Boris Savchenko

Boris Savchenko (Russian: Борис Савченко; born 10 July 1986) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Born in Leningrad, he moved with his family to Krasnodar at eight years old. Savchenko later moved to Moscow to study at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

Chess career

Savchenko competed in the Chess World Cup 2007 as one of the five FIDE president nominees and was eliminated in the first round by compatriot Alexander Motylev. In 2008, he won the Moscow championship and tied for 1st–6th with Sergei Tiviakov, Vladimir Malakhov, Yuriy Kuzubov, Peter Heine Nielsen and Jonny Hector in the Politiken Cup held in Helsingør, Denmark.

In 2009, Savchenko won the Baku Open edging out on tiebreak Gata Kamsky, after both players finished on 7.5/9 points, and took part in the Chess World Cup 2009, where he was knocked out by Wang Yue in the second round. Savchenko came first in the 34th Rashid Nezhmetdinov Cup in Kazan in 2012. In 2013 he won the Moscow Open. The following year he finished first in the Nakhchivan Open on tiebreak over Eltaj Safarli, Aleksandr Shimanov and Rauf Mamedov. Savchenko took clear first place in the PSC/Puregold International Chess Challenge in Olongapo, Philippines in 2015 with a score of 9.5/10, two and half points ahead of the closest rivals.

He tied for first with Rauf Mamedov at the 2015 European Blitz Championship in Minsk scoring 18/22 points, but took the silver medal on tiebreak. In 2016 Savchenko won for the second time the Moscow championship.

Notable games

• Boris Savchenko vs Vladimir Belov, Russian Club Cup (2006), Sicilian Defense, 1-0
• Boris Savchenko vs Kiril D Georgiev, Aeroflot Open (2006), Scotch Game, 1-0