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Ilia Smirin
Smirin 
 

Number of games in database: 2,423
Years covered: 1984 to 2025
Last FIDE rating: 2564 (2513 rapid, 2504 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2702
Overall record: +827 -311 =898 (62.7%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 387 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (443) 
    B90 B30 B31 B93 B92
 Ruy Lopez (242) 
    C90 C65 C78 C67 C80
 French Defense (115) 
    C07 C10 C18 C05 C03
 Sicilian Najdorf (114) 
    B90 B93 B92 B91
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (114) 
    C90 C92 C86 C95 C96
 Caro-Kann (90) 
    B12 B13 B18 B17 B14
With the Black pieces:
 King's Indian (393) 
    E97 E92 E94 E62 E60
 Sicilian (373) 
    B42 B43 B40 B22 B41
 Sicilian Kan (115) 
    B42 B43 B41
 Pirc (68) 
    B08 B07 B09
 Queen's Pawn Game (47) 
    A45 A41 A46 E10 D02
 Grunfeld (46) 
    D85 D79 D76 D78 D70
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Smirin vs Y Afek, 1992 1-0
   Bareev vs Smirin, 2002 0-1
   Kramnik vs Smirin, 2002 0-1
   Smirin vs Gelfand, 1987 1-0
   Smirin vs F Ribeiro, 1997 1-0
   Smirin vs B Alterman, 1995 1-0
   Gavrikov vs Smirin, 1988 0-1
   Radjabov vs Smirin, 2001 0-1
   A Huzman vs Smirin, 1987 0-1
   A Simutowe vs Smirin, 2001 0-1

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (1999)
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2000)

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   URS-sf Daugavpils (1989)
   Tel Aviv (1992)
   Tilburg Interpolis (1992)
   Belarusian Championship (1987)
   Rubinstein Memorial (1989)
   Zagreb Zonal (1993)
   Bratto Open (1997)
   London Chess Classic Open (2016)
   Groningen Open (1996)
   European Championship (2000)
   Tata Steel Challengers (2017)
   European Championship (2014)
   European Championship (2008)
   Batumi Olympiad (2018)
   Politiken Cup (2015)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   King's Indian Warfare by Edwin Meijer
   King's Indian Warfare - Ilya Smirin by Cannon Fodder
   King's Indian Warfare - Ilya Smirin by AdolfoAugusto
   The KID by tomKID
   The KID by Zhbugnoimt
   Smirin plays KID by webbing1947
   Smirin plays KID by tomKID
   Smirin's KID by AdolfoAugusto
   Smirin's KID by wilfredo munoz

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Israeli Championship 2024
   Dvoirys vs Smirin (Jan-28-25) 1/2-1/2
   Smirin vs Y Sokolovsky (Jan-27-25) 0-1
   Y Tzidkiya vs Smirin (Jan-26-25) 1/2-1/2
   Smirin vs E Zanan (Jan-25-25) 1-0
   Y Azoulay vs Smirin (Jan-24-25) 0-1

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Ilia Smirin
Search Google for Ilia Smirin
FIDE player card for Ilia Smirin

ILIA SMIRIN
(born Jan-21-1968, 57 years old) Belarus (federation/nationality Israel)

[what is this?]

GM Ilya Yulyevich Smirin was born in Belarus. His chess career began in the Soviet Union, but in 1992 he immigrated to Israel, and has since been one of the leading Israeli representatives at Olympiads and other international events. His tournament successes include equal first places at Sverdlovsk 1987, New York 1994, and three different Israeli championships.

A score of 7.5/11 in the European Championship (2014) qualified Smirin to play in the World Cup (2015) where he defeated Romain Edouard in the first round but lost to Teimour Radjabov in the second round, thereby exiting the event.

In September 2022, FIDE fired him from his position as a commentator for sexist comments he had made while commentating on the Women's Grand Prix tournament.

Wikipedia article: Ilya Smirin
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-6306...

