Timur Gareev

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Title: 
Grandmaster
Rating: 
2766
Federation: 
Brownsville, Texas
Age: 
25
Status: 
Accepted
Chess Highlights: 
Winner of Chicago Open 2011, US Open 2011, National Open 2010, Liberty Bell Open 2008, 2009, Land of the Sky 2012. Winner of North American Open 2012: 8/9 & 2890 performance; 2007 Uzbekistani National Championship (t-1st); Recipient of FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP, July 2012 - June 2013
Bio: 

Originally from Uzbekistan, Grandmaster Timur Gareev is a formidable opponent with unlimited potential. Coming off an undefeated, first-place performance at the 2012 North American Open, Gareev has proven that he has the ability to make a serious run at the U.S. Championship title.

"My grandfather taught me how to play chess at the age of four," Gareev said. "I practiced the game regularly challenging my father, friends, and schoolmates. At the age of eight I played my first rated competition. I started succeeding in my improvement very fast winning most of the national events."

At the age of 10, Timur said he was playing expert level strength, dedicating 4-6 hours every day mastering the game on his own and working with his coach Georgi Borisenko.

"Soviet Master Borisenko had coached and collaborated with World prominent grandmasters and world champions including Nona Gaprindashvilli, Semen Furhman, Mark Taimanov, Naum Rashkovsky," Gareev said. "It was an honor to receive the knowledge of classical chess school. At the age of 12, I went for my first serious international event and conquered the title of Asian Champion U-14 years old at Bikaner, India."

In 2004 at the age of 16, he earned the distinction as the youngest-ever grandmaster from Asia. He traveled to the United States for school and joined the chess team at the University of Texas at Brownsville's from August 2005 to August 2006 where he helped the team win its first national championship. In 2007 he tied for 1st with Vladimir Egin and Anton Filippov in the Uzbekistani Chess Championship. Gareev studied Business & Accounting at the University of Texas at Brownsville, where he received his B.A. degree in 2011. He was awarded the Samford Fellowship last year, which awarded him a monetary stipend to assist his chess development.

Timur is an exceptional blindfold player, and he recently conducted a 27-board blindfold simul in Hawaii. He is still training to conduct an even larger simul, and he has been quoted as saying that blindfold training has helped him improve his focus.

Image courtesy Wikimedia commons user Luciana Morales