Mikhail Robertovich Kobalia (; born May 3, 1978) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (1997). Together with 43 other Russian elite chess players, Kobalia 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 Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

people.

Chess career

In 1994 he won

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 ...

(U16) in

Guarapuava Guarapuava (population: 182,644) is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the largest municipality in that state by area. Guarapuava is located at 25°23'36" south and 51°27'19" west. The region is known as the centre of the s ...

. In 2001 was clear first in the

Chigorin Memorial The Chigorin Memorial is a chess tournament played in honour of Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908), founder of the Soviet Chess School and one of the leading players of his day. The first and most important edition was the one played in 1909 in St. Pe ...

at St. Petersburg. In 2005 came first in the Masters Open Tournament in Biel. In 2007, he tied for 1st–6th with

Vitali Golod Vitali Matveyevich Golod (; born 23 June 1971) is a Soviet-born Israeli chess player. He holds the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 1996. Chess career Golod was Ukrainian champion in 1991. He then moved to Israel. In 2004, he ...

Mateusz Bartel Mateusz Bartel (born 3 January 1985) is a Polish chess Grandmaster. He won the Polish Chess Championship in 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Career Bartel learnt to play the game at the age of 6 from his father when he and his younger brother were ...

Yuri Yakovich Yuri Rafailovich Yakovich (russian: Юрий Рафаилович Якович; born November 30, 1962) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990. He was a member of the silver medal-winning Russian team ...

, Michael Roiz and

Zahar Efimenko Zahar Oleksandrovych Efimenko (; born 3 July 1985) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Ukrainian team at the 2010 Chess Olympiad. Efimenko competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2005, 2009 and 2011. Chess car ...

in the 16th Monarch Assurance

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

International tournament. In 2009 he tied for 9th–11th with

Boris Grachev Boris Pavlovich Grachev (russian: Борис Павлович Грачёв; born 27 March 1986) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. Grachev competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009, 2011, 2015, and ...

and

Tomi Nybäck Tomi Nybäck (born 3 April 1985 in Järvenpää) is a Finnish chess grandmaster and poker player. He won the Finnish Chess Championship in 2008 and is the No. 1 ranked Finnish player as of February 2018. He played for the Finnish team in the C ...

in the

European Individual Chess Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), ...

Budva Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, kno ...

. In 2010 he tied for 1st–2nd with Manuel León Hoyos in the Arctic Chess Challenge. He took part in the

Chess World Cup 2011 The Chess World Cup 2011 was a chess World Cup tournament. It was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 26 August and 21 September 2011, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Cup winner Peter Svidler, along with second placed Alexan ...

, but was eliminated in the first round by

Igor Lysyj Igor Ilyich Lysyj (; born 1 January 1987) is a Russian chess player and writer. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. Lysyj was Russian champion in 2014. Together with 43 other Russian chess players, Lysyj signed an open l ...

. In the 2016 Aeroflot Open, he tied 3rd-10th with

Vladimir Fedoseev Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev (russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Федосе́ев; born 16 February 1995) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2015, 2017, and 2021. Career Fedoseev tied fo ...

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Cham ...

Daniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (russian: Даниил Дмитриевич Дубов; 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. He is ...

Sanan Sjugirov Sanan Sjugirov (russian: Санан Сюгиров; born 31 January 1993) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was European champion and world champion in his age category. Sjugirov competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009 and 2015. Chess career ...

Maxim Matlakov Maxim Sergeevich Matlakov (; born 5 March 1991) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He won the European Individual Chess Championship in 2017. He acted as a second for Peter Svidler in the Candidates Tournaments of 2013, 2014 and 2016. Together ...

, and Vadim Zvaginsev.

Notable games

Mikhail Kobalia vs Michael Adams, FIDE WCh KO 2001, King's Indian Attack: Yugoslav Variation (A07), 1/2-1/2Mikhail Kobalia vs Ante Brkic, 10th European Championship 2009, Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations (B50), 1-0

References

External links

* * 1978 births Living people Chess grandmasters Russian chess players Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine {{Russia-chess-bio-stub