Alexei Shirov (Aleksejs Širovs, Алексе́й Широв) (born July 4, 1972 in Riga, Latvia), is one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today. In the October 2005 FIDE rating list he was ranked number fourteen in the world with an ELO rating of 2710.

Shirov became the World Champion (under 16) in 1988, the World Vice-Champion (under 20) in 1990, and achieved the title of International Grandmaster in 1992. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel 1991, Madrid 1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov), Ter Apel 1997, Monte Carlo 1998, Mérida 2000, two time winner of the Paul Keres Memorial International Chess Tournament in Tallinn, Estonia, with victories in 2004 and 2005 just to name a few. In 1998 he defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a ten-game match that was intended to select a challenger for World Champion Garry Kasparov. Unfortunately, the plans for the Kasparov match were squelched when sufficient financial backing could not be found.

In 1994 Shirov married an Argentine Verónica Alvarez, moved to Tarragona, and became a citizen of Spain. Although he still plays for Spain, he currently resides in Lithuania, married to Lithuanian GM Victoria Cmilyte.

Shirov is noted for his attacking style and for seeking complications, a tendency which has led to comparisons with fellow Latvian and once-world champion, Mikhail Tal.

Shirov has written two books of his best games.

External links

• FIDE rating card for Alexei Shirov
• 20 Crucial Positions from His Games

Further reading

• Shirov, Alexei (1995). Fire on Board: Shirov's Best Games, Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857441508.
• Shirov, Alexei (2005). Fire on Board, Part 2 : 1997-2004, Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857443829.