chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Illya Nyzhnyk
I Nyzhnyk 
 

Number of games in database: 700
Years covered: 2005 to 2024
Last FIDE rating: 2572 (2649 rapid, 2637 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2665
Overall record: +270 -83 =259 (65.3%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 88 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 King's Indian (41) 
    E60 E61 E63 E62 E67
 Sicilian (37) 
    B54 B40 B32 B33 B76
 Slav (32) 
    D11 D10 D18 D15 D16
 Queen's Pawn Game (25) 
    D02 A45 E10 E00 A41
 Queen's Gambit Declined (25) 
    D37 D31 D39 D30 D38
 Grunfeld (22) 
    D76 D85 D79 D78 D73
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (100) 
    B90 B32 B30 B94 B51
 King's Indian (45) 
    E62 E92 E97 E80 E90
 Sicilian Najdorf (34) 
    B90 B94 B93 B92 B99
 French Defense (33) 
    C11 C07 C10 C03 C01
 Queen's Gambit Accepted (24) 
    D27 D20 D28 D26 D23
 Queen's Pawn Game (20) 
    A46 D02 A45 E10 E00
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   I Nyzhnyk vs D Baider, 2006 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs S Siebrecht, 2011 1-0
   G Gislason vs I Nyzhnyk, 2010 0-1
   A Pashikian vs I Nyzhnyk, 2009 0-1
   I Nyzhnyk vs L Petovic, 2009 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs L Bruzon Batista, 2012 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs R Pruijssers, 2011 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs D Reinderman, 2009 1/2-1/2
   I Nyzhnyk vs Vocaturo, 2012 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs Giri, 2012 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Groningen Chess Festival (2009)
   SPICE Cup Open (2024)
   Tata Steel Group C (2011)
   National Open (2024)
   Canadian Open (2023)
   116th US Open (2015)
   SPICE Cup Open (2022)
   US Masters (2024)
   Reykjavik Open (2011)
   Dresden ZMD Open (2009)
   World Junior Championship (2010)
   PRO Chess League KO Stage (2019)
   European Championship (2009)
   European Championship (2013)
   PRO League Group Stage (2019)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   2005 WYCC (open) U-12 by gauer
   2014 Spice Cup open by gauer
   2006 WYCC (open) U-12 by gauer

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Saint Louis Masters
   N Chasin vs I Nyzhnyk (Dec-07-24) 1/2-1/2
   N Theodorou vs I Nyzhnyk (Dec-06-24) 1/2-1/2
   I Nyzhnyk vs Shankland (Dec-06-24) 0-1
   A Donchenko vs I Nyzhnyk (Dec-05-24) 1-0
   I Nyzhnyk vs A Ostrovskiy (Dec-05-24) 1-0

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Illya Nyzhnyk
Search Google for Illya Nyzhnyk
FIDE player card for Illya Nyzhnyk

ILLYA NYZHNYK
(born Sep-27-1996, 28 years old) Ukraine
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]

FM (2007); IM (2009); Grandmaster (2010).

Early Years

A chess prodigy, Nyzhnyk was born in Vinnytsya and started playing chess at age 4. At the age of ten, the Ukrainian prodigy shot to world wide prominence by winning Group B of the 2007 Moscow Open, scoring 8.5/9 points with a 2633 performance in a field of 324 players, including two International Masters and numerous other titled players.

Championships

<Youth – national and continental> He has had a series of excellent results in the Ukrainian youth championships the most notable being first place in the U10 Championships in 2005 and 2006, in the U12 Championship in 2006, and in the U16 Championship in 2008. In September 2007, and still 10 years of age, he scored 8.5/9 to win the U12 European Championship held in Sibenik, Croatia. A year later in September 2008 year, he won the U16 European Championship held in Herceg Novi in Montenegro. In 2010, he came 2nd in the Ukraine U18 Championship.

<Youth – world> In July 2005, at the age of 8, Nyzhnyk competed in the World U12 championship in Belfort, France, scoring 7.0/11, and coming in 17th in a field of 125. He re-entered the same event in 2006 and 2007, scoring 2nd place on each occasion. In October 2006, shortly after his tenth birthday, he was =2nd with Jorge Cori and Nijat Abasov (both now GMs) behind Robert Aghasaryan in the U12 World Championship in Batumi, Georgia. In November 2007, he scored 9.5/11 enabling him to become runner up (on count back) behind US player Daniel Naroditsky in the World U12 Championship held in Antalya, Turkey. In 2010 he came =3rd in the World U16 in Turkey.

