IMDavid Kaufman

David Kaufman trained at Moscow’s Botvinnik chess school with grandmasters Alexander Kalinin and Yakov Geller. He became an International Master in 2025, the year he also defeated Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament. His progress toward the grandmaster title took him to events in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In August 2026 he won in Kostolac, Serbia, scoring seven points from nine games without a loss and completing his third grandmaster norm. Earlier that year he had collected a gold and a bronze medal at the World Youth Rapid and Blitz Championships. FIDE’s November 2026 record still listed him as an International Master, with his grandmaster application awaiting a decision.