GMAlexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov grew up in Riga and studied with former world champion Mikhail Tal. His attacking play later drew frequent comparisons with Tal's. He won the world under-sixteen championship in 1988. In 1990 he became a grandmaster and finished runner-up at the World Junior Championship. He won at Biel in 1991 and Munich in 1993. He moved to Spain in 1994 and later represented both Latvia and Spain. His book Fire on Board appeared in 1995.

In 1998 Shirov defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a match to select Garry Kasparov's next challenger. The promised title match never took place because sufficient sponsorship could not be secured. He reached the final of the 2000 FIDE World Championship but lost to Viswanathan Anand. In 2007 he was runner-up in the World Cup. His tournament victories also included Madrid, Mérida and Shanghai. He won the Canadian Open in both 2005 and 2023. His endgame bishop sacrifice against Veselin Topalov at Linares in 1998 became particularly celebrated. He continued sharing his analysis through a second Fire on Board volume and instructional work.