Last updated: 2023-06-08 06:26:50

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 98; games 1-25 of 2,430  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Shabalov vs Smirin  0-1551984USSR Junior ChampionshipA49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4
2. Dreev vs Smirin  ½-½511984USSR Junior ChampionshipB09 Pirc, Austrian Attack
3. Smirin vs M Ulybin  1-0241984USSR Junior ChampionshipC17 French, Winawer, Advance
4. Smirin vs T Khasanov  ½-½461985URSB43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3
5. S Savchenko vs Smirin 0-1381985URS-chT (Juniors)E73 King's Indian
6. Smirin vs A Sedrakian  ½-½221985URS-chT (Juniors)B76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
7. Ivanchuk vs Smirin 1-0331985URSB64 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack
8. Smirin vs M Ulybin  ½-½411985URS-chT (Juniors)E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein)
9. Smirin vs A Nosenko  1-0371985USSR Junior ChampionshipB05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern
10. S Iuldachev vs Smirin  0-1461985USSR Junior ChampionshipB22 Sicilian, Alapin
11. G Sagalchik vs Smirin  0-1481985USSR Junior ChampionshipA43 Old Benoni
12. M Novik vs Smirin  ½-½251985USSR Junior ChampionshipB22 Sicilian, Alapin
13. Smirin vs L Janjghava  1-0441985USSR Junior ChampionshipB47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation
14. Smirin vs M Ulybin  0-1531985USSR Junior ChampionshipC18 French, Winawer
15. Smirin vs V Meijers  1-0311985USSR Junior ChampionshipC42 Petrov Defense
16. V Malaniuk vs Smirin  ½-½761985Sokolsky MemorialB58 Sicilian
17. Smirin vs P Korzubov  1-0221985Sokolsky MemorialC12 French, McCutcheon
18. Smirin vs V Litvinov  ½-½441985Sokolsky MemorialC99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd
19. Smirin vs A Kapengut  1-0231985Sokolsky MemorialB15 Caro-Kann
20. Smirin vs L Basin 0-1281985Sokolsky MemorialB76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
21. A Ryskin vs Smirin  1-0381985Sokolsky MemorialB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
22. A Ivanov vs Smirin 1-0341985Sokolsky MemorialB58 Sicilian
23. V Dydyshko vs Smirin  ½-½571985Sokolsky MemorialE94 King's Indian, Orthodox
24. Smirin vs E Mochalov 1-0381985Sokolsky MemorialB50 Sicilian
25. I Efimov vs Smirin  0-1281985Sokolsky MemorialA43 Old Benoni
 page 1 of 98; games 1-25 of 2,430  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Smirin wins | Smirin loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-21-10  Alphastar: Happy birthday :-)
Jan-21-10  Everett: One of the modern Knights of the KID. When even Kasparov was giving up on the opening because of the Bayonet Attack, Smirin and Radjabov was gaining wins as black.
Jan-21-10  whiteshark: wiki-bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_S...
Aug-16-14  Albertan: GM Smirin was recently interviewed by Da niel King. You can listen to the interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?featu...
Jul-29-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Ilya Smirin the only perfect player remaining at Politiken Cup (2015), starting 6/6!

In R7, he'll face Hammer with black.

Jan-21-16  TheFocus: Happy birthday, Player of the Day Ilya Smirin.
Mar-07-16  notyetagm: Ilya Smirin

A new book by Smirin is coming out from Quality Chess, of course on the King's Indian Defense:

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/blog/...

<I am also working on a book provisionally called (tongue in cheek) <<<King’s Indian Warfare by Ilya Smirin>>>. This will be a how-to-play book that supplements Kotronias’ five book series perfectly, by maybe the most creative grandmaster alive. The material is fantastic. The book will need some editing, but it is simply a remarkable draft.>

Apr-26-16  Conrad93: <A new book by Smirin is coming out from Quality Chess, of course on the King's Indian Defense:

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/blog/...

