal Memorial in Moscow.

2012: World Rapid Champion

In July 2012, Karjakin won the

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

, a full point ahead of world number one Magnus Carlsen in

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. In the same month, he also tied for first at

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

with

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...

but came in second after tiebreak. In November–December 2012, Karjakin shared first place with Wang Hao and

Alexander Morozevich Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (; born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1994. Morozevich is a two-time World Championship candidate (2005, 2007), two-time Russian champion and has re ...

with 6½/9 in the FIDE Grand Prix event held in

Tashkent, Uzbekistan Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

.

2013–2014

In May, he won the inaugural edition of

Norway Chess Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...

, scoring 6½/9 (+6−2=1), half a point ahead of Carlsen. In March 2014, he finished second place in the FIDE Candidates Tournament held in

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, behind

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

. His second at the event was former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. In June 2014, Karjakin won the

Norway Chess Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...

tournament for the second year running. In this tournament, he competed against nine other players, six of which were rated in the FIDE top10.

2015

Karjakin won the Chess World Cup 2015 after going down 0–2 to former World Cup Champion

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and commentator who is an eight-time Russian Chess Champion. Svidler has competed in three World Championshi ...

, eventually winning 6–4 in blitz tiebreaks. By finishing in the top two, Karjakin qualified, along with Svidler, for the 2016 Candidates Tournament. In the same year, he took part in the Russia–China Challenge Match. The first part of the event took place from 29July to 1August in the Heixiazi Island, where Karjakin sequentially knocked out four of the five members in the Chinese team:

Wei Yi Wei Yi (; born 2 June 1999) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th youngest in history. He is the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700, accomplishing this feat ...

,

Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...

,

Ni Hua Ni Hua (born May 31, 1983 in Shanghai) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's Chess in China#GM and WGM Titles, 15th Grandmaster at the ...

and

Yu Yangyi Yu Yangyi (; born 8 June 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He qualified for the Grandmaster title at 14 years, 11 months and 23 days old in 2009. He is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and the 2014 Asian Chess Champion. He was a me ...

. In the second half of the event, which was held in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

in December, he also defeated Wang Yue, leading team Russia to victory.

2016: Candidates winner and World Blitz Champion

In March 2016, Karjakin won the 2016 Candidates Tournament in Moscow and qualified to play a match against Magnus Carlsen for the title of World Chess Champion. He defeated Fabiano Caruana in the last round of the tournament to finish with 8½ out of 14, one point ahead of Caruana and Anand. The World Chess Championship 2016 took place 11–30November 2016 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

City. The format consisted of a maximum of 12 games played under a long classical time control, ending with possible speed chess tiebreak games and an Armageddon game to ensure a winner. Karjakin's record against Carlsen in classical games before the World Championship was: 1win, 4losses, and 16draws. Karjakin won the eighth game, but lost the tenth, leaving the match tied 6–6. Carlsen defeated Karjakin 3–1 in the rapid tiebreaks and won the match. This remains the last time Carlsen was defeated in a classical or rapid game in the finals of a World Chess Championship having gone unbeaten in the rapid tiebreaks with Karjakin and in his subsequent matches with Caruana in 2018 (both in the classical portion and in the rapid tiebreaks) and Nepomniachtchi in 2021. Karjakin won the 2016

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapi ...

, which took place on 29 and 30December 2016. Before the last round, Carlsen was leading with 16.0/20, while Karjakin was half a point behind. In the last round, Carlsen drew with

Peter Leko Peter Leko (; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was drawn 7–7 and s ...

, while Karjakin won against Baadur Jobava. Thus, they both finished the tournament with 16½/21. The tie-break (the Elo average of the opponents) was used to decide the winner, and as Karjakin's opponents had the better average, Karjakin was crowned 2016 World Blitz Champion. The extent of Karjakin's and Carlsen's domination in the event was shown by the fact that their closest rivals,

Daniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in S ...

,

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraAlexander Grischuk Alexander Igorevich Grischuk (born October 31, 1983) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Grischuk was the Russian champion in 2009. He is also a three-time world blitz chess champion (in 2006, 2012 and 2015). He has competed in five Candidates To ...

(three-time world blitz champion), were a full two points behind.

2017–2018

In December, he participated in the London Chess Classic, placing eighth with a score of 3½/9. In January, Karjakin competed in the Tata Steel Masters. He placed seventh, scoring 7½/13 (+2−0=11). In March, he competed in the

Candidates Tournament 2018 The Candidates Tournament 2018 was an eight-player double round-robin tournament, round-robin chess tournament, which was held in Berlin, Germany, between 10–28 March 2018. The winner, Fabiano Caruana, earned the right to challenge the defending ...

. He finished third with 8/14 (+4−2=8), one point behind the winner Caruana. In April, he participated in the fifth edition of Shamkir Chess, finishing third with a score of 5/9 (+1−0=8). From 28 May to 7 June, he competed in the sixth edition of Norway Chess, finishing last with 3/8 (+1−3=4).

2019–2020

In March 2019, Karjakin competed as part of the Russian team at the World Team Championship in

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. He was defeated by the Kazakh grandmaster Rinat Dzhumabaev. Despite this, the Russian team took first place in the tournament. From 31 March to 9 April, he competed in Shamkir Chess 2019. He placed in a tie for second, with 5points out of9. From 5 to 16 December 2020, Karjakin competed in the 73rd

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first R ...

. He finished with a score of 7/11, which earned him second place behind winner Ian Nepomniachtchi.

2021

In July–August 2021, Karjakin competed in the Chess World Cup 2021. In round five, Karjakin defeated French GM

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Chess Championship, World Blitz Champion. With a peak Elo rating system, ra ...

in the rapid tiebreaker after drawing the classical games. He then knocked out US GM

Sam Shankland Samuel L. Shankland (born October 1, 1991) is an American chess grandmaster. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2018. Shankland was California State Champion in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and Champion of State Champions in 2009. He won bron ...

in the quarterfinals and eliminated Russian GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the semifinals to qualify for the

Candidates Tournament 2022 The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022,Jan-Krzysztof Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A Chess prodigy, prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and . he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 17 in the FIDE w ...

in the finals to finish second. Karjakin criticised

Daniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in S ...

for serving as a second for Magnus Carlsen in the

World Chess Championship 2021 The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Expo 20 ...

against

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

. This was also criticised by

Sergei Shipov Sergei Shipov (born 17 April 1966) is a Russian chess player, trainer, journalist and writer. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996. Career Shipov founded the chess website Crestbook where, among other services, he provides onlin ...

, who along with Karjakin said that Dubov should not have helped a non-Russian in a match against a fellow Russian. Dubov responded that he considered it to be a match between two individuals and counter-argued that working with Carlsen would improve his chess and hence help the Russian team. From 26–28 December 2021, Karjakin participated in the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Championship, where he ended up in 11th place with 9/13 points after tiebreaks.

2022–present

In January 2022, he competed in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022, where he finished tied for fifth with a score of 7/13. Controversy arose among spectators after the tenth round when Karjakin and Carlsen drew by three-fold repetition after 16moves in 20minutes, with Karjakin's deciding to enter a drawn line of the Berlin Defence. After the game, Karjakin tweeted "#drawmagnus #saynoto2900".

Suspension

In February 2022, the Crimea-born Karjakin, who had transferred from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the Russian Chess Federation in 2009, came out in vocal support of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. This led FIDE to refer him (as well as fellow Grandmaster

Sergei Shipov Sergei Shipov (born 17 April 1966) is a Russian chess player, trainer, journalist and writer. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996. Career Shipov founded the chess website Crestbook where, among other services, he provides onlin ...

