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Yury Shulman

GM Yuri Shulman
Country Belarus
United States
Born April 29, 1975
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, USSR
Title Grandmaster
Peak rating 2639 (January 2009)

Yuri Shulman (Belarusian: Юрый Маркавіч Шульман; born April 29, 1975, in Minsk, Belarus, former USSR) is a Belarusian American chess grandmaster. He also goes by the alternate spelling of "Yury Shulman." He's married to the player Viktorija Ni.

Chess career

Shulman started formal chess lessons with coach Tamara Golovey when he was six years old. He went on to study under International Master Albert Kapengut at age 12, and subsequently under the guidance of GM Boris Gelfand. He achieved his grandmaster title in 1995. Shulman moved to the United States in 1999 to attend University of Texas at Dallas, a three-time national championship college team.

Shulman completed undergraduate studies from the State Academy of Sports, Belarus, and has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and an M.B.A. specializing in Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Shulman has remained among the top U.S. chess players since moving to the country. He tied for first in the 2001 World Open, was runner up in the 2006 U.S. Chess Championship, and winner of the 2006 U.S. Open Chess Championship. Shulman tied for third place in the 2007 US Chess Championship and qualified for the 2007 FIDE world championship. On May 21, 2008, Shulman won the 2008 US Chess Championship. On May 25, 2010, he tied for first in the U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis, losing in a rapid tie-break with GM Gata Kamsky, who became the US champion. He now plays in the U.S. Chess League, for the strong St. Louis Archbishops, whose roster includes Hikaru Nakamura.

Chess career highlights

Yury Shulman International Chess School

Shulman is the co-founder of the Yury Shulman International Chess School: . Shulman and his co-founder Rishi Sethi use chess as a medium for philanthropic causes. In 2006 and 2007, this included community service visits to, and book drives for, Chicago public schools, and contributions of a portion of the proceeds from camps and tournaments to non-profit entities the world over. He now teaches chess in Barrington IL at all of the schools and at his house.

'Chess Without Borders' volunteer organization

In May 2007, Shulman formally cofounded non-profit organization Chess Without Borders with Rishi Sethi through which to continue his volunteer efforts. He now lives in Barrington, Illinois teaching chess to the kids who go to school in district 220 and at his house.

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