 Kamsky in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gataulla Rustemovich Kamsky (1974-06-02)June 2, 1974 (age 51) Novokuznetsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Chess career | |
| Country |
|
| Title | Grandmaster (1990) |
| FIDE rating | 2604 (November 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2763 (July 2013) |
| Peak ranking | No. 4 (July 1995) |
Gata Rustemovich Kamsky (Tatar:Гата Камский;Russian:Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is an Americanchess grandmaster and a five-timeU.S. champion.
Kamsky reached the final of theFIDE World Chess Championship 1996 at the age of 22, and reached a ranking of fourth in the world rankings in 1995.[1] He played almost noFIDE-rated games between 1997 and late 2004.
Kamsky won theChess World Cup 2007. This earned him a Candidates Match againstVeselin Topalov, which he lost.[2] Kamsky also competed in theCandidates Tournament in 2011, losing toBoris Gelfand.
Kamsky was born inNovokuznetsk in Russia, in aTatar family. Gata's last name, Kamsky, is derived from the stage nickname of his grandfather Gataullah "Kamsky" Sabirov, the founder of the Tatar Drama Theater in Kazan.[3][4]
At age 12, he defeated veteran GrandmasterMark Taimanov in a tournament game. He also earned his National Master title in that year. He won the Soviet under-20 championship in 1987 and 1988.[5][6]
In 1989, he moved to the United States with his father Röstäm (also spelled Rustam), a former boxer who dominated Gata, made him study chess almost exclusively, and acted as his coach and manager.Allen Kaufman, then Executive Director of the American Chess Foundation, helped arrange for their support after their move.[7][8] BusinessmanJames Cayne provided financial support to the Kamskys.[8]
In 1989, Gata Kamsky won a tournament in New York to earn the right to challengeGarry Kasparov to a two-game match; he lost that match later that year 0–2.[8] In 1990, while aged 16 and still untitled, he played in the 64-playerInterzonal tournament in Manila, the first step toward theWorld Chess Championship. He finished with 5½ / 13.[9]
In 1990,FIDE awarded Kamsky the grandmaster title. In 1991, he won theU.S. Championship. Kamsky also did well at other prestigious chess tournaments, winning theLas Palmas tournament in 1994.
In 1993, the rival organisationsFIDE andPCA each held Interzonal tournaments. Kamsky played in both, and in both cases qualified for the respectiveCandidates Tournaments. The Candidates tournaments were largely dominated by Kamsky andViswanathan Anand.
In the first round of the1994–95 FIDE Candidates matches, Kamsky beatPaul van der Sterren (+3=3−1). Kamsky's second round (Candidates semifinal) match against Anand, held in July and August 1994 inSanghi Nagar, India, was more dramatic. After draws in the first two games, Anand won the next two games to take an imposing 3–1 lead. Game 5 was drawn. Kamsky then scored 2½–½ in the remaining three games to tie the match 4–4 (+2=4−2), then won the tworapid chess playoff games to win the match. In the third round (Candidates final), held in Sanghi Nagar in February 1995, Kamsky routedValery Salov 5½–1½ (+4=3−0).
In the1994–95 PCA Candidates matches, Kamsky beatVladimir Kramnik in the quarter-finals in New York in June, 1994. In September, 1994 Kamsky beatNigel Short in the semifinals inLinares, Spain. In the March 1995 final against Anand in Las Palmas, the FIDE result was reversed, with Kamsky losing (+1=7−3).
In the September 1994 match against Short, there was a highly publicized confrontation between Kamsky's father, Rustam Kamsky, and Short.[10][11]
In 1996, Kamsky played a 20-game match againstAnatoly Karpov for theFIDE World Chess Championship 1996 title atElista inKalmykia, losing 7½–10½ (+3=9−6).
After losing the match to Karpov, Kamsky gave up professional chess. He graduated fromBrooklyn College with a B.A. in 1999.[7][12] He then attended and graduated from law school atTouro Law Center in New York.
Kamsky's nextrated games after his loss to Karpov were in 1999, when he returned to play in the FIDE Knockout World Championship event inLas Vegas, where he played a first-round, two-game match against the eventual tournament winner,Alexander Khalifman. Kamsky won the first game, lost the second game, and then lost the rapid play-off games.
Kamsky then again retired from the world of chess, this time for five years. In March 2004ChessBase reported that according toSam Sloan[13]Kamsky was seeking to become President of FIDE.
Kamsky's next game in public was not until June 15, 2004, when he participated in the 106th New York Masters,[14] playing four games in a day with a time control of 30 minutes for all his moves. His two wins and two draws were enough for him to tie for first place with four others. He subsequently played in several other editions of the weekly event with mixed success, before returning to regular chess in the 2005 U.S. Championship held in November–December 2004 where he scored a respectable but unspectacular 5½–3½. He was rated number 19 in the world on the April 2005FIDEElo rating list, at 2700. He retained this rating on the July 2005 list, but moved up to number 18, after a good unbeaten result at the 2005 HB Global Challenge tournament, held inMinneapolis in May, 2005.
