Igor Novikov

Grandmaster Igor Novikov was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union. He has made the United States his home since the late 1990s and there are few major open tournaments in this country he has not won. A member of the 2004 U.S. Olympiad team and the 2005 U.S. entry in the World Team Championship, Novikov retired from tournament play in 2006. He returned to the board thirteen years later for the inaugural U.S. Senior Championship and has competed in every event since, tying for second in 2020.

Novikov’s return to tournament play has not been confined to individual events. He has played an integral role in the success of American teams in the World Senior Team Championship for competitors over 50. The teams have won six of the seven competitions since 2019, only finishing second in 2022.

Novikov was known during his active playing days for being an excellent opening theoretician with a narrow but well-thought-out repertoire based on the opening move 1.d4 as White, the Najdorf Sicilian versus 1.e4 and the Meran and Botvinnik systems against 1.d4. Even now, he is a tough player to surprise in the opening.