Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov: Born in 1959 in Berdichev, Ukraine, Grandmaster Kaidanov immigrated to the United States in 1991, with his three children and wife to Lexington, Kentucky. He has been one of the leading players in this country for the past two decades and has held the nation’s top ranking several times. He helped the U.S. team capture the Gold medal at the 2003 World Team Championship. He also played on the team which captured the team Silver medal at the 1998 Chess Olympiad, and he won the 2004 individual Silver medal at the 2004 Chess Olympiad. Some of his many other major titles include 1992 World Open, 1992 U.S. Open, 2002 Foxwoods Open, the 2002 U.S. Masters, the 2002 North American Open, and the 2008 Gausdal Classic. His biggest title to date came in 2002 when he won the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, which was one of the strongest open tournaments in history. He is also one of the leading chess trainers in America.
Grandmaster Victor Mikhalevski: Born in Gomel, Belarus in 1972, he started to learn chess at the age of 5. Today, Grandmaster Mikhalevski is one the most active players in the professional chess circuit. He resides in Israel and some of his biggest titles include winning the Israeli Under 20 Championship in 1991 and 1992, the 2005 Lake George Open, the 2005 Montreal International, the 2006 Seattle Slugfest Invitational, and the 2007 Calvia Open by scoring an incredible 7 of 7 in the first 7 rounds against 5 Grandmasters with an average rating of 2522. He first broke the elite 2600 rating mark in January 2008, and he will break it again in October 2008.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I’d like to see Kaidanov win.
I’d like to see Mikhalevski win.
I’d like to see Kaidanov win too.