Photo Copyright © 2001 Ruslan Ponomariov Used with permission.

Ruslan Ponomariov
Number of games in database: 938
Years covered: 1990 to 2009
Current FIDE rating: 2741
Highest rating achieved in database: 2743
Overall record: +354 -166 =380 (60.4%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      38 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:  Sicilian (156)      B90 B22 B43 B48 B33  Ruy Lopez (59)      C88 C67 C77 C78 C89  French Defense (47)      C07 C11 C10 C18 C05  Ruy Lopez, Closed (31)      C88 C89 C96 C95 C92  Sicilian Najdorf (30)      B90 B96 B92 B91  French Tarrasch (25)      C07 C05 C06 C03 C04	With the Black pieces:  Sicilian (77)      B90 B31 B32 B22 B84  Pirc (36)      B07 B09 B08  Ruy Lopez (34)      C67 C88 C96 C78 C95  Queen's Gambit Accepted (31)      D27 D20 D24 D23 D26  Sicilian Najdorf (29)      B90 B92 B96 B97  Caro-Kann (24)      B12 B10 B14 B17 B11

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Ponomariov vs Topalov, 2005 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Morozevich, 2006 1-0
   Ponomariov vs I Sokolov, 2007 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Fritz, 2005 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Ivanchuk, 2002 1-0
   Vallejo-Pons vs Ponomariov, 2003 0-1
   Ponomariov vs Kramnik, 2003 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Judit Polgar, 2005 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Grischuk, 1994 1-0
   Ponomariov vs Ivanchuk, 2002 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2001)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Match Ponomariov! by amadeus
   Ponomariov - Don't Under-estimate Him by Runemaster
   King's Indian by freeman8201
   Super Ponomariov by danielpi
   Pirc by freeman8201
   ruslan ponomariov- one of the greatest players o by kyenny13579.ken
   Linares 2002 by suenteus po 147
   Sicilian English Attack by freeman8201
   Hastings Premier 1998/9 by protean
   Truly brilliant games by Ponomariov by lorker

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Ruslan Ponomariov
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RUSLAN PONOMARIOV (born Oct-11-1983) Ukraine [what is this?] Ruslan Ponomariov was born October 11, 1983, in Gorlovka, Ukraine. At the age of 10 he won the World Under-12 Championship, and at the age of 12 won the European Under-18 Championship. At age 13, he won the World Under-18 Championship, and the following year he was awarded his grandmaster title, setting a new record for youngest grandmaster (this record has since been beaten by Sergey Karjakin). In 2002 he defeated Vassily Ivanchuk in the FIDE knock-out World Championship to become the youngest FIDE champion ever at the age of eighteen. In 2003, he did not play Garry Kasparov under the terms of the Prague Agreement. He remained FIDE champion until the next FIDE championship cycle, a knock-out tournament won by Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

