Igor Naumkin

Igor Naumkin (10 August 1965 – 13 July 2022) was a Russian chess Grandmaster.

Igor Naumkin
Naumkin in Porto San Giorgio, Italy, in 2014
Country	Russia
Born	10 August 1965 Saratov, Russian SFSR, USSR
Died	13 July 2022(2022-07-13) (aged 56) Asti, Italy
Title	Grandmaster (1990)
Peak rating	2510 (January 2007) [1]

Career

He earned his International Master title in 1988 and his Grandmaster title in 1990. Notable victories included over ex-world champion Mikhail Tal, and David Bronstein.^[2]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he left for Europe to find better chess opportunities, eventually settling in Italy and becoming fluent in the language.^[3] Naumkin traveled in Europe from tournament to tournament and was known for being a highly active player. In 2019, he was the #1 most active grandmaster with 258 games in 41 tournaments.^[4]

Suspension

Naumkin was suspended for six months in 2017 for trying to manipulate a game by offering an opponent a victory in exchange for 200 euros. His opponent refused, and after an investigation Naumkin, along with two other players, were suspended.^[5]

Death

He died in Asti, Italy on 13 July 2022. On 3 July he had won a weekend tournament in Pegli, finishing on 4½/5 points. He had remained in the area in order to go to the Russian consulate about his lost passport.^[3]