Maksim Chigaev (born 7 November 1996) is a Russian

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 currently represents Spain. He was awarded the title Grandmaster 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 ...

in 2016. Together with 43 other Russian chess players, Chigaev signed an open letter to Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, protesting against the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

and expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people. In August 2023, he changed federations to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Career

Chigaev was born in

Kemerovo Kemerovo ( rus, Ке́мерово, p=ˈkʲemʲɪrəvə) is an industrial city and the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Iskitimka and Tom Rivers, in the major coal mining region of the Kuznetsk Ba ...

. He played on the Russian team that won the World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad in 2012. Chigaev also won an individual gold medal as the best player on the second board. In 2015 he won the Vanya Somov Memorial - World's Youth Stars tournament in

Kirishi Kirishi (russian: Ки́риши, ) 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 kno ...

. In 2018, he played on team Molodezhka of

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...

which took the bronze medal in both the Russian Team Championships Premier League and the European Club Cup. In January 2019 Chigaev shared second place with

Andrey Esipenko Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko (russian: Андрей Евгеньевич Есипенко; born 22 March 2002) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He won the European U10 Chess Championship in 2012, and both the European U16 and World U16 Chess Cha ...

and Benjamin Gledura in the Tata Steel Challengers tournament in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') 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 Coru ...

, the Netherlands scoring 8½ points from 13 games. He competed in the FIDE World Cup 2019 as one of the nominees by the president of FIDE. Chigaev was paired against

Parham Maghsoodloo Parham Maghsoodloo ( fa, پرهام مقصودلو, born 11 August 2000) is an Iranian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2016. Maghsoodloo is a three-time Iranian national champion and became the World Jun ...

and lost to him by 2–0 and therefore was eliminated from the tournament in the first round. In October 2020, Chigaev won the Higher League of the 73rd Russian Chess Championship in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

with a score of 6.5/9 and qualified for Russian Chess Championship Superfinal later in the year.

Notes

References

External links

*
Maksim Chigaev
games at 365Chess.com *

team chess record at Olimpbase.org 1996 births Living people Chess grandmasters Russian chess players Spanish chess players Sportspeople from Kemerovo {{Russia-chess-bio-stub