Radosław Wojtaszek Explained

Radosław Wojtaszek
Country:Poland
Birth Date:1987 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Elbląg, Poland
Grandmaster (2005)
Peakrating:2750 (January 2017)
Peakranking:No. 15 (December 2014)
Fideid:1118358

Radosław Wojtaszek (born 13 January 1987) is a Polish chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Polish champion.

Wojtaszek has acted as Viswanathan Anand's second, assisting the former world chess champion in his successful title defence match against Vladimir Kramnik,[1] in 2010 against Veselin Topalov,[2] in 2012 against Boris Gelfand,[3] in 2013[4] and in 2014[5] against Magnus Carlsen.

Chess career

In 2004, Wojtaszek won both the European Youth Chess Championships and the World Youth Chess Championships in the U18 category.[6] In January 2005, he won the Cracovia Open with a score of 7½/9 points.[7] [8] He won the Polish Chess Championship for the first time in 2005.[9]

In 2006, Wojtaszek played for the Polish team at the Chess Olympiad in Turin scoring 9 points out of 11 games.[10] In December 2008, he won the 8th Amplico AIG Life International – European Rapid Chess Championship in Warsaw.[11] [12]

In 2009, Wojtaszek finished second in the Polish Championship, shared second place with Michael Roiz at the first Lublin Grandmaster Tournament and won the Najdorf Memorial in Warsaw.

In January 2010, Wojtaszek tied for 1st–5th with Eduardas Rozentalis, Pavel Ponkratov, Luke McShane and Igor Lysyj at the 39th Rilton Cup in Stockholm[13] and finished again second in the Polish Championship.He won the 5th Polonia Wrocław Open in July 2010.[14] In August of the same year, he won the 4th San Juan International Tournament in Pamplona with 6½/9.[15] [16]

At the Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Wojtaszek played on top board for Poland scoring 6/9. In June 2011, he won the 9th György Marx Memorial tournament in Paks, Hungary.[17] In December 2013, he took clear first with 6/7 in the 37th Zurich Christmas Open.[18]

In 2014, he won for the second time the Polish Championship.

In January 2015, Wojtaszek took part in Tata Steel Masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee, finishing ninth out of 14 players. He scored 5½/13 and was the only player to have defeated World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen as well as the world's second highest rated player, Fabiano Caruana.[19] In July 2015, he placed second in the Biel Grandmaster Tournament scoring 6/10.[20]

In April 2016, he won the Polish Championship for the third time, scoring 6½/9.[21]

In July 2017, Wojtaszek won the Dortmund tournament, scoring 4½ out of 7, ahead of players like Vladimir Kramnik and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He was unbeaten in that tournament, winning games against Wang Yue and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (both with white pieces).[22]

In April 2018, he participated in the fifth edition of Shamkir Chess, finishing fifth with a score of 4½/9 (+1–1=7).[23]

In October 2018, his team AVE Novy Bor finished second at the 34th European Chess Club Cup held in Porto Carras, Greece.[24] Wojtaszek drew against Magnus Carlsen, among others.[25] In the same month, he also won the Chess.com Isle of Man International tournament with a score 7/9 after a play-off match against Arkadij Naiditsch.[26]

In 2019, he qualified for the FIDE Grand Prix for the first time. His best result was at the Moscow tournament. In the first round he knocked out Shakhriyar Mamedyarov then Peter Svidler in the quarterfinals to progress to the semifinals. Here he was defeated by Ian Nepomniachtchi in tie-breaks, who won in the fourth rapid game, after the first three encounters finished drawn.[27] In Hamburg and Jerusalem, he was knocked out in the first round by Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Andreikin respectively.[28] [29]

In 2020, Wojtaszek won the Biel Chess Festival. The tournament format consisted of 28 games in various time controls (7 classical, 7 rapid and 14 blitz) competing against seven other highly ranked grandmasters. The final standings had him on 37 points, half a point ahead of second place Pentala Harikrishna.[30]

Through February and March 2022, Wojtaszek played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 as a replacement. In the first leg and only leg in which he played, he tied for first with Richárd Rapport in Pool B with a 3.5/6 result in the classical format, and then going on to lose 0.5/2 in rapid tiebreakers. He finished the tournament with four points.

