2019 Winter Chess Classic

Elshan Moradiabadi learned the game of chess at the age of seven and earned his GM title as an Iranian in 2005. Before that, Moradiabadi won the Iranian championship in 2001. Elshan was the top player in Iran for a period of three (non-consecutive) years. Elshan moved to the U.S. in 2012 and has played for the U.S. federation since 2017. Elshan spent five years at Texas Tech, during which he won the Pan American Championships and one final four with the Texas Tech chess team. He also earned two Masters degree during this period. Elshan currently resides in Durham, North Carolina where he teaches chess to youngsters and talented players. Elshan loves to watch movies, read books, and learn about different sciences.

Emilio Córdova Daza is a Grand Master of Peruvian chess, a title that he earned in 2008. He started playing chess at age 8 with his father.  At age 9 he won the Pan American Chess Championship in 2001. In 2005, he became the youngest International Master of Peru and South America until Jorge Cori Tello broke the record. By 2008, both Emilio Cordova Daza and Julio Granda were considered the foremost experts of the sport in Peru.

Grandmaster Sergey Erenburg began playing chess when he was six years old and has ranked as one of the top 20 players in the USA for the past decade. Sergey grew up in Russia, where he consistently placed as one of the top youth players before immigrating to Israel at the age of 15. Erenburg earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Math and Finance from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) from 2007 through 2011, and during that time led the chess program to multiple national titles. Sergey went on to earn an additional master’s degree in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. While working in the financial industry since 2013, Erenburg continued to play competitively and won countless major events, including National Chess Congress (2012 shared, 2014, 2016 (shared), 2018 shared), World Open (2013; shared), North American Open (2014 shared), Continental Class Championship (2012, 2016, both shared), and more.

Sergei Azarov is a Grandmaster from Belarus. He graduated from the Republic College of Olympic Reserve in 2002, became a Grandmaster in 2003, and graduated from the Belarusian State University of Physical Education in 2006. Azarov won the Belarus Chess Championship in 2001 and 2002. At the 2003 U-20 World Championship in Azerbaijan, he took second place and  won the fifth Istanbul Chess Festival in 2006. Azarov has also won the 3rd Annual Continental Class Championships in Arlington, Virginia in 2012; tied for 1st in the Cappelle-la-Grande Open in 2014; won the Chess Club Championships in Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Slovakia; won the Washington International Chess Tournament in 2014; won the New York International in 2015; won the Empire City Open in 2017; and took part in 5 Chess Olympiads (2000-2008). He has been playing for the Czech Chess Club “Beskydska Sachova Skola” Frydek-Mistek for more than 10 years. Additionally, Azarov was a participant of the Chess World Cup in 2011 and 2013.

Viktor is a 2600+ level grandmaster hailing from Hungary. In 2011, he placed first in the Hungarian Chess Championship. This is Viktor’s first invitational tournament at the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky first learned the rules of chess at six years old, and it was not long before he was paving his professional future -- eventually becoming a three-time U.S. Scholastic champion, earning a gold medal at the World U12 championship in 2007 and winning the U.S. Junior championship in 2013. Naroditsky is  the youngest published chess author in history -- now with two titles to his name. Recently, he has taken up livestreaming on Twitch, and has garnered a substantial following due to his online blitz and bullet prowess.

In his youth, Hovhannes Gabuzyan placed second at the European Youth Chess Championship in 2011 and 2012. Later that year he was awarded the Grandmaster title. Since then, he has won the World University Chess Championship and the 77th Armenian Chess Championship in 2017.

Sethruaman is an Asian Grandmaster and former Asian Champion. He was a member of India’s bronze winning Olympiad team in 2014, gold winning team at the Asian Nations Cup, 2016, and silver medal team at the Asain Nations Cup in 2014 and 2018. Sethuraman has also placed at several other major tournaments including runner-up in the Aeroflot International Open in Moscow, Russia 2018; third place at the Dubai International chess Open, 2018; Fourth place at Gibraltar International Event, 2018; joint winner of the Sharjah International Open 2017; and second place at BRICS Masters, China.

Rinat developed his early chess career in 2011, including participation at the FIDE World Cup and earning 1st place in the men’s division of the Kazakhstan Chess Championship. In 2013, he placed 1st in the Blitz event at the Chigorin Memorial. In 2014, Rinat placed 1st in the  Rapid at the Asian Nations Cup, and again placed 1st at the 2014 Kazakhstan Chess Championship. His schedule only became busier, as he participated in the 2015 World Cup, took 3rd at the 2015 7th London Chess Classic FIDE Open, and took 3rd place in Classical and 1st place in Blitz at the 2015 RTU Open. Rinat’s achievements continued in 2016 where he scored 3rd in the Classical at the Asian Nations Cup and 2nd in the Rapid at the Biel Chess Open. Most recently, he placed first at the 2017 Kazakhstan Championship, took 3rd place at the 2017 Mikhail Tal Memorial Rapid, Yurmala, and earned 1st place at the 2017 Sants Open.

Alexey is a russian Grandmaster returning to Saint Louis after competing in the 2017 Match of the Millenials. At 2655, he currently is in the top 100 rated players in the world. Earlier this year, he shared first in the Russian Championship Higher League, earning a spot for a second time in the Superfinals of the Russian Men’s Chess Championship.