Anton Kovalyov

Anton Kovalyov
Kovalyov at the Figueira da Foz tournament in 2009
Country Argentina (until 2013)
Canada (since 2013)
Born (1992-03-04) 4 March 1992
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Title Grandmaster (2008)
FIDE rating 2629 (October 2018)
Peak rating 2664 (November 2017)

Anton Kovalyov (born 4 March 1992) is a Ukrainian-born Canadian (formerly representing Argentina) chess grandmaster.

Chess career

In 2004, he finished equal first at the Pan American Under-12 Championship[1] and thanks to this result he was awarded the title of FIDE Master.

In 2008 Kovalyov played for the Argentine team at the 38th Chess Olympiad.[2] At the FIDE congress held during the competition he was awarded the grandmaster title.[3]

In 2009 he won the Quebec Invitational Championship in Quebec, Canada.[4] He won the Quebec Junior Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2012.[5]

He switched to the Canadian Chess Federation in 2013.[6] In August 2014, he played for Canada on the top board at the 41st Chess Olympiad.[7] He scored 7/11 (+4–1=6) for a performance rating of 2670.[8]

At the 2015 American Continental Chess Championship he scored 8 points out of 11 finishing in a tie for third with other five players, with whom he played a rapid playoff and managed to earn a spot in the Chess World Cup 2015.[9] In the latter he knocked out Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Sandro Mareco in round one and two respectively, then he was eliminated by Fabiano Caruana in the third round.

In September 2016, he competed for Canada on board 2 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad. He scored 8/10 (+6–0=4) for a performance rating of 2852.[10] This was the second best board 2 performance, behind only Vladimir Kramnik's 2903 performance for Russia.[11]

In the Chess World Cup 2017, he defeated Varuzhan Akobian in the first round and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the second, and was due to face Maxim Rodshtein in the third.[12] Shortly before the game with Rodshtein was due to start, Kovalyov was instructed by the event organisers to change his shorts, the same pair he had worn in the first two rounds, as they violated the dress code. In response, Kovalyov left the venue and did not return, thus forfeiting the game.[13] Kovalyov later accused organiser Zurab Azmaiparashvili of yelling and racially abusing him during the incident, resulting in his withdrawal.[14]

Personal life

Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine to Russian parents,[15][16] Kovalyov moved to Argentina in 2000, where he learned how to play chess under the guidance of Pablo Ricardi and Oscar Panno. In 2007 he moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with his family.[17][16] As of 2017, he is pursuing a master's degree in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas.[18]

References

  1. ↑ 17° Campeonato Panamericano u12 (boys) BrasilBase
  2. ↑ 38th Olympiad Dresden 2008 Open: Argentina Chess-Results
  3. ↑ Titles approved at the 79th FIDE Congress FIDE
  4. ↑ "Anton Kovalyov Wins Quebec Invitational Chess Championship". Chessdom. June 30, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ Fédération québécoise des échecs
  6. ↑ Player transfers in 2013 FIDE
  7. ↑ 41st Olympiad Tromso 2014 Open: Canada Chess-Results
  8. ↑ 41st Chess Olympiad: Tromsø 2014
  9. ↑ "GM Sandro Mareco is 2015 American Continental champion". Chessdom. 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  10. ↑ 42nd Chess Olympiad: Baku 2016
  11. ↑ Board-prizes (Final Ranking after 11 Rounds) - Open
  12. ↑ "Results". FIDE World Chess Cup 2017 Tbilisi Georgia. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  13. ↑ Shah, Sagar (9 September 2017). "The shorts episode at the FIDE World Cup 2017". chessbase.com.
  14. ↑ "Kovalyov accusing ECU president and FIDEWorldCup organizer Azmaiparashvili of verbal abuse". twitter.com.
  15. ↑ GM title application. FIDE.
  16. 1 2 The strange case of Anton Kovalyov Spraggett on Chess
  17. ↑ Interview with Anton Kovalyov (in Spanish) La Nacion
  18. ↑ https://www.chess.com/news/view/favorites-falter-adams-anand-karjakin-knocked-out
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