Esipenko, AndreyAge 23


Source: tatasteelchess.com

Title
Grandmaster
Live Rating
2688.8
Live Rank
#41
FIDE Rating
2695
World Rank
#35
FIDE (Not a National Fed.) Rank
#3
FIDE Peak Rating
2723 - Mar 2022 (Age 19)
FIDE Peak Rank
#24 (2723) - Mar 2022 (Age 19)
Rapid
2651 World #42, Peak 2703 (May 2024)
Blitz
2646 World #56, Peak 2703 (May 2024)
Born
22 Mar 2002
Novocherkassk, Russia
FIDE ID 24175439
Wikipedia

Active Years:
2011 - 2025
Total Games:
1766
Wins:
757 (43%)
Losses:
313 (18%)
Draws:
696 (39%)
Total score:
63%
Performance :
Performance for the last active 12 months:
2629
White:
D02 London System (30 games)
C54 Italian Game (29 games)
E11 Bogo-Indian Defense (27 games)
Black:
B12 Caro-Kann Defense (38 games)
C92 Ruy Lopez (26 games)
C54 Italian Game (25 games)

Chess-playing Russia has long been waiting for a new Kasparov, Kramnik, or Nepomniachtchi, but... a new "future world champion" has yet to appear in the 2020s. The closest to passing this casting call is Esipenko.

Andrey Esipenko was born on March 22, 2002, in the Rostov region and learned about chess at the age of five. When he was eight, the country started talking about a new prodigy, and at ten, he began individual training with Grandmaster Kryakvin. Within a year, under his guidance, the boy became a prize-winner in Russian championships, and in 2012, the European champion under 10, scoring 8.5/9. That same year, he reached the final of the Spartakiad of students in southern Russia, competing against 17-year-old opponents, and was almost disqualified from the tournament for being too young! At 11, Esipenko became a FIDE Master, but he had to wait four more years for the Grandmaster title, finally earning it in 2016 after consecutively winning gold at the European and World Championships under 16. Before that, he had been a frequent prize-winner.

In 2017, Esipenko made headlines after defeating Karjakin in the World Rapid Championship with a cascade of sacrifices. A year later, in the same format, he nearly became the European Champion, losing the title only in a tiebreak. That same year, at 16, after crossing the 2600 rating mark, Andrey debuted for the Russian national team in a match against China and took silver at the World Championship under 20. The new year began with him taking second place in the side tournament in Wijk aan Zee and ended with his participation in the World Cup, where Svidler eliminated him in the second round. In 2020, the Russian started the Gibraltar Masters excellently but fell short of sole victory—7.5/10— and lost in the tiebreak.

Here, Esipenko took on a new role for himself (as Alekseenko's second) and during the 2020 Candidates Tournament, he found his future coach, former Kasparov assistant Dokhoian. They managed to work together for only a year (in 2021, Yuri passed away from COVID), but during that time, Andrey made a tremendous leap forward. That year, together with the Russian national team, he became an Olympic champion, reached the Superfinal of the national championship, and in 2021 fully justified his invitation to Wijk aan Zee. The 18-year-old Esipenko unexpectedly joined the fight for victory, forced Carlsen to capitulate, and finished just half a point behind the winners, Giri and Van Foreest – 8/13!

The impact of this success was so significant that Andrey was considered almost a favorite for the 2021 World Cup, held in Sochi. He advanced through four rounds, losing in a fierce battle only to Carlsen, who played as a non-contestant, and only in blitz – 3-5. After this, he had another chance to qualify for the Candidates Tournament through the Grand Swiss, but here too, luck was just out of reach: he scored 7/11, falling half a point short of the qualifying spot.

2700chess.com


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Games

#White PlayerRatingBlack PlayerRatingResultMovesSiteDate 
1
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Rozum, Ivan
24391-049Sochi5 May 2025board
2
Shomoev, Anton
2476
Esipenko, Andrey
26961/2-1/226Sochi4 May 2025board
3
Zabotin, Alexander
2394
Esipenko, Andrey
26961/2-1/260Sochi3 May 2025board
4
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Rychkov, Oleg
23791-037Sochi2 May 2025board
5
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Mokshanov, Alexey
23531/2-1/270Sochi30 Apr 2025board
6
Panin, Mikhail
2227
Esipenko, Andrey
26960-156Sochi29 Apr 2025board
7
Esipenko, Andrey
2677
Korobov, Anton
26501/2-1/225Germany27 Apr 2025board
8
Esipenko, Andrey
2677
Zilka, Stepan
25741/2-1/250Germany26 Apr 2025board
9
Smeets, Jan
2543
Esipenko, Andrey
26771/2-1/232Germany25 Apr 2025board
10
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Ebner, Hubert
21541-042Linz6 Apr 2025board
11
Gschiel, Alexander
2317
Esipenko, Andrey
26960-143Linz5 Apr 2025board
12
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Livaic, Leon
25361-021Linz4 Apr 2025board
13
Esipenko, Andrey
2696
Perunovic, Milos
25011/2-1/222Linz3 Apr 2025board
14
Deuer, Marius
2464
Esipenko, Andrey
26960-157Linz2 Apr 2025board
15
Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav
2465
Esipenko, Andrey
26770-132Germany24 Mar 2025board
16
Esipenko, Andrey
2677
Boensch, Uwe
24591-047Germany23 Mar 2025board
17
Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav
2440
Esipenko, Andrey
26910-132Germany23 Mar 2025board
18
Esipenko, Andrey
2691
Boensch, Uwe
24701-047Germany22 Mar 2025board
19
Grischuk, Alexander
2687
Esipenko, Andrey
26911/2-1/231Moscow6 Mar 2025board
20
Esipenko, Andrey
2691
Goganov, Aleksey
24721/2-1/233Moscow5 Mar 2025board
21
Niemann, Hans Moke
2734
Esipenko, Andrey
26911/2-1/255Moscow5 Mar 2025board
22
Esipenko, Andrey
2691
Shimanov, Aleksandr
25931-038Moscow4 Mar 2025board
23
Nikitenko, Mihail
2521
Esipenko, Andrey
26910-133Moscow3 Mar 2025board
24
Esipenko, Andrey
2691
Rozum, Ivan
24361-039Moscow3 Mar 2025board
25
Uskov, Artem
2461
Esipenko, Andrey
26911/2-1/226Moscow2 Mar 2025board
26
Esipenko, Andrey
2691
Putrenko, Kirill
23061-068Moscow2 Mar 2025board
27
Sukiasyan, Vahe A
2399
Esipenko, Andrey
26911/2-1/237Moscow1 Mar 2025board
28
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-043Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
29
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/245Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
30
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-031Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
31
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/263Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
32
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-040Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
33
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-051Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
34
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-039Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
35
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/265Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
36
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-036Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
37
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-039Rostov on Don22 Feb 2025board
38
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27180-153Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
39
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-147Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
40
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-054Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
41
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-046Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
42
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-050Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
43
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-185Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
44
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181-056Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
45
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-024Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
46
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181/2-1/262Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
47
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26950-132Rostov on Don21 Feb 2025board
48
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951/2-1/237Rostov on Don19 Feb 2025board
49
Esipenko, Andrey
2695
Rapport, Richard
27181/2-1/233Rostov on Don18 Feb 2025board
50
Rapport, Richard
2718
Esipenko, Andrey
26951-023Rostov on Don17 Feb 2025board