Brooklyn College Grad Breaks into Chess's Elite Ranks

Brooklyn College alumnus Gata Kamsky, '99, won the prestigious 2007 Chess World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, in a spectacular victory over Alexei Shirov, catapulting the Russian-born Kamsky to the game's international elite.

Kamsky's victory earned him $120,000 in prize money and the opportunity to challenge 2005 champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. If Kamsky wins that match, he will take on the 2008 World Chess Champion for the 2009 title.

Kamsky, thirty-four, registered no losses on his way to winning the World Cup, beating Ahmed Adly, Boris Avrukh, and Kiril Georgiev in his first three matches. Then he drew his two-game mini-match against the Russian Peter Svidler before going on to defeat Ruslan Ponomariov and Magnus Carlsen in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

In the closely fought four-game World Cup final, Kamsky and Shirov drew the first game. Kamsky won the second game. The third was a draw and so was the fourth, which ended after thirty-four moves.

Kamsky retired from chess in 1996, after losing to Anatoly Karpov in the World Chess Championship twenty-match contest fought in Elista, Russia. In 1999 he returned, playing in the Knockout World Championship in Las Vegas, but again lost, this time to Alexander Khalifman. Five years later he finished in a tie for first place in the New York Masters.

After graduating from Brooklyn College, Kamsky entered medical school but dropped out after a year. He then switched to law school and graduated.