Alexei Shirov | |
|---|---|
 Alexei Shirov, 2010 | |
| Country | Soviet Union (until 1991) Latvia (1991–95, 2011–18) Spain (1995–2011, since 2018) |
| Born | (1972-07-04)4 July 1972 (age 52) Riga, Latvia |
| Title | Grandmaster (1990) |
| FIDE rating | 2652 (March 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2755 (January 2008) |
| Ranking | No. 79 (March 2025) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (January 1994) |
Alexei Shirov (Russian:Алексе́й Дми́триевич Ши́ров,romanized: Alexey Dmitrievich Shirov,Latvian:Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanishchess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.[1]
He won a match againstVladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championship match withGarry Kasparov; it never took place due to a lack of sponsorship.
Shirov became theworld under-16 champion in 1988 and was the runner-up at theWorld Junior Championship in 1990 (second on tiebreaks toIlya Gurevich). In the same year, he achieved the title ofGrandmaster. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments:Biel 1991,Madrid 1997 (shared first place withVeselin Topalov),Ter Apel 1997,Monte Carlo 1998,Mérida 2000,Paul Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament inTallinn (2004, 2005, 2011,[2] 2012,[3] 2013),[4]Canadian Open Chess Championship 2005.
He reached second on theFIDE rating list in January and July 1994, behindAnatoly Karpov, thoughGarry Kasparov was excluded from those lists and was rated higher. In 1998, Shirov's ranking rose again, to number four in thePCA rating list. On the basis of this rating, he was invited to play a ten-game match againstVladimir Kramnik to select a challenger forPCA World ChampionGarry Kasparov. Shirovwon the match with two wins, no losses and seven draws.[5] However, the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov insteadplayed Kramnik for Kasparov's world title in 2000, Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.[6]
In 2000, Shirov reached the final of theFIDE World Chess Championship, losing 3½–½ toViswanathan Anand.
In 2002, he played in theCandidates Tournament to choose a challenger for Classical World Champion Kramnik. He won his group of four, but lost his semi-final 2½–½ to eventual winnerPeter Leko.
In May–June 2007 he played in theCandidates Tournament of theWorld Chess Championship 2007. He won his first-round match againstMichael Adams (+1−1=4, won in rapid playoff), but was eliminated when he lost his second-round match toLevon Aronian (+0−1=5). As of 2023,[update] this is Shirov's last appearance at a Candidates Tournament.
In November–December 2007 Shirov played in theChess World Cup 2007, which was a qualifier for theWorld Chess Championship 2010. He made the final, but lost the final 2½–1½ toGata Kamsky.
In May 2009, Alexei Shirov won thecategory 21M-Tel Masters 2009 tournament, held inSofia, Bulgaria.
In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament inShanghai, where he faced world No. 4Levon Aronian, world No. 5Vladimir Kramnik, andWang Hao; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world No. 1Magnus Carlsen and World ChampionViswanathan Anand.[7] After drawing his first two games, Shirov then won three consecutive games, including his first victory over Kramnik since 2003.[8] Finishing with 4½/6 points, Shirov won the tournament, qualifying along with Kramnik for the Grand Slam final.[9]
In May 2011, Shirov won a strong round-robin tournament inLublin, Poland, the 3rdLublin Union Memorial 2011 with a score of 5/7.[10] In December 2011, he switched back federations from Spain to Latvia.[11]
In February 2012, Shirov won theAivars Gipslis Memorial in Riga with 8 points out of 9.[12] In June 2012 Shirov won the Buenos Aires Masters Tournament (category 13) with 5½/7.
In August 2013, he played in theChess World Cup. He won his first-round match againstHou Yifan,[13] and was eliminated when he lost his second round match toWei Yi. In August 2015, Shirov won the 5thRiga Technical University Open edging outRobert Hovhannisyan on tiebreak score, after both players finished on 7½/9.[14] In March 2017, Shirov won theMikhail Tal Memorial blitz tournament inJūrmala scoring 9½/11 points.[15]
In 2018 and 2019, he won the 5th and 6thArica Open.[16]
In September 2020, during theFIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020, Shirov won theGazpromBrilliancy Prize for his win as Black againstDanyyil Dvirnyy in theSlav Defense, involving aqueen sacrifice in aqueenside attack, and achieved an overall score of 13/15 (+12−1=2) playing for the Spanish team.[17]
In February 2021, Shirov won the 3rdSalamanca Chess Festival with a score of 6/7.[18]
Through February and March 2022, Shirov played in theFIDE Grand Prix 2022. In the first leg, he placed fourth in Pool D with a 1.5/6 result. In the second leg, he tied withVladimir Fedoseev for third in Pool C with a result of 2.5/6, finishing last in the standings with one point.
In July 2023, Shirov played in the 2023Canadian Open Chess Championship. Shirov placed first with a result of 8.5/10.
Shirov is ofRussian descent. In 1994 he married anArgentine, Verónica Álvarez, moved toTarragona, and became a citizen ofSpain. From 2001 to 2007, He was married toLithuanianViktorija Čmilytė, also a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest female chess players in the world.[19] Shortly before the Shanghai 2010 tournament, Shirov got married for a third time to WIM Olga Dolgova.[20] At that time he still played for Spain, but he and his wife also had an apartment in Riga, Latvia.
Shirov is noted for his attacking style, a tendency which has led to comparisons with fellow Latvian and former world champion,Mikhail Tal, under whom he studied in his youth.[citation needed]
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During the 1998Linares chess tournament Shirov played Black against futureFIDEworld championVeselin Topalov and won by sacrificing his only bishop in a bishop and pawn ending:
Shirov's bishop sacrifice (47...Bh3!!) is considered one of the greatest chess moves of all time.[22]
Shirov has written two books on his best games:
