Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ian “Nepo” is in the prime of his career. In 2019, he entered the top 10 for the first time and reached his peak rating to date of 2775, thus becoming the highest rated Russian player. He earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 17 in 2007 and won the prestigious Aeroflot Open the following year, thus qualifying to the 2008 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. In 2010 he won the European individual championship as well as the Russian Superfinal after defeating Sergey Karjakin in a play off. He earned two silver medals in World Rapid Championships and one in the World Blitz Championship. He also won the 2018 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting and was part of the Russian team which won the 2019 World Team Championship.