page 1 of 38; games 1-25 of 938  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Ponomariov vs M Brodsky 1-0 29 1990 Kherson E25 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 2. L Bolshinsky vs Ponomariov   0-1 52 1992 Donetsk-ch U12 B08 Pirc, Classical 3. Ganguly vs Ponomariov   ½-½ 94 1994 Wch U12 B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 4. J De Melo vs Ponomariov 0-1 24 1994 Wch U12 A90 Dutch 5. Ponomariov vs Aronian 0-1 55 1994 Wch U12 B53 Sicilian 6. Ponomariov vs Almas Ermekov   1-0 42 1994 Wch U12 C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 7. R Jedynak vs Ponomariov ½-½ 24 1994 Wch U12 D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 8. R Murphy vs Ponomariov   1-0 28 1994 EUch U12 Disney B01 Scandinavian 9. R Markus vs Ponomariov   0-1 27 1994 Wch U12 B02 Alekhine's Defense 10. Bacrot vs Ponomariov   1-0 44 1994 EUch U12 Disney D34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 11. Ponomariov vs Bacrot ½-½ 73 1994 WYFWC Szeged B12(5) B53 Sicilian 12. Ponomariov vs Grischuk 1-0 23 1994 Wch U12 Szeged (9) B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack 13. Ponomariov vs S Azarov   1-0 37 1994 Wch U12 C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 14. B Margolin vs Ponomariov 1-0 34 1995 Ch Russia (club) C50 Giuoco Piano 15. M Chetverik vs Ponomariov   ½-½ 33 1995 RUS-chT E05 Catalan, Open, Classical line 16. Y Drozdovskij vs Ponomariov 0-1 56 1995 Ukrainian Ch U-12 Final A10 English 17. Ponomariov vs A Lukin   0-1 64 1995 Yalta op C06 French, Tarrasch 18. Ponomariov vs N Danilov   1-0 29 1995 EU-ch U12 C50 Giuoco Piano 19. Ponomariov vs N Firman 1-0 45 1995 Ukrainian Ch U-12 Final C05 French, Tarrasch 20. N Purgin vs Ponomariov   ½-½ 23 1995 RUS-chT E10 Queen's Pawn Game 21. F Langheinrich vs Ponomariov   ½-½ 16 1995 EU-ch U12 C41 Philidor Defense 22. Ponomariov vs A Tkachenko 1-0 38 1995 Ukrainian Ch U-12 Final B56 Sicilian 23. Ponomariov vs A Getmanchuk   1-0 48 1995 Yalta op C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 24. V Akobian vs Ponomariov 0-1 20 1995 EU-ch U12 A00 Uncommon Opening 25. Ponomariov vs Chukhry 1-0 35 1995 Ukrainian Ch U-12 Final C05 French, Tarrasch  page 1 of 38; games 1-25 of 938    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Ponomariov wins | Ponomariov loses

