January 16 in Chess History

21 birthdays, 5 matches, tournaments and games and 2 deaths from chess history on January 16.

January 16, 2002: FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 began, won by Ruslan Ponomariov. On this day in chess history.

200224 years ago today

FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 began

Won by Ruslan Ponomariov

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Card photo: karpidis from Piraeus, Greece, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Matches, tournaments and games

  1. 2002FIDE World Chess Championship 2002Began · won by Ruslan Ponomariov
  2. 200767th Armenian Chess ChampionshipBegan · won by Karen Asrian
  3. 2009Corus tournament 2009Began · won by Sergey Karjakin
  4. 2021Tata Steel chess tournament 2021Began · won by Jorden van Foreest
  5. 2026Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2026Began · won by Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Born on January 16

  1. 1884Frederick YatesEnglish chess player
  2. 1902Róża HermanPolish physician, chess player
  3. 1902Menachem OrenIsraeli chess player
  4. 1903Kola KwarianiGeorgia-born American professional wrestler and chess player
  5. 1920Stanisław GawlikowskiPolish chess player
  6. 1929César MuñozEcuadorian chess player
  7. 1932Victor CiocâlteaRomanian chess player
  8. 1936Esat DurakuAlbanian chess player
  9. 1951Natalia TitorenkoRussian chess player
  10. 1957Carsten HøiDanish chess player
  11. 1959Bjørn TillerNorwegian chess player
  12. 1975Eva RepkováSlovak chess player
  13. 1976Lenka PtáčníkováCzech and Icelandic chess player
  14. 1980Swati GhateChess player from India
  15. 1982Valeriane GaprindashviliGeorgian chess player
  16. 1991Andrey BaryshpoletsUkrainian chess player
  17. 1994Toms KantansLatvian chess player
  18. 1995Jules MoussardFrench chess player
  19. 1999Shahin LorparizangenehChess player
  20. 2003Anahita ZahedifarIranian chess player
  21. 2010Václav FiněkCzech chess player

Died on January 16

  1. 1921Vittorio TorreItalian chess player
  2. 2025Federico MancaItalian chess player

Dates from Wikidata (CC0). Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card. Dates can differ between sources, especially before 1918 when Russia used the old calendar.