In 2023, he won silver medal in the Polish Chess Championship.[31] In May 2024, in Rzeszów he won in Polish Chess Championship.[32]

Personal life

Wojtaszek is married to Russian-born Polish chess player Alina Kashlinskaya.[33]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Championship Picture Gallery of the final day . ChessBase. 30 October 2008 . 20 October 2011.
  2. Web site: WCh G12: Anand beats Topalov, retains world title . ChessVibes . 20 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120815201458/http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/wch-g12-anand-beats-topalov-retains-world-title . 15 August 2012 . dead .
  3. Web site: Crowther. Mark. Gelfand surprises Anand with a Gruenfeld and draws comfortably in World Championship Game 1. The Week in Chess. 12 May 2012 . 29 July 2020 .
  4. Web site: Carlsen Didn't Have Seconds in India. chess-news.ru. 26 November 2013. 26 August 2015.
  5. Web site: WCh Sochi: personalities, players and seconds. ChessBase. Sagar Shah. 8 November 2014. 26 August 2015.
  6. Web site: 14 November 2004. World Youth Chess Championships 2004. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111101155637/http://www.greekchess.com/wycc2004/press_release10-11.html. 1 November 2011. 20 October 2011. greekchess.com.
  7. http://mzszach.l.pl/online/cracovia2004/cra-t9.html Cracovia Open 2004
  8. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2125 "Highlights of Cracovia 2004"
  9. http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=4378 ″Schüler gewinnt polnische Meisterschaft″
  10. Web site: Wojciech Bartelski . Men's Chess Olympiads :: Radosław Wojtaszek . OlimpBase. 20 October 2011.
  11. Web site: Bartel. Mateusz. Mateusz Bartel. 22 December 2008. Radoslaw Wojtaszek Superior at the European Rapid Championship. 29 July 2020. Chessdom. WordPress.
  12. Web site: VIII Międzynarodowy Turniej Szachowy Amplico AIG Life – Tabela turniejowa. archiwum.poloniachess.pl . 21 December 2008 . 20 October 2011.
  13. Web site: Crowther. Mark. 11 January 2010. Rilton Cup 2009-10. 26 August 2015. The Week in Chess.
  14. Web site: Crowther. Mark. 28 June 2010. Polonia Wroclaw Chess Festival. 26 August 2015. The Week in Chess.
  15. Web site: Mark Crowther. IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan. The Week in Chess . 9 August 2010. 26 August 2015.
  16. Web site: IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan. chess-results.com. 20 October 2011.
  17. Web site: Wojtaszek wins György Marx Memorial with 2900 performance. 29 June 2011. ChessBase. 29 July 2020.
  18. Web site: Wojtaszek is first at Zurich Open. 3 January 2013. ChessBase. 4 January 2014.
  19. Web site: Standings of Tata Steel Masters 2015. tatasteelchess.com. 28 July 2020.
  20. Web site: Biel Final: MVL wins again!. Alejandro Ramirez. ChessBase. 30 July 2015. 26 August 2015.
  21. Web site: 8 April 2016. Soćko and Wojtaszek are 2016 Chess Champions of Poland. 29 July 2020. Chessdom.
  22. Web site: Crowther. Mark. 23 July 2017. Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2017. 28 July 2020. The Week in Chess.
  23. Web site: Results: Cross Table. Shamkir Chess. 28 April 2018.
  24. Web site: Crowther. Mark. 12 October 2018. 34th European Club Cup 2018. 28 July 2020. The Week in Chess.
  25. Web site: McGourty. Colin. 15 October 2018. Euro Clubs 2-3: Team Magnus impress. 28 July 2020. chess24.com.
  26. Web site: 29 October 2018. Spouses win 2018 Chess.com Isle of Man. 28 July 2020. Chessdom.
  27. Web site: Pereira . Antonio . Moscow GP: Nepomniachtchi reaches the final . Chessbase.com . 26 May 2019 . 28 July 2020.
  28. Web site: FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg: Rapid & blitz drama on Day 3. 28 July 2020. www.fide.com.
  29. Web site: Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi still in the hunt. 28 July 2020. www.fide.com.
  30. Web site: Grandmaster Triathlon . Biel International Chess Festival . 30 July 2020 . 1 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210801054802/https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Closed-Tournament/Grandmaster-Tournament.html . dead .
  31. http://www.szachypolskie.pl/mistrzostwa-polski-mezczyzn-w-szachach-2023/ Mistrzostwa Polski Mężczyzn w Szachach 2023
  32. http://www.szachypolskie.pl/mistrzostwa-polski-mezczyzn-w-szachach-2024/ 81. Indywidualne Mistrzostwa Polski Mężczyzn w Szachach
  33. Web site: Another Chess Family Will Be Born Today in Moscow. 7 September 2015. Chess-news.ru. 10 July 2015.