I was born on Sunday, 9 April 1978 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. My father taught me chess when I was seven.
From 1993 to 1997, I studied chess at the Kharkiv Sport School, which was a turning point in my career. In 1996 I won the Kharkiv U20 Championship and later that year I obtained the Candidate Master title. In 1997 I won bronze on Board 2 at the Ukrainian Team Championship.
In 1998, when I qualified for the Top-12 National U20, there were 6 future GMs and 5 IMs, including a few of Kharkiv’s future 2700+ players such as Korobov, Eljanov and Moiseenko. Later in 1998, I finished third in the Beirut Open.
In 1999, I obtained my International Master title.
In 2000, I graduated from Kharkiv’s Teaching University and became a full time chess coach. I started teaching at my alma mater, the Kharkiv Sport School.
Among my students were GM Anna Ushenina, future Olympic Champion and the 14th Women’s World Chess Champion, IM Maxim Polyakov, IM Alexey Averjanov, WIM Olena Dvoretska, and twelve Candidate Masters. In July 2004 at the Kharkiv Sport School, together with my friend Sergey Tugaj, I organized an international chess tournament, “Glassy Stream”, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of Kharkiv.
In 2004, I started teaching at the Internet Chess Club (ICC). My students have been players at different levels of expertise ranging from beginners to national masters, at different ages (from 6 to 69) and from 27 countries around the globe. I have been one of the top ICC coaches since January 2005.
In 2008, I organized an International Online Tournament among my students, honoring the 2008 Olympic Games that were being held in Beijing.
In 2011, I launched the 2700chess.com project, which aimed to provide up to date live ratings of the world’s elite players.
In 2012, my former student Anna Ushenina became the 14th Women’s World Champion.
In 2015-2016, I conducted regular online chess lessons with Zhou Liran from New York City. In 2017, Liran became the youngest ever National Master of the U.S. Chess Federation at the age of 9 years, 3 months and 22 days.
In 2017, CM Nathan Smith won the Bahamian Scholastic Individual Championship.
In 2018, I became one of vice-presidents of the Kharkiv Region Chess Federation in order, inter alia, to boost kid’s chess in the Kharkiv region. At the end of 2018, I visited Singapore for a month to help one of my younger students win a trophy in the Nationals.
In 2020, I discovered Zoom for group chess lessons and continue teaching players locally and globally. I enjoy watching my students improve their chess skills and ratings.
In 2022, my former student Anna Ushenina won the Team Gold medal playing board 3 for Ukraine in the Women’s Olympiad. Previously in April, one of my current students won silver in the U10 championship in Portugal.
In 2023, I celebrated the 25th anniversary of my coaching career, and one of my students, Eric, became the Hong Kong Junior Rapid Champion scoring 6.5/7
Below you can review a hundred of my wins against titled players in blitz (mostly online). Use the drop-down menu above the chess board to select a game; on your mobile or tablet, swipe down or up to make the next or previous game appear.
