Ruslan Ponomariