Bator Sambuev (russian: Батор Самбуев; born November 25, 1980) is a Russian-Canadian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player who holds the

FIDE title 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 ...

of Grandmaster. He won the Canadian championship three times.

Early life and career

Born in

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence wi ...

, Russia, Sambuev was awarded by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

the titles of

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 ...

in 1999 and Grandmaster in 2006. He immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada in June 2007 and moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 2010. He won the Canadian Closed Championship in 2011 after a two-game playoff against Eric Hansen. In 2012, Sambuev again won the Canadian championship, earning the right to play in the FIDE World Cup 2013, and took part for the first time 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 2020 and ...

, where he played for team Canada on the first board. In the World Cup 2013, he played

Alexander Morozevich Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (russian: Александр Серге́евич Морозе́вич, translit=Aleksandr Sergéevich Morozévich; born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE ...

in the first round. Sambuev won the first game and lost the second. Then he lost the rapidplay playoff by 1½-½ and as a result he was eliminated from the competition. Sambuev was placed 2nd in the Toronto Labour Day Open and Toronto Holidays Open in 2007, the Toronto Hart House Holidays Open in 2008, the PWC Toronto Open, Toronto Labour Day Open and Toronto Thanksgiving Open in 2009, the Toronto Labour Day Open and Hart House Holidays Open in 2010, the Hart House Holidays Open in 2011, the Ontario Open in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and the Quebec Open in 2011. In 2011, Sambuev came 1st at the Hamilton Winter Open ahead of

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...

, who he defeated in the 4th round. Sambuev won the 2017 Canadian Championship (Zonal 2.2) on July 1, 2017 in Montreal. He finished =1st IM Nikolay Noritsyn in the 9-round Swiss with 8/9. They played four rapid games (15m + 10s) with White winning each time, but won the blitz play-off 1.5/0.5. In the play-off, Sambuev held Noritsyn's queen in his hand during the time-scramble, leading Noritsyn to promote to a queen using an upside-down rook. The arbiters, mistakenly believing the queen was still on the table, ruled Noritsyn's promotion to have been to a rook instead of a queen, leading to a win for Sambuev. After the match, Noritsyn filed an appeal with the

Chess Federation of Canada The Chess Federation of Canada or CFC ( French name: ''Fédération canadienne des échecs'') is Canada's national chess organization. Canadian Chess Association, founded in 1872, was replaced in 1932 by the Canadian Chess Federation (CCF), which ...

(CFC) asking for the decision of the arbiters to be overruled. The CFC denied the appeal in a 3-1 vote.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sambuev, Bator 1980 births Living people Russian chess players Canadian chess players Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors People from Ulan-Ude Russian emigrants to Canada