Igor Novikov

While he has been inactive in recent years, the Ukrainian-born Grandmaster terrorized the open tournament circuit when he lived in Brooklyn in the late 90s and early 2000s.  He’s won the World Open, Chicago Open, Foxwoods Open, and countless others.  Igor has an excellent knowledge of chess theory, and has trained numerous students both here and in the Ukraine, notably GMs Irina Krush and Alex Lenderman.  Novikov uses this knowledge to great effect in his games, and is capable of navigating sharp Najdorf battles as well as positional d4 games, and is extremely good at grinding out endgames.  In his spare time, he is a part-time travel agent, and is known for finding his chess playing friends the best deals on flights and hotel.  After not playing tournament chess for eight years, Igor joined the U.S. Team at the World Senior Team Championship in April of 2019, and helped them take home the gold.  If he gets himself in practice for this tournament, watch out.