) to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. While the investigation was ongoing, several chess tournaments and platforms banned Karjakin: the Grand Chess Tour did so in early March, saying "the GCT Board has determined that Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin is banned from all upcoming and future GCT events due to his recent hostile comments on social media supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine", while

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

banned him from participating in all prize tournaments that same month. In March 2022, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission banned him from playing any FIDE-rated events for six months. The Russian Chess Federation filed an appeal, which was denied.FIDE dismisses Sergey Karjakin's appeal

chess24 chess24.com was an Internet chess server in English and ten other languages, established in 2014 by German grandmaster Jan Gustafsson and Enrique Guzman. Chess24 also provided live coverage of major international chess tournaments, and hosted th ...

, 6 May 2022 The decision meant that Karjakin was not able to participate in the

Candidates Tournament 2022 The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022,Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel, Karjakin denounced FIDE for conflating sports with politics. He further declared that he considers himself a patriot first and a chess player second, and that he did not regret anything. His public approval of the invasion led to Russian President Vladimir Putin awarding him a

Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a Russian medal. It was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 January 1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on 7 September 201 ...

in June 2022. After the suspension ended in September 2022, Karjakin continued a self-imposed "ban" by refusing to participate in any tournament where he could not play under the Russian flag. Notably, Karjakin opted out of playing at the 2023 Chess World Cup despite his eligibility to play at the event due to rating, reiterating his disapproval for "the upcoming tournament

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

I can't represent my country, play under my (country's) flag, and if I successfully perform, I will not hear my country's national anthem." Since January 2022, Karjakin has () only played two classical FIDE-rated games, at the Russian Team Championship in May 2023.

Playing style

Karjakin is known for his defensive skills, which has earned him an informal nickname as Russia's "Minister of Defense". He successfully defended inferior positions against World Champion Magnus Carlsen – himself known for grinding out wins from slightly superior positions – in the World Chess Championship 2016, especially games 3 and 4. Karjakin has no qualms about entering an endgame with a small disadvantage if he deems it his best option as opposed to playing for complications. He is, however, also capable of aggressive play if the position demands it, such as in a 30-move victory over

Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE ...

at the Gashimov Memorial 2017.

Personal life

Karjakin is an ethnic Russian. On 25 July 2009, by the

decree of the President of Russia A Decree of the President of the Russian Federation (; ''Ukaz Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') or Executive Order (Decree) of the President of Russia is a legal act (''ukase'') with the status of a by-law made by the President of Russia. As no ...

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

, Karjakin adopted Russian citizenship. Later that year he transferred chess federations from Ukraine to Russia. He has lived in Moscow since 2009."Russia's Patriotic Chess Star From Crimea Sets His Sights On World Title"

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. (30 March 2016) In 2013 he graduated from the Russian State Social University with a degree in social pedagogy. Karjakin, an

Eastern Orthodox Christian Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, married Galiya Kamalova, secretary of the Moscow chess federation, in May 2014. They have two sons, one born in 2015 and the other born in 2017. He was previously married since 2009 to Ukrainian chess player Kateryna Dolzhykova. In January 2024, Karjakin was involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident, being the passenger of the car that flipped multiple times. He suffered rib fractures. However, his injuries were not life-threatening. Later that year, in February 2024, Karjakin visited the ruins of the Ukrainian town

Avdiivka Avdiivka (, ; , ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a population of before th ...

, which had recently been occupied by Russian forces. He took selfies there in military gear.

Political views

Karjakin is known for his strong support for

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. In 2022, he publicly endorsed the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

.

Sanctions

In 2022, Karjakin was sanctioned by

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

for his public endorsement and approval of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Karjakin was stripped of his Ukrainian state awards on 19 January 2025 by a decree of

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
Interview with game review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karjakin, Sergey 1990 births Living people Chess Grandmasters 21st-century Russian chess players 21st-century Russian sportsmen Ukrainian chess players Ukrainian people of Russian descent World Youth Chess Champions Chess Olympiad competitors Ukrainian emigrants to Russia Naturalized citizens of Russia Sportspeople from Simferopol Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia Russian State Social University alumni Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia United Russia politicians Members of the Federation Council of Russia (after 2000)