GM Oleg Korneev of Russia
(ELO 2623 – born 25.07.1969)
Still representing his birth country Russia, Oleg Korneev together with his wife WGM Tatiana Kononeko for many years now has had his home base at Mallorca in Spain. Aged 26 when achieving his GM title in 1995, Korneev later has worked his way up by hard training and much playing. Still waiting for his breakthrough Championship, he has meanwhile made himself one of the most feared chess sharks of European Swiss tournaments. Mentioning (due to space!) this year only, he has won strong opens in Motril, La Laguna, Lodi, Lido Jesolo and Bergamo.
Coming close to a GM norm when playing his first Norwegian tournament in Oslo 1994, Korneev has later also demonstrated his strength at Gausdal – but is still waiting for his first top prize in Norway. Still more than a bit unpredictable in his game and tournament results, Korneev for the last years has had an ELO circling between 2565 and 2675. Aged 39 he is still a great fighter seldom found outside of the prize list in Swiss tournaments, and might be found at any place between first and tenth on the final list of this tournament.
Text: Hans Olav Lahlum