Irina Krush

Career

Krush was born in Odessa, USSR (now Ukraine). She learned to play chess at age five, emigrating with her parents to Brooklyn that same year (1989). Krush attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn.

At age 14 Krush won the 1998 U.S. Women's Chess Championship to become the youngest U.S. Women's Champion ever. She has won the U.S. Championship on six other occasions, in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Krush took part in the "Kasparov versus the World" chess competition in 1999. Garry Kasparov played the white pieces and the Internet public, via a Microsoft host website, voted on moves for the black pieces, guided by the recommendations of Krush and three of her contemporaries, Étienne Bacrot, Elisabeth Pähtz and Florin Felecan. On the tenth move, Krush suggested a novelty, for which the World Team voted. Kasparov said later that he lost control of the game at that point, and wasn't sure whether he was winning or losing.

Krush played in the Group C of the 2008 Corus Chess Tournament, a 14-player round-robin tournament held in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. She finished in joint fifth place having scored 7/13 points after five wins (including the one against the eventual winner, Fabiano Caruana), four draws and four losses.

In 2013, she was awarded the Grandmaster title thanks to her results at the NYC Mayor's Cup International GM Tournament in 2001, Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013 and Baku Open 2013.

Team competitions

Krush has played on the U.S. national team in the Women's Chess Olympiad since 1998. The U.S. team won the silver medal in 2004, at the 36th Chess Olympiad, and bronze in 2008, at the 38th Chess Olympiad.

She played for the team Manhattan Applesauce in the U.S. Chess League in 2015; she previously played for the New York Knights (2005-2011, 2013). Krush and her ex-husband, Canadian Grandmaster Pascal Charbonneau, have played in the United Kingdom league for Guildford-ADC.

Journalist

Krush also is an author, who frequently contributes articles to Chess Life magazine and uschess.org. Her article on earning her grandmaster norm in 2013 was honored as “Best of US Chess” in 2013.

Personal life

Krush graduated in International Relations from New York University in 2006.

In March 2016 she appeared as a guest on Steve Harvey, along with Hillary Clinton. Along with two other women, who were actresses, she answered questions from host Steve Harvey and Hillary Clinton regarding her life and chess career. Irina Krush and the two impostors all gave plausible answers to the questions. Hillary Clinton was tasked with identifying the real Irina Krush.