| Birth name | Igor Viktorovich Kovalenko |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Birth date | 29 December 1988 (age 37) |
| Birth place | Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (2011) |
| Peakrating | 2702 (August 2015) |
| Peakranking | No. 39 (November 2025) |
| Fideid | 14117908 |
Igor Viktorovich Kovalenko (Ukrainian: Ігор Вікторович Коваленко; Latvian: Igors Kovaļenko; born 29 December 1988, Novomoskovsk) is a Ukrainian chess player who played for Latvia between 2013 and 2021 and holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).[1] In the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kovalenko has been putting his chess activities mostly on hold and is instead fighting for his country as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[2]
Career
Kovalenko was awarded the titles of International Master (IM) in 2008 and Grandmaster (GM) in 2011. He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 2013[3] and 2014.[4] In 2016, Kovalenko came second in the European Individual Chess Championship in Gjakova (Kosovo).[5] In 2019, he won the Riga Technical University Open.[6]
Igor Kovalenko played for Latvia in Chess Olympiads:[7]
- in 2014, at the second board in the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø (+5 −2 =4),
- in 2016, at the second board in the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku (+6 −1 =4),
- in 2018, at the first board in the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi (+6 −3 =0).[8]
Igor Kovalenko played for Latvia in the European Team Chess Championship:[9]
- in 2015, at the second board in Reykjavík (+3 −1 =3).
Igor Kovalenko played for Ukraine in the European Team Chess Championship:
- in 2025, at the fourth board in Batumi (+5 −0 =3). He became European champion as a member of the Ukrainian national team (open section), and achieved first place among the players on the fourth board.[10]
References
- ^ "FIDE Player transfers". Ratings.fide.com. Archived 2013-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
- ^ Lazareva, Inna (23 November 2022). "Holding Russia in check, Ukrainians look to capture chess glory at Jerusalem tourney". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ "Tournament-Database". Chess-results.com. 2013-04-20. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
- ^ "Latvian championship final-2014". Chess-Results.com. Archived 2014-05-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- ^ "17th European Individual Chess Championship". Chess-Results.com. Archived 2018-03-01 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
- ^ "Riga Technical University Open 2019 - Tournament A". Chess-Results.com. Archived 2019-08-14 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
- ^ "Men's Chess Olympiads :: Igor Kovalenko". OlimpBase.org. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
- ^ "43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Open". Chess-Results.com. Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ "European Men's Team Chess Championship :: Igor Kovalenko". OlimpBase.org. Archived 2015-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
- ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - European Team Chess Championship 2025 - Open". chess-results.com. Retrieved 2025-12-02.