Ilya Smirin – The Elite Master of Masters

Ilya Smirin is a Soviet-Israeli chess Grandmaster who plays for Israel. He was born on 21st January, 1968 at Belarus. His FIDE rating is 2646 as on July 2010 and his Peak rating is 2702 as on July 2001, which makes him one of the handful of elite grandmasters with a 2700+ rating.

Smirin’s career started in the Soviet Union. He earned a diploma from the Belorussian State Institute of Physical Culture, Minsk, which certified him as a chess teacher cum trainer.

He emigrated to Israel in 1992 and has been one of the leading chess players of Israel at Chess Olympiads and international tournaments. He is a member of the Israel national team and of the Ashdod chess club.

Ilya Smirin won equal first places in 1987 at Sverdlovsk, in New York in 1994, and in the Israeli Championship in 2002.

Smirin has won the 1st league of the USSR Championship in 1987-1989, the Israeli Championship in 1992, 1994 and 1999. He won the prestigious NY Open in 2000 and Dos Hermanas in 2001. He won the Acropolis International at Athens in 2007 by scoring 7/9. He tied for the first position with Evgeny Postny in Maalot-Tarshiha in 2008.