Viorel (Viktor) Bologan was born in Chisinau, Moldova. He began to compete internationally in 1991, reaching the FIDE World Top 100 in ratings when he was in his late twenties. 2003 proved to be a breakthrough year, as Bologan won the Aeroflot Open in Moscow to receive an invitation to the annual Dortmund super tournament. The Dortmund field included World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, and Peter Leko, among others. In what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in modern chess, Bologan took first place by a full point.

In 2005, Bologan tied for first in the 6th Poikovsky Karpov Tournament (2005), raising his rating up to 2700 for the first time in his career. He qualified for the World Cup (2011) as a nominee of the FIDE President, winning his first round game against Bartosz Socko, but was beaten in the second round by Leinier Dominguez Perez. He came =2nd (7th on tiebreak) at the 13th European Individual Championship (2012) with 8/11, thereby qualifying for the World Cup 2013, and rejoined the 2700 club for the first time since July 2005. He is currently living in Germany.

A theoretician as well as player, Bologan has written books on openings including: <The Chebanenko Slav According to Bologan> (2008); <King's Indian: A Complete Black Repertoire> (2009), and <The Rossolimo Sicilian: A Powerful Anti-Sicilian that Avoids Tons of Theory> (2011), as well as the following training DVDs: <The King's Indian> (2009); <The Caro-Kann> (2009); <The Sicilian Rossolimo for White> (2010); <The Fighting Philidor> (2010); <Beating the Sicilian: Grandmaster Bologan's Repertoire Vol. 1, 2 and 3> (2011); <The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!> and <Fit for the French>. He has also authored a collection of his games: <Victor Bologan: Selected Games 1985-2004> (2007).