Ruslan Ponomariov

Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (Ukrainian: Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004. He won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2011.

He was runner-up in the Chess World Cup 2005 and Chess World Cup 2009, while reaching the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarterfinals in 2007.

Early career

Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. He was taught to play chess by his father at the age of 5. At 9 he became a first category player, and in September 1993 he moved to Kramatorsk. Here Ponomariov attended the A. V. Momot Chess School and was trained by Boris Ponomariov.^[1] In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just twelve, and the following year won the World Under-18 Championship. In 1998, at the age of fourteen, he was awarded the Grandmaster title, making him the youngest ever player at that time to hold the title. In 1999, he was a member of the Ukrainian national youth team, which won the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Artek, Ukraine.^[2]

Among Ponomariov's notable later results are first place at the Donetsk Zonal tournament in 1998,^[3] 5/7 score in the European Club Cup 2000 (including a victory over then-FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman), joint first with 7½/9 at Torshavn 2000, 8½/11 for Ukraine in the 2001 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, winning gold medal on board 2, and first place with 7/10 in the 2001 Governor's Cup in Kramatorsk.

FIDE World Chess Champion 2002

In 2002 he beat his fellow countryman Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 by a score of 4½-2½ to become FIDE World Champion at the age of 18, the first teenager and youngest person to do so.

In the same year he finished second in the very strong

There were plans for him to play a fourteen-game match against Kasparov in

Ponomariov remained FIDE champion until Rustam Kasimdzhanov won the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004.

Post-championship career

On Ponomariov's 20th birthday, October 11, 2003, he became the first high-profile player to forfeit a game because of his

In 2004, Ponomariov won the gold medal at the

In 2006, he shared first place with Aronian and Peter Leko in the Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow.

His second-place finish in the Chess World Cup 2005 qualified him for the 2007 Candidates tournament. Ponomariov lost in the first round, in a six-game match against Sergei Rublevsky, and thus did not qualify for the 2007 World Championship tournament. As of 2023,^[update] he has not qualified for a Candidates tournament since.

In 2009, he shared first place with

2009 Chess World Cup, where he reached the final against Israeli Boris Gelfand

. After four classic games, four rapid games, and two blitz games with a drawn score, Gelfand finally won in one last set of two blitz games.

In July 2010, Ponomariov won the prestigious

2010 Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk with players Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Pavel Eljanov, Zahar Efimenko, and Alexander Moiseenko

.

In February 2011, after occupying last place at the

Aeroflot Blitz held in the same city by reaching second place, just half a point behind Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

.

In June 2011, he won the 80th Ukrainian Chess Championship, the strongest ever in the country, with 8½/11 and a performance rating of 2853.^[5]

Personal life

Ponomariov is married to Ines, a

Spanish interpreter. The two have known each other since 2008. They live in Bilbao with their son, Yaroslav.^[6]

Awards and honors

• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (5th class) ^[7]
• Order of Merit (3rd class) ^[8]
• Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine^[9]

References

1. ^ "KC-Conference with Ruslan Ponomariov: Part 1". Crestbook. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
2. ^ 5th World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad: Artek 1999 OlimpBase
3. ^ "Donetsk Zonal 1998". Ukrainian Chess Online. Archived from the original on 2005-04-04. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
4. ^ "Ruslan Ponomariov vs Fritz (Computer) (2005) Puttin' on the Fritz".
5. ^ "80th Ukrainian Championship – pictorial impressions". ChessBase.com. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
6. ^ https://de.chessbase.com/post/das-schach-schenkte-mir-sehr-viel-interview-mit-ruslan-ponomariov
7. ^ "Про відзначення державними нагородами України". 24 January 2001.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
8. ^ "Про відзначення державними нагородами України". November 4, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
9. ^ "Про нагородження Почесною грамотою Кабінету Міністрів України".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruslan Ponomariov.

• Ruslan Ponomariov rating card at FIDE
• Ruslan Ponomariov player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• Ruslan Ponomariov chess games at 365Chess.com
• Ruslan Ponomariov Chess Olympiad record at OlimpBase.org
• Ruslan Ponomariov player profile at Chess.com
• Ruslan Ponomariov on Twitch
• Interview Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine at Chessdom
• Links to many articles about Ponomariov at the Wayback Machine (archived 2003-08-08)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Viswanathan Anand	FIDE World Chess Champion 2002–04	Succeeded by Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Preceded by Étienne Bacrot	Youngest chess grandmaster ever 1997–99	Succeeded by Bu Xiangzhi