Sergey Erenburg

Sergey Erenburg was born in Russia and immigrated to Israel when he was 15. He first won the Israeli national championship in 2004 at the age of 21.

Erenburg came to the U.S. in 2007 and earned both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). He served as the captain of UMBC's chess team from 2008-2011 and helped the team secure two Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championships (2008, 2009) and two President's Cups (2009, 2010).

Sergey went on to earn an additional master’s degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an analyst and writer for Chessbase for more than 10 years, and he has won (or shared first) in countless major events including the North American Open (2013, shared), World Open (2013, shared), National Chess Congress (2012, shared), Continental Class Championship (2012, shared) and more.

Erenburg considered himself a chess professional until the age of 23, but he ultimately determined it would have been difficult to make a living in chess citing the lack of financial opportunity. He currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, and works at Capital One as a senior data analyst.

In January of 2013 Erenburg switched his allegiance from the Israeli Chess Federation to the United States. "I felt that given that I live in the U.S.A. and am a citizen, it is my right and duty to help popularize and contribute to chess in the U.S.A.," he said.

He has been active in promoting chess in his home state and is currently helping the Virginia Scholastic Chess Association promote the benefits of chess to area schools.