Alex Onischuk

Born in Ukraine, Alex Onischuk immigrated to the United States in 2001. One of only 13 American players to have attained a rating of 2700 since the inception of the FIDE rating system in 1970, Alex competed in every U.S. Chess Championship held between 2004 and 2018.  In 2006 Onischuk won the U.S. Chess Championship, and placed second or third place seven times (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017). 

Alex holds the record for most times playing for the U.S. national team. He represented the United States in six Chess Olympiads between 2004-2014 and eight World Team Championships between 2005-2022. He helped the U.S. team secure bronze medals in the 2006 and 2008 Olympiads, and win team silver and individual gold on board two at the 2009 World Team Championship. Onischuk also played Board One on the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the 2013 Pan-American Team Championship. 

In 2012 Alex became the Head Coach and Director of the nationally-recognized chess program at Texas Tech University, a position he continues to hold to this day. Under his leadership Texas Tech won the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Collegiate Championship and has been a frequent participant in the President’s Cup also known as the Final Four of College Chess.

A U.S. Chess Hall of Famer (2018), this is Alex’s first year of eligibility as he turned 50 last fall. He is married to Grandmaster Natalia Zhukova.