<Junior> One of Nyzhnyk’s exceptional early achievements was first place in the Ukrainian U20 Championships in April 2010 when he was still 13 years old. In 2010 also scored 8.5/13 at the World Junior Championship (2010) to come =7th-15th

Continental

At the 13th European Individual Championship (2012), Nyzhnyk scored an excellent 7/11 (+4 =6 -1; TPR 2687) to finish 43rd, 68 places above his seeding and breaking through 2600 in the ratings.

Standard Tournaments

Nyzhnyk was a tournament veteran from an early age. Notable results included a 2330 performance (coming 11th in a field of 17) in a category 3 tournament in Lugansk, Ukraine, while still only 9 years old and sixth place in the Independence Cup tournament in Kiev in August 2008 (performance rating of 2471) in a field of 70 players. In April 2008 Nyzhnyk won the 6th Nabokov Memorial in Kiev with 8.5/11, scoring a GM norm. In December 2009, Nyzhnyk scored a sensational first place ahead of Jan Werle and Dimitri Reinderman at the Groningen Chess Festival (2009), scoring 7.5/9, his second GM norm, and a 2741 performance rating for the tourney.

In 2010, he came 3rd in the Staufer Open, =4th in the Nord-West-Cup (half point behind the joint leaders), 3rd in the 8th Vladimir Nabokov Memorial GM Tournament, =2nd (4th on countback) in the HSG Open behind Friso Nijboer, and came 1st on count back with 7/9 at the Podillia tournament in Khmelnitsky in Ukraine. In December 2010, he scored his 3rd GM norm at Groningen A (where he came =1st) with a round to spare, making him the youngest Grandmaster in the world at 14 years 3 months and 2 days. Richard Rapport was previously the youngest GM.

Nyzhnyk started 2011 by coming a solid second behind Daniele Vocaturo at the Tata Steel Group C (2011) (formerly Corus C) tournament, scoring 8.5/13 (+6 -2 =5) with a 2615 performance rating. He followed this up with =1st at the Reykjavik Open (2011) held in March 2011, scoring 7/9 with a TPR of 2688, and with a score of 5.5/9 at the International Tournament in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, in May 2011 against a field that included 7 GMs (+2 -2 =3). In October 2011, he came =4th, half a point behind the three co-leaders, with 6.5/9 in the 15th Unive Open (2011) and also scored 6.5/9 at the 15th Bavarian International Open. 2012 started with a strong performance at Tata Steel Group B (2012), where he scored 7.5/13, adding a handy 17 points in the bimonthly rating period to 1 March 2012. Nyzhnyk closed out 2012 scoring 7.5/9 to win a share of 1st place in the 16th Bavarian International Open, and to boost him to the top of the U18 division in the New Year (2013) lists.

A subsequent moderate performance (5.5/9) in the Moscow Open (2013) and poor performances in the Ukrainian Championship (2013) and the European Individual Championships (2013) have cost him top spot in the U18 division. He scored 5.5/9 at the 2014 UT Dallas Spring FIDE Open underwritten by Turner Construction and then bounced back to form by coming =1st at the 42nd Annual World Open held in July 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. In October he won the 2014 Spice Cup Open with 7/9. In May 2015, he scored 6.5/9 at the annual Chicago Open to place =2nd, half a point behind the winner Jeffery Xiong. In July 2015, he placed =1st (6th on tiebreak), at the 2015 World Open.

Team Events

Nyzhnyk had his first serious experience in the top league playing for the Vinnytsia region on board 2 behind Sergey Fedorchuk in the 3rd all-Ukrainian Games held in Eupatoria in 2007. He played reserve for the PVK-Kievchess Kyiv club in its gold medal-winning seasons of 2008 and 2009. Since then, his season in the 2012 Turkish League was highly successful, when he scored 10/13, a result which elevated his ranking to top of the U16 age group, while his excellent result in the Romanian Team Championships in September helped him maintain his hold of the top spot in the U16s for the rest of 2012. In the 2013-14 season, he played board 2 behind Jan Timman in the gold medal winning SG Köln Porz team in the Bundesliga West.