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 37 OF 37 ·  Later Kibitzing > Jul-14-09    blacksburg: what a great picture. this one should go on all their player pages. :) http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/... Jul-14-09    dx9293: New article on ChessBase tonight featuring pics of the site and surroundings...and some of the players including Ruslan and his beautiful girlfriend :-)) http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Jul-14-09    JointheArmy: <dx9293> You weren't kidding. She looks western in this pic with Vallejo Pons. http://www.chessbase.com/news/2009/... Jul-20-09    anandrulez: She is a babe ! Pono has a nice gf :) Jul-26-09    Bobsterman3000: Ouch: Naiditsch,A - Ponomariov [B81] XXIV Int'l Ciudad de Villarrobledo 2009 Villarrobledo/ESP (9), 26.07.2009 [Robot 3] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.h3 Nc6 8.Bg2 Bd7 9.Be3 Ne5 10.Qe2 Rc8 11.0-0-0 Rxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.f4 Qxc3 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.Rd3 Qa1+ 16.Kd2 Bb4+ 17.c3 Qb2+ 18.Nc2 Ba5 19.Qd1 Bc6 20.Qb1 Qxb1 21.Rxb1 Nxe4+ 22.Kc1 f5 23.Nb4 Bxb4 24.Rxb4 Kf7 25.Bxe4 Bxe4 26.Rd7+ Kf6 27.Rxe4 fxe4 28.Rxb7 Rd8 29.c4 1-0 Oct-18-09    KamikazeAttack: Ruslan Ponomariov must be the most disappointing chess player of modern times. Boy, he showed so much promise in his late teens (destroying everyone in his path including his countryman Ivanchuck in his quest for the title) that by now one expected him to be on the Anand/Kramnik level tussling for the title, if not champion. How could a once promising elite SGM just lose him power, ambition and will??? What went wrong Ruslan? Oct-18-09    JaneEyre: If you can call an ELO of 2741 disappointing, then I suppose he has been. The trouble with the world's top 10 is that there's only room for 10 at any one time. Oct-18-09    I Like Fish: hello kamattack... i met a devil woman... she took my heart away... she said i had it coming to me... but i wanted it that way... i think that any love is good loving... so i took what i could get... she looked at me... with big brown eyes... and said... you aint seen nothing yet... b..b..b..baby... you just ain't seen n..n..nothing yet... Oct-18-09    dx9293: KamikazeAttack: <dx9293 Jul-12-09: <returnoftheking> Read the kibitzes beginning on Ponomariov Page 23 for several pages after that.> Oct-18-09    KamikazeAttack: Thx dx9293, I really enjoyed the trail of posts on Pono. Pono's career makes me sad in a way. Oct-18-09    veigaman: < How could a once promising elite SGM just lose him power, ambition and will??? What went wrong Ruslan?> There 3 reasons to me: 1. The death of his mentor and tutor affected negatively his development. 2. He was a victim of the chaotic chess organization , it means, a victim of kasparov and fide. 3. He seems to me a very educate guy with a lot of interest apart from chess. What it could be, it wasnt and probably chess fans lost 2 exceptional talents like ruslan and grishuck. Oct-19-09    Nouvelle: Oh guys, come on! Hold the funerals. Grischuk and Ponomariov are still young and still have to develop much more as players. Just as the song that was already mentioned says, You ain´t seen nothing yet! ;) Oct-19-09    dx9293: <Nouvelle> I still maintain that Ruslan Ponomariov was the most TALENTED prodigy since Fischer (yes, including Magnus). He definitely achieved the most. I would love to see him in the Top 5 again, but he would have to put his other interests (education, etc.) on the back burner. Oct-20-09    Nouvelle: Don´t get it wrong, dx9293, Ruslan is not studying anymore. He already finished his two degrees. As much as I would also like to see him at the top, the truth is that some chess players, after a "prdigious childhood", turn out to have other goals in life, like learning how to ride a bike (many of them didn´t have time for this during their childhood) or having children. Of course this is the player´s cohice, and they are fully aware of the possible consequences. It´s not like none of the players at the top have a life, some of them have managed to reach a very good balance, which is quite an achievement, but some of them just decided to put chess before anything else in their lives, as is Kasparov´s case, hence his chaotic emotional life AND the fact he will go down as one of the greatest in chess history :) Oct-20-09    dx9293: <Nouvelle> Oh, good to hear Ruslan is finished with school. I commend him for his other goals in life, but as a fan I am a bit selfish. :-) He is climbing back up the rating list, hopefully he will keep it going. Oct-20-09    lorker: he just doesn't seem as ambitious these days when he plays, although when hes trying he is capable of playing well above 2741. i hope he finds more motivation Oct-20-09    veigaman: < I still maintain that Ruslan Ponomariov was the most TALENTED prodigy since Fischer (yes, including Magnus)> agree and i would add grischuck! Both!!! Oct-20-09    SugarDom: He was THE most TALENTED prodigy.... Highly disputable.... Oct-20-09    Winter: Ruslan possessed great natural talent and he's slowly but surely regaining his lost glory. No question, this man could still deliver if he wanted to... Oct-20-09    dx9293: <veigaman> I agree that Grischuk also is an enormous talent. And that isn't something I say lightly. Far too many people these days are considered "talented," but Grischuk has the goods. <SugarDom> I have reflected on the prodigy thing a lot, but still, it's only my opinion. Oct-21-09    tamar: Ponomariov at first seemed a synthesis of Karpov and Salov, but I don't think he ever solved the problem of beating the top guys. That's the dilemma Karjakin, Radjabov and even Carlsen face-although your future looks unlimited when you're 18, the last bit of improvement is never assured. Oct-22-09    SugarDom: What's the Carlsen vs Topalov the "top guy" head to head record? Oct-22-09    hand banana: 5-3 for carlsen, (not counting draws) classical 2-0 for carlsen blindfold 8 draws, 4 classical Oct-22-09    Violence: Ponomariov is a bum. Oct-28-09    norami: <Violence> I once undertook a lengthy study to try to determine the true essence of what it really means to be a bum and my conclusion was that a bum is a worthless person who never works. Is that an accurate description of Ponomariov? Jump directly to page #   (enter number from 1 to 37) < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 37 OF 37 ·  Later Kibitzing >

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