GMIlja Zaragatski

Ilja Zaragatski was born in Leningrad in 1985 and learned chess from his father at four. His family moved to Germany when he was seven, and he grew up in Mönchengladbach. He won the German under-eighteen championship in 2002 and earned team and individual medals in European youth team competition. He became an IM in 2007 and a GM in 2013. His university studies included psychology and philosophy in Bochum, followed by economics and sociology in Cologne. He also served as managing director of cisha, the company behind chess24. His club career included German youth team titles and Belgian senior team championships with Eynatten and Amay.