Rapid and Blitz

An occasional participant in the faster forms of the game, Nyzhnyk's best results were winning the Ukrainian U18 blitz championship in 2010 and winning the Ukrainian U20 rapid championship in the same year. In April 2014 he won the Anatoliy Olkhovskiy Memorial outright with 20/24.

Ratings and Rankings

One of the world's top Juniors (U20), Nyzhnyk's highest rating to date was 2637 from December 2012 to February 2013, during which time he reached his highest Junior ranking to date, world #6.

Other

Nyzhnyk has enrolled at Webster University and joined Susan Polgar's SPICE program late in 2014. (1)

References

(1) http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com.au/... and Illya Nyzhnyk (kibitz #460)

Wikipedia article: Illya Nyzhnyk; Personal web site: http://www.dril-chess.com/; The following link contains a photo of him at 14 years 3 months: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...

Last updated: 2016-09-16 04:29:00

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 28; games 1-25 of 700  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. A Chernyavsky vs I Nyzhnyk 0-1742005EU-ch U10A27 English, Three Knights System
2. D Hiti vs I Nyzhnyk  0-1392005EU-ch U10E11 Bogo-Indian Defense
3. G Benidze vs I Nyzhnyk  ½-½432005EU-ch U10B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
4. I Nyzhnyk vs K Nikologorskiy  0-1272005EU-ch U10B55 Sicilian, Prins Variation, Venice Attack
5. I Nyzhnyk vs K Tomsia  1-0392005EU-ch U10D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
6. I Nyzhnyk vs K Meneses Gonzalez  1-0282005EU-ch U10A53 Old Indian
7. I Nyzhnyk vs C Emiroglu 1-0322005EU-ch U10C22 Center Game
8. I Nyzhnyk vs S Kovacevic 1-0402005EU-ch U10C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
9. K Berbatov vs I Nyzhnyk 1-0222005EU-ch U10B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation
10. V Rizsonkov vs I Nyzhnyk  ½-½642005UKR-ch sfC56 Two Knights
11. A Prihodko vs I Nyzhnyk  1-0382005UKR-ch sfA06 Reti Opening
12. N Bodnar vs I Nyzhnyk  ½-½142005UKR-ch sfD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
13. I Nyzhnyk vs J Baranov  ½-½752005UKR-ch sfB18 Caro-Kann, Classical
14. I Nyzhnyk vs M Vasiliev  0-1642005UKR-ch sfD51 Queen's Gambit Declined
15. I Nyzhnyk vs N Zhornik  0-1652005UKR-ch sfB55 Sicilian, Prins Variation, Venice Attack
16. I Nyzhnyk vs V Zatonskih  ½-½312005UKR-ch sfA84 Dutch
17. E Kilimnik vs I Nyzhnyk  0-1442005UKR-ch sfE11 Bogo-Indian Defense
18. P Lichmann vs I Nyzhnyk  1-0752005UKR-ch sfE20 Nimzo-Indian
19. I Nyzhnyk vs V A V Rajesh  ½-½522005Wch U12C00 French Defense
20. I Nyzhnyk vs So 0-1332005Wch U12A07 King's Indian Attack
21. I Nyzhnyk vs M Atabayev 1-0332005Wch U12A16 English
22. I Nyzhnyk vs Yinglun Teng  1-0612005Wch U12A22 English
23. I Nyzhnyk vs J Hapuarachchi  1-0282005Wch U12C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
24. Negi vs I Nyzhnyk ½-½402005Wch U12C11 French
25. O Mihok vs I Nyzhnyk  1-0522005Wch U12C45 Scotch Game
 page 1 of 28; games 1-25 of 700  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Nyzhnyk wins | Nyzhnyk loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 13 OF 19 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: <Shams> I'm no expert on that, but doubt it's enough.
Mar-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: A norm would be 2600 TPR. Way off.
Mar-03-10  Shams: <alexmagnus> Why is it 100 points higher than what you need to be a GM?
Mar-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: It's similar with other title norms too. Higher TPRs (as well as the requirement to play at least three holders of the respective title during the tournament) secure from getting norms at costs of lower players (note: when calculating TPR for norms, 400 point rule is intact...) as well as from a "lucky punch".
Mar-03-10  Raisin Death Ray: Sadly, his hometown is so poor they can't afford vowels!
Mar-03-10  TheFocus: Yeah, you would never see one of them on Wheel of Fortune.

"Pat, can I buy a vowel?"
"Uh, no."

