Christian Gabriel (born 3 March 1975) is a

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

born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Grandmaster (GM) (1996), two-times

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 bronze medalist (1997, 1999).

Biography

Christian Gabriel has participated in chess tournaments from the age of seven. In 1987, he won the Romanian Youth Chess Championship in U14 age group. In the same year his family moved to Germany. Christian Gabriel was soon promoted to the group of the best German juniors and seven times (in 1989-1995) representing his country at the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

in various age categories. In 1989, in

Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla i ...

Christian Gabriel won bronze medal in World Youth Chess Championship in U14 age group, behind only to the later World Chess Champions

Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; bg, Весели́н Александров Топа́лов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by wi ...

and Vladimir Kramnik. He was also a two-time medalist in

European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 there was als ...

: silver in 1988 (in

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...

) and bronze in 1991 (in Mamaia). At the end of the 1990s Christian Gabriel was one of leading German chess players. In 1998, in Bremen he won bronze medal in

German Chess Championship The German Chess Championship has been played since 1861, and determines the national champion. Prior to 1880, three different federations organized chess activities in Germany: the ''Westdeutscher Schachbund'' (WDSB), the ''Norddeutscher Schachbund ...

. Christian Gabriel successes in international chess tournaments include: * 1st place in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

(1996, tournament ''Elekes''), * shared 1st place in Bad Homburg (1996, together with

Boris Alterman Boris Alterman ( he, בוריס אלתרמן, russian: Борис Альтерман; born May 4, 1970) is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), advisor of the Junior chess program. He started playing chess at the age of 7. ...

), * shared 1st place in Makarska (1996). Christian Gabriel played for Germany 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 an ...

: * In 1998, at first reserve board in the

33rd Chess Olympiad The 33rd Chess Olympiad (, ''33-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''; Kalmyk: 33-гче Шатрин олимпиад, ''33-gçe Şatrin olimpiad''), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, took place between September 26 and O ...

Elista Elista (russian: Элиста́, (common during the Soviet era) or (most common pronunciation used after 1992 and in Kalmykia itself);"Большой энциклопедический словарь", под ред. А. М. Прохорова. ...

(+1, =5, -0). Christian Gabriel played for Germany in the

s: * In 1997, at fourth board in the 11th European Team Chess Championship in Pula (+3, =5, -0) and won individual bronze medal, * In 1999, at first reserve board in the 12th European Team Chess Championship in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

(+2, =5, -0) and won team bronze medal. In 1992, Christian Gabriel was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title and received the FIDE Grandmaster (GM) title four years later. In 2000, he appeared in the World Chess Championship qualifying Zonal tournament, and then ended his professional career, in the following years only appearing in team competitions in Germany and Switzerland.

Other achievements

Christian Gabriel graduated in law from

University of Konstanz The University of Konstanz (german: Universität Konstanz) is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's ...

. He works in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

as a financial specialist. In addition to playing classic chess, he also achieved successes in so-called Janus Chess (played on 80 field chessboard). In this variety he won the title of vice-champion of Europe. He is also the owner of black belt in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

References

External links

*
Christian Gabriel
chess games at 365Chess.com 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Reșița German chess players Romanian chess players University of Konstanz alumni Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors {{Germany-chess-bio-stub