Person of day - 18 DECEMBER 2023
ANDREY FILATOV
Andrey Filatov was born on the 18th of December 1971 in Kryvyi Rih. He studied chess at Sports School Number 9 in Dnepropetrovsk, where he successfully performed in junior competitions and became a candidate for master of sport of the USSR. In 1993, he graduated from the Belarusian State University of Physical Training with a specialisation in “Teaching Physical Training and Chess”. In his student days, he met and became friends with leading grandmasters of the republic, Ilya Smirin and Boris Gelfand.
In 1996, he co-founded “Severstaltrans” company with partners Konstantin Nikolaev and Nikita Mishin and he remains a member of the board and CEO of the company. In 2008, “Severstaltrans” was renamed to “N-Trans”. Andrey Filatov takes active part in development and realisation in infrastructure projects.
He financed the restoration of the Paris tombstone of the fourth world champion, Alexandre Alekhine. Filatov is a member of the economic council of the Franco-Russian chamber for trade and industry. At Andrey Filatov’s initiative, several social projects and events were realised in France that were aimed at cultural interaction between the two countries. The publishing project “Russia and France” has translated a series of notable works of literature and history by Russian authors into French and transferred them to funds of public and academic libraries in France. Filatov supported the program “Year of Russia in France and Year of France in Russia 2010” and an accompanying exhibition “Napoleon and the Louvre”, which was successfully carried out in Moscow in the State Historical Museum, as well as the closing ceremony of the “Year of Russia in France” in Paris and multiple other events.
Andrey Filatov is the initiator and sponsor of the match for the world championship in Moscow in 2012 between Boris Gelfand (Israel) and Viswanathan Anand (India). The match took place in the Engineering quarter of the State Tretyakov Gallery and became a large match in the cultural sphere as well as the sporting one. Thanks to Andrey Filatov, the Alekhine Memorial super-tournament took place in the spring of 2013. The first part of the match was in Paris (the Louvre), the second in St Petersburg (Saint Michael’s Castle). These competitions led to the launch of the popular “Chess in Museums” program, under which super-finals and the highest league of the Russian championship were help. The Russian Chess Federation carries out this program with the support of Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charity Fund.
On 1st February, at the 22nd
Congress of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov was elected President of the Russian Chess Federation. On 13th August of that same year, at the FIDE Congress in the Norwegian city of Tromso, Andrey Filatov was elected FIDE vice-president.
Andrey Filatov fully financed the restoration of the Chess Museum on Gogol’s Boulevard in Moscow, which opened its doors to visitors on 25th December 2014.
In November 2012, Andrey Filatov established the Filatov Family Art Fund, whose task is to collect Russian and Soviet paintings, drawings and sculptures that were taken outside of Russia. The Fund also seeks to popularise this period of Russian art for an international audience, offering works for exposition to foreign museums and galleries. Another direction of the fund is the publication of books and catalogues about artists of that time. In June 2014, the Filatov Family Art Fund announced a change in name to “Art Russe”. The fund was the organiser of the first mass exhibition of Russian and Soviet art of the 20th
century in the Middle East, which was opened on 6th October 2015 in Abu Dhabi.
At Filatov’s initiative, the rebirth of the legendary school tournament “White Rook” resurrected, in which almost all Russian regions participate alongside foreign countries. Thus, several days ago “White Rook” was joined by China. The final competition takes place in June in the prestigious “Dagomys” complex and it is attended by pre-eminent Russians, including President Vladimir Putin.
In 2015, for sizeable contribution to the development and popularisation of Soviet art, he was awarded the title of “Honorary Academic” of the Russian Academy of Art. According to Forbes magazine, Andrey Filatov ranks in the top 100 of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen for some time.
He has been awarded the jubilee medal «300 years of the Russian Navy”, an honorary charter of the Russian President, the order the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, “The Moscow Times Award”, UNESCO’s Five Continents Medal” and France’s highest award, the Legion of Honour. He has been recognised as the best sporting trainer in 2014 according to the Club of sport fans and statisticians.
On the 1st of February 2016, Andrey Filatov began to head the male Russian national team. Under Andrey Filatov’s guidance, our team in the Baku Olympiad won bronze medals, silver at the 2017 World Team Championship, and bronze medals at the Batumi Olympiad.
In 2020 and 2021, the Russian national team won the FIDE Online Olympiads.
On 17 December, 2022, Andrey Filatov was re-elected as CFR President to a third term. Fifty-eight delegates voted for him, seven for his rival, grandmaster Sergey Karjakin.