Mar-03-10  TheFocus: When you look at this kid's picture above, don't you just want to send him to his room? Or burp him?
Mar-03-10  Shams: His first words were "j'adoube"
Mar-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Annie K.: He <is> an awfully cute little doll. :) As well as a very promising young talent, definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Here's an interesting recent ChessVibes report, with a few more up-to-date pictures:

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/1...

And he already speaks English, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Kr...

Mar-04-10  redwhitechess: isn't richard rapport and jorge cori is the same age as this kid? they should be our 2010 'prodigy'. giri and so are moving on already.
Mar-05-10  EdgeFor15: If he had one more nik or nyk in his name, he would resemble Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk.
Mar-05-10  Jim Bartle: "If he had one more nik or nyk in his name, he would resemble Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk."

On the other hand his play suggests he is no stooge.

Mar-05-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: His next tournament is ChessOrg Chess Festival (Bad Wörishofen) which starts tomorrow 3 pm German time:

http://www.chessorg.de/Listen2010/W...

Mar-06-10  LaFreak III: http://www.jmrw.com/Chess/Tournois/...
Mar-07-10  Kazzak: After yesterday's win against Richard Wörl, the Teddy Bear Assassin today plays black against Horst Weisenburger. Nyzhnyk is ranked 11th, and Weisenburger 54.

(The photo is five years old, and he no longer has the Teddy Bear along. http://www.jmrw.com/Chess/Tournois/...)

Mar-08-10  TheFocus: Do you get annoyed when you show up to play against a male adult in a U.S. Swiss tournament and he has a freaking teddy bear at the table?! What the heck is that all about? It has happened twice to me by gray-haired old coots.
Mar-08-10  Kazzak: At Bad Wörishofen, Nyzhnyk has moved through his first three opponents, and is now in fourth place, with the full three points. (There are actually twelve players who have scored the full point in each round so far - and the rankings take into account the strength of the opposition they have faced.)

192 participants.

Tomorrow, Nyzhnyk plays(7) black against Stefan Buecker(20).

http://www.chessorg.de/Listen2010/O...

Mar-09-10  Kazzak: Another one bites the dust, and Nyzhnyk, The Teddy Bear Killer, moves up to table 2 for round 5.

There he will play white against GM Alexander Karpatchev (2483). Karpatchev is also undefeated, and probably wants to keep things that way.

Mar-09-10  ROADDOG: <Kazzak:> I've become a fan of this kid,<The Teddy Bear Assassin > this last month. It must mess with his opponents heads to be all psyched up for a game then have to sit across from this wolf in sheeps clothing.

I hope he continues his winning ways and look forward to watching his progress over the next few years.

Mar-09-10  Kazzak: <ROADDOG>

I didn't know about the kid until I started playing through games from Groningen. Noticed that I liked the games of Nyzhnyk, and had a laugh when I saw he was only thirteen. He won the tournament.

Leonard Barden of The Guardian wrote a brief note about Nyzhnyk back in 2007: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/200...

<Feat of the week was Illya Nyzhnyk's victory in the U2300 B group of the Moscow Open. The Ukrainian is 10, yes 10, years old, the youngest winner of an adult international tournament, with a stunning 8.5/9 score and a 2633-rating performance. It is a result to outshine the great prodigies of the past.

If you can access the web, don't miss a charming two-minute video (available on YouTube) of a 2004 simultaneous display where the child demolishes opponents with his right hand while clutching his teddy in his left.>

Charming video? That footage shows us a merciless Assassin, nothing charming about that.

:-)

Mar-10-10  Kazzak: Nyzhnyk pegs a draw in round 5. He must be following developments at the European champ's. He's moved into third place, on the basis of the opponents he's met so far. While we're waiting for Bad Wörishofen to post games, we can have a look at his loss against So. Nyzhnyk doesn't mind closed Sicilians, but this time it got away from him.

I Nyzhnyk vs W So, 2005

Jul-05-10  chessfootball: Interview with Illya Nyzhnyk http://grandcoach.com/en/coach/inte...
Jul-17-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: Placed 3rd in the 8th Nabokov Memorial (Ukraine) 5-15 June 2010:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr348...

Sep-27-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Stonehenge: Happy Birthday :)
Oct-05-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Happy belated 14th :)
Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 19)
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 13 OF 19 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific player only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes!
Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC