Gregory Kaidanov

Gregory Kaidanov (Russian: Григорий Зиновьевич Кайда́нов, Grigoriy Zinovyevich Kaydanov; born 11 October 1959) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in 2013.

Gregory Kaidanov
Kaidanov in Seattle, 2002
Country	Soviet Union Russia United States
Born	(1959-10-11) 11 October 1959 (age 65) Berdychiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster (1988)
FIDE rating	2491 (August 2025)
Peak rating	2646 (October 2002)
Peak ranking	No. 16 (July 1994)

Biography and chess career

Kaidanov is the head coach of the United States Chess School and teaches at the grandmaster level.^[1]

Career highlights

• 1972 – Boys under-14 Russian Federation Championship – 1st place
• 1975 – achieved Candidate of Master (analog of expert in US) title
• 1978 – achieved National Master title
• 1987 – achieved International Master title
• 1988 – achieved Grandmaster title and tied for first at a strong international tournament in Belgrade
• 1992 – won World Open Chess Championship
• 1992 – won US Open Chess Championship
• 1993 – won World Team Chess Championship as a member of US team
• 1998 – silver medal in 1998 Chess Olympiad as a member of US team
• 2001 – won North American Open Chess Championship
• 2002 – won Aeroflot Open (over 81 other grandmasters),^[1] tied for first place at the U.S. Masters Chess Championship.
• 2008 – won the Gausdal Classic, held 8–16 April in Gausdal, Norway, scoring 7/9^[2]
• 2021 – won the US championship for senior players^[3]

Notable games

• Gregory Kaidanov vs. Viswanathan Anand, Moscow 1987, Caro–Kann Defense: Panov Attack (B13), 1–0
• Gregory Kaidanov vs. Evgeny Bareev, Ch URS (1 liga) 1987, Vienna Game: Stanley, Frankenstein–Dracula Variation (C27), 1–0
• Mark Taimanov vs. Gregory Kaidanov, Belgrade 1988, English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Wimpey System (A13), 0–1
• Benjamin Finegold vs. Gregory Kaidanov, 12th Chicago Open 2003, Semi-Slav Defense: Stoltz Variation (D45), 0–1

See also

• List of Jewish chess players