GMAlexander Ivanov

Alexander Ivanov was born in Omsk in 1956 and moved to the United States in 1988. Before emigrating, he helped the Soviet Union win World Under-26 Team silver in 1978 and gold in 1980, also taking individual gold in the latter. He became a grandmaster in 1991. He shared first place at the 1989 World Open and shared the US championship in 1995 with Nick de Firmian and Patrick Wolff.

Ivanov won the Pan-American championship in 1998 and shared first place in the 2007 American Continental Championship. He competed in four FIDE world championships and four World Cups, and represented the United States at the 2002 Olympiad. His American tournament career brought four USCF Grand Prix titles during the 1990s. He married woman international master Esther Epstein and settled in Massachusetts.