Iart Luca Shytaj (born 3 February 1986) is an Albanian-Italian
chess grandmaster
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it h ...
and
virologist
Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their ...
.
Chess career
Born on 3 February 1986, Shytaj won the
Albanian Chess Championship The Albanian Chess Championship is the annual individual national chess championship of Albania. The first tournament took place in 1933. A separate championship for women has been held since 1977.
Winners
:
Open champions by number of titles
Wo ...
in 2003. He earned his
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 ...
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
at the Arctic Chess Challenge in August 2009, his second during the 2016/17
Chess Bundesliga
The term Chess Bundesliga (german: Schach-Bundesliga) normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany established in 1980. It is arguably the strongest league of its kind and attracts many high-rated grandmasters.
Austria also has ...
season, and his third at the Mulhouse Festival in July 2018. He was awarded the title in October 2018. He is the 14th Italian player to achieve the title of GM.
Shytaj represented Albania at the 36th and
37th Chess Olympiad
The 37th Chess Olympiad ( it, Le 37° Olimpiadi degli scacchi), 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 we ...
s, and Italy at the
38th Chess Olympiad
The 38th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 38. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from 12 to 25 November 2008 in Dresden, ...
.
Scientific career
Shytaj received a bachelor's degree in biology from the
Sapienza University of Rome
The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...
, and a master's degree in genetics and molecular biology from the same university. His Ph.D. thesis, which resulted in a functional cure of
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in
macaque
The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...
s, was named as one of the three best presentations at HIV Dart 2012, an international conference on drug development processes in
antiretroviral
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multipl ...
research. As of 2017, Shytaj works at
Heidelberg University
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Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
.
Personal life
Shytaj was born in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
. He moved to Italy with his parents at age six, and he became an Italian citizen in 2007. He married German GM
Elisabeth Pähtz
Elisabeth Pähtz (born January 8, 1985, sometimes spelt Elisabeth Paehtz) is a German chess Grandmaster.ELISABETH PÄHTZ HAT GEHEIRATET German Chess Federation They separated in 2018.