GMMaxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave grew up in Nogent-sur-Marne, near Paris. A chess set received as a Christmas present sparked his interest as a small child. His father taught him the basics, and he soon began playing at a club. He won French youth titles from under-eight through under-twenty. At fourteen he became a grandmaster. He won the senior French championship in 2007 after beating Vladislav Tkachiev in a playoff. In 2009 he became world junior champion in Argentina. That year he also won at Biel, defeating several established elite players. After completing a mathematics degree in 2010, he committed to professional chess.

He won four consecutive editions of Biel from 2013 through 2016. He also won the European blitz championship in 2010 and 2012. His outright victory at Dortmund in 2016 came ahead of former winners Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana. In 2021 he became world blitz champion, defeating Jan-Krzysztof Duda in a playoff. His later successes extended to online competition. He won the 2024 CrunchLabs Masters after eliminating Magnus Carlsen and defeating Alireza Firouzja in the final stages.