Person of day   -  15 OCTOBER 2023

SERGEI RUBLEVSKY

SERGEI RUBLEVSKY

Sergei Rublevsky was born in Kurgan, where he continues to live to this day. The future grandmaster’s enormous talent for chess was evident from childhood- he was one of the first students in Panchenko’s School and he played in the final sessions of the Kasparov-Botvinnik chess school. He was also noticed at junior Soviet championships. His first performances in adult championships were also successful- in 1991, Sergei won the RSFSR championship and in that same year, he played in the final, 58th Soviet national championship.

Shortly after, Rublevsky became a permanent player of large tournaments in Russia. He played well in several national championships, while Muscovites remember his performance at “The Stars of the Kremlin”- a famous rapid-tournament organised by Intel. In the mid-1990s, Rublevsky was invited to play for the Russian national team, with which he went on to win four Olympiads- in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. In 1997, he won the world team championship and won the Rubinstein Memorial in Poland. In that same year, Sergei Rublevsky graduated from Kurgan’s State University with a diploma in economics and management. In 1998, he became a recognised master of sport of Russia. In November 2000, he was awarded a medal “For Services in Developing the Olympic Movement in Russia”. 

Rublevsky’s most significant successes came in the new century. He won a well-attended Aeroflot Open in 2004 and triumphed at the super-final of the Russian championship a year later. After that, he came first at a super-tournament in Foros- ahead of Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, Shirov and Grischuk- and in 2008, he won a tournament in Poikovsky. His rating hovered around 2700 and he remains of the leading grandmaster in Russia. 

Sergei Rublevsky also proved himself as a trainer: he was a regular assistant to Vladimir Kramnik, including in matches for the world championship and he helped young chess players by establishing networks of grandmaster schools in Russia. In February 2012, Sergei Rublevsky was appointed head coach of the Russian national women’s team: in September of that same year, the team won the Olympiad in Istanbul and in 2014, it did so again in Tromso. In 2015, the team won the European championship in Reykjavik and in 2017 it won the world championship in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Sergei Rublevsky is married and has two children.