IMSemen Novozhilov

Semen Novozhilov grew up in Yaroslavl and became interested in chess at five when a friend brought a set to kindergarten. His parents enrolled him in a chess school, and his first coach was Valentina Kraynova. He later joined the Russian Chess School and worked with grandmasters Georgy Castaneda and Sergey Yudin. At eleven he won bronze in the under-twelve section of the 2021 European youth championship. He became an International Master in 2025.

In March 2026 he won Russia’s under-twenty-one championship at Moscow’s Central Chess Club after tying Artem Pingin in the main tournament. They split the first two playoff games before Novozhilov drew the deciding Armageddon game with Black, whose draw odds gave him the title. Nikolai Chadaev helped him prepare during the event. In his subsequent interview, he described balancing chess training with preparation for his ninth-grade examinations.