2019 Spring Chess Classic

Denis Kadric is a Bosnian grandmaster who currently lives in the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo. Denis learned how to play chess when he was 5 years old, taught by his father, and played his first tournament when he was 9 years old. In 2012, he became the European Rapid and Blitz champion in the U-16 category. From 2014 till 2018, he attended the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) where he received a full ride scholarship and got his bachelor’s degree in Finance. In 2017, he won 2 strong international tournaments in a row. The first was the Bosna Open 2017 in June, followed by the Paracin Open (Serbia) in July. He has played in the last 4 Olympiads for his country and on his first Olympiad (Istanbul 2012), he made his final GM norm. In the last Olympiad (Batumi 2018), he played on the first board. Currently, he is a professional chess player and coach.

Aleksey  is from Barnaul, Russia. Aleksey  Sorokin started playing chess at the age of 8.   In 2016, he took 3rd place in U16 Youth European Championship.  In 2017, at the age of 17, he won the Russian U20 Chess Championship.  In the December 2018, Aleksey took 3rd place in the final of the Russian Cup.  In January of 2019, he moved to the United States to attend Texas Tech University at Lubbock on a chess scholarship; he is currently majoring in Computer Science.

This charismatic and sporty Canadian became a Grandmaster in 2012 and has been a rising star in the chess community since. His internet presence on YouTube and Twitch, chessbrahs, involves himself and other titled players playing chess online for fun. Hansen’s online chess fame has given him many devoted fans and followers. In 2007, Hansen became a National Master, and placed second in the 2008 World U-16 Championships. Later that year he became a FIDE Master, and by 2010 he earned the International Master title. He tied for first in the 2011 Canadian Championship and won the 2012 Canadian Open. Other accomplishments in Hansen’s career include him qualifying for two World Cups and becoming a member of the Canadian National Team, representing Canada in the 2012 Olympiad and putting up another spectacular performance at the 2016 Olympiad. Hansen is also a member of the PRO Chess League, the Montreal Chess Brahs, who reached the final four in the first season.

Nikolas Theodorou is an 18 year old International Master from Greece. He is ranked 8th in Greece and has represented his country in many junior events. One of his most notable achievements is having won the Greek championship in his age group five times. He is currently residing in Saint Louis, majoring in Engineering Physics at SLU.

Grandmaster Steingrímsson is an Icelandic chess grandmaster.  He won the World U12 Chess Championship in 1987.  In 1990, at the age of 15, he won the Icelandic Chess Championship, and became a 3 time winner with titles in 2011, 2015. He earned his international master title in 1994 and his grandmaster title in 2007. He is the No. 1 ranked Icelandic player as of October 2017.

Grandmaster Mista started playing chess at the age of 4 and earned Grandmaster status at the age of 20.  Mista has taken 3rd place in Polish Championship (2009), won the Hastings Chess Congress (2015/16) and Najdorf Memorial (2018, Warsaw). In years 2011-12, Mista was the Coach of Women National Team during Chess Olympiad (2012 Istanbul) and Team European Chess Championship (2011, Greece) where the team won silver.  Mista is a member of Polish National Team since 2011, in chess problem solving, and has won 8 gold medals in a row in Team World Chess Problem Championships. Mista is currently the manager of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Chess Program.