<I am also working on a book provisionally called (tongue in cheek) <<<King’s Indian Warfare by Ilya Smirin>>>. This will be a how-to-play book that supplements Kotronias’ five book series perfectly, by maybe the most creative grandmaster alive. The material is fantastic. The book will need some editing, but it is simply a remarkable draft.>>

This should be interesting. Gallagher also wrote a very good book on the KID, and I've heard Vigorito's two volume series is the cream of the crop.

It will be interesting to see how the world expert on the KID compares to these two.

P.S. Dejan Bojokov's Modernized: The King's Indian is an extremely good introduction.

May-21-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Best wishes at the 2017 TataSteel event :)
Nov-08-16  diagonal: For the cg. bio: <Ilya Smirin won at Biel in 2002>, clear first ahead of shared seconds Tkachiev, Dreev, followed by Korchnoi, winner from 2001, Pelletier, and Vallejo Pons:

Game Collection: Biel 2002

Nov-08-16  diagonal: Ilya Smirin also <won the last edition of the famous New York Open series in 2000 outright>:

http://theweekinchess.com/html/twic...

Jan-21-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: The name <"il y a s'mir in"> is a complete sentence in French.
Sep-28-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <A chess commentator has been sacked by the International Chess Federation for making sexist comments.

Ilya Smirin was broadcasting live during the ninth round of the Women's Grand Prix on Tuesday.

The Israeli grandmaster admitted on air he had said chess is "maybe not for women" - and also seemingly praised a woman for playing like a man.

The federation apologised and called Mr Smirin's comments offensive and embarrassing.

Belarusian-born Mr Smirin - who was once ranked one of the world's top 20 players - was making his debut as an English-language commentator in Astana, Kazakhstan.>

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-63...

Sep-28-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: Commentating on a women's event would be a minefield for any man, especially on their debut and not being media savvy.

Saying a women played like a man was at one time meant as and to be taken as a compliment and I remember Smyslov saying Susan was Tal in a skirt.

These days I'd fully accept being told I played a women, I've got a score book full of defeats by the...can we still say the 'fairer sex.' or is that taboo as well.

I'd submit them but they are now all married and I do not know their married names...

Sep-29-22  Whitehat1963: Oops! Looking for another job as a commentator already?
Sep-29-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: May I suggest a different profession, perhaps construction?
Sep-29-22  stone free or die: < 'fairer sex.' or is that taboo as well[?] >

I would consider it more "dated" than "taboo", but apparently it's literally true...

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...

Jul-17-24  FM David H. Levin: <MissScarlett: <A chess commentator has been sacked by the International Chess Federation for making sexist comments.

Ilya Smirin was broadcasting live during the ninth round of the Women's Grand Prix on Tuesday.

The Israeli grandmaster admitted on air he had said chess is "maybe not for women" [...snip...]>>

I'd find it odd if he did not realize that such a remark would not be well-received in that setting. It would be like an auto racing announcer's suggesting that perhaps the sport isn't the best use of hydrocarbons.

Jul-17-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: ICF moved much more quickly on Smirin than did USCF after far worse allegations were made known to them.
Jul-17-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: I'm sure the world is a much better place for women because of his firing.
Jul-17-24  dehanne: Locker room talk.
Jul-17-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: The allegations of misconduct in St Louis were not 'locker room talk'.
Jul-18-24  FM David H. Levin: <perfidious: ICF moved much more quickly on Smirin than did USCF after far worse allegations were made known to them.>

I took this to mean that the allegations presented to the USCF were also about Smirin, but the first page of internet search results mentions only GM Alejandro Ramirez. Could you clarify.

Jul-18-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <FM DHL>, the allegations were indeed regarding Ramirez, and were initially swept under the rug.

It is fortunate that Jen Shahade laboured against this policy of indifference.

Jul-18-24  Olavi: I wonder how the ICF would have reacted if Smirin had just given exact quotes by Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze. Yes I do understand it is one thing for a Tasmanian to say about Tasmanians - whatever, and for an Englishman to do so. Still I wonder.
search thread:   
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