He has since returned to international chess, most notably finishing second behindVeselin Topalov at theM-Tel Masters event. Soon after, Kamsky led the US team to the bronze medal at the2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin. On July 4, 2006, he tied for first place with nine others at thePhiladelphia World Open, then won the play-off, winning about $7,000. A number of successes in 2007 marked his return to the playing level he had before his retirement, hinting at the possibility of becoming again a challenger for the very top of the world's chess hierarchy.
Kamsky played in the FIDEChess World Cup 2005, and qualified for the Candidates Tournament for theWorld Chess Championship 2007, in May–June 2007. He won his first round match againstÉtienne Bacrot (+3−0=1), but was eliminated when he lost his second round match toBoris Gelfand +0−2=3.
In November–December 2007, Kamsky participated in theChess World Cup 2007. Seeded 11th, he won his first three rounds and then defeatedPeter Svidler, former FIDE world championRuslan Ponomariov and future world number-oneMagnus Carlsen to reach the finals. In the final he defeatedAlexei Shirov (+1−0=3) to win the title, shocking many in the chess world.
Kamsky's victory earned him a match against world number-oneVeselin Topalov in 2009 for the right to challenge for theWorld Chess Championship 2010 against world championViswanathan Anand. The match was held inSofia, Bulgaria, in February 2009. Although Kamsky won game four to level the match 2–2, Topalov scored +2 in the final 3 games (including an exciting last round victory on the White side of theFrench Defense) to win the match 4½–2½.
Kamsky played board one for the United States in the2008 Chess Olympiad, held inDresden, Germany in November. The U.S. team captured the bronze medals.
Kamsky participated in theChess World Cup 2009 but was upset in the third round byWesley So.
In January 2010 Kamsky won the 52ndReggio Emilia chess tournament (he came equal first withZoltán Almási, defeating him in the last round, but had a better Buchholz tiebreak).[15] In May 2010 he tied for 1st–3rd withVladimir Kramnik andShakhriyar Mamedyarov in the President's Cup in Baku.[16]
He became U.S. Champion on May 25, 2010, after winning a rapid playoff game with second-place finisherYury Shulman. This championship, Kamsky's second, came 19 years after he won his first U.S. championship.
In August 2010, Kamsky won clear first at the Open Grenke Rapid World Championship (Mainz Chess Classic), aRapid Chess tournament, with 10/11, defeating world No. 5 and defending championLevon Aronian, 2004 FIDE championRustam Kasimdzhanov, andSergey Karjakin en route to the title ahead ofGrischuk,Shirov and several other strong Grandmasters.[17]
From August 23 through August 31, Kamsky participated in the Baku Open in Azerbaijan, where he was the top seed. He won his final three games to clinch clear first with 7½/9.[18]
From April 13 through April 18, 2011, Kamsky participated in the United States Championship, where he was the top seed. He won the tournament for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player sinceLev Alburt in 1985 to win consecutive U.S. Championships; the title was his third career United States Championship.
As a finalist of the 2010 world championship cycle, Kamsky was given direct entry to the eight playerCandidates Tournament to determine the challenger for theWorld Chess Championship 2012. The candidates tournament began with best-of-four game match format in May 2011 in Kazan, with Kamsky facingVeselin Topalov in the quarterfinals.[19] With a win on the Black side of the Gruenfeld defense in the second game, Kamsky held on to defeat the top-seeded Topalov 2½–1½ to advance to the semifinals.[20][21] In the semifinals, he faced the 2009 Chess World Cup championBoris Gelfand in a rematch of their 2007 Candidates tournament meeting won by Gelfand. After four games, the match was tied at 2–2, with rapid tiebreaks to decide the winner on May 16. In the rapid tiebreaks, Kamsky won game 3 with black to take a 2–1 lead and needed only a draw with white in the final rapid game to advance to the final. However, Gelfand won with black to force a blitz playoff, which he won 2–0 to eliminate Kamsky and reach the Candidates final.
In May 2012, Kamsky participated in the2012 U.S. Championship, where he was seeded second behind defending championHikaru Nakamura. He scored 5/7 to qualify for the round-robin stage against Nakamura, 2006 championAlexander Onischuk, and 2008 championYuri Shulman. In the round-robin stage, he drew Nakamura with black and then defeated Onischuk on the White side of theRuy Lopez.[22] In 2013 and 2014 he won the tournament, and the last title was his fifth career United States Championship.[23] In 2016 he placed third at the Chigorin Memorial tournament inSaint Petersburg.[24]
In 2025, Kamsky transferred to theFrench Chess Federation.[25]
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Here, Kamsky as Black crushes Kramnik en route to winning the 1994 Candidates match:
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| Achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | World Rapid Chess Champion 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Chess Champion 1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Chess Champion 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Chess Champion 2013-2014 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |