GMKirill Alekseenko

Kirill Alekseenko was born in Vyborg and moved to Saint Petersburg as a child. His grandfather taught him chess at four. He won the European under-10 title in 2007, the world under-14 championship in 2011 and the European under-16 title in 2013. He completed grandmaster norms in 2012 but reached the required rating only in 2015, when he received the title. Alongside chess, he studied at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

Alekseenko won the Chigorin Memorial three times, from 2015 to 2017, and the 2017-18 Rilton Cup. He reached the fourth round of the 2019 World Cup before losing to Ding Liren. That year, he helped Russia win the European Team Championship. Third place at the 2019 Grand Swiss made him eligible for a Candidates wildcard, which the organizers awarded him. Assisted by Peter Svidler, he finished seventh in the pandemic-interrupted 2020-21 Candidates. He began representing Austria in 2023 after a period playing under the neutral FIDE flag.