Person of day   -  5 FEBRUARY 2024

DMITRY ANDREIKIN

DMITRY ANDREIKIN

Dmitry was born in Ryazan and took an interest to chess from early childhood. He was lucky with his coach - an experienced mentor and a formidable teacher. Many years later, Dmitry remembered: “I had one trainer- Viktor Alexandrovich Pozharsky. Working with him is the basis of all preparation. I am very grateful to him”.

Andreikin was born in 1990, which was a year rich with chess talent. His competitors-contemporaries were impressive: in Russian competitions, these were Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ildar Khairullin, Ivan Popov and, in the international arena, these were joined by Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. However, Dmitry did not only survive in this stellar group, but he became one of the leaders of his generation: he won and took prizes in multiple junior championships and he won the U20s Russian championship twice, in 2009 and 2010. His highest accolade was the junior world championship in 2010, or, as it is sometime called, the title of chess prince.

2008 was a very important year in the life of the young grandmaster because he enrolled in a university in Saratov. This institute formed a strong chess team thanks to the efforts of a famous organiser and enthusiast, Alexey Vetrov, who was supported by the former president, Vladimir Dines. In it, Dmitry Andreikin became the two-time winner of the European champions’ cup. Furthermore, he had the opportunity to complete his higher education without abandoning his chess career. Most importantly, in Saratov, Dmitry met his future wife, Svetlana. Another word from our hero: “When we met, my rating was around 2520, maybe sometimes 2550. And after we met, it began to rise steadily.”

From a young age, Andreikin was viewed as an exceptionally strong blitz player, at the board as well as on the Internet. Last year, he confirmed his reputation, winning a very difficult Russian Internet Gran-Prix, which the Russian Chess Federation organised on the portal “Chess Planet”. In 2012, Dmitry won most of the tournaments he played in: he was the winner of the premier league of the Russian championship and then the super-final, overtaking Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler in the tie-breaker, he won the “champions match” against Ian Nepomniachtchi and took several first medals at strong speed chess tournaments.

He regularly comes in the top 10 of all chess programs, which does not stop him from performing wonderfully at regular tournaments. In 2013, Dmitry Andreikin made his debut in super-tournaments- he played very well at the Tal Memorial in Dortmund. Also, Dmitry qualified for the final of the world cup, won an invitation to the candidates’ tournament and secured a bronze medal at the European championship with the Russian team, winning a decisive victory in the final match. At the candidates’ tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk in February 2014, Andreikin took 50%. 

During the spring and summer of 2014, Dmitry took a break from chess to spend more time with his wife and his daughter, who was born at the beginning of that year. Andreikin did not perform particularly well at the FIDE Gran Prix in Baku- his first tournament after the hiatus. But he soon recovered his form and, at the second stage in Tashkent, he won a clean first place.

Andreikin calculates complicated options momentarily and accurately, judges the situation on the board realistically and he is very determined, inventive and psychologically stable. A few years ago, Dmitry Andreikin returned to his native Ryazan and contributes to the popularisation of chess in the city, where a school named after him will be opened.

2016 brought many successes to Dmitry Andreikin: he became the European champion for rapid chess, won the European Cup with team “Alkaloid” from Macedonia and performed notably in Reykjavik, Stockholm and Abu-Dhabi.  

In 2018, Dmitry won the Russian Championship Superfinal for the second time. 

In 2019, Dmitry Andreikin became the winner of the World and European Team Championships as a member of the Russian national chess team. Notably, he played on the first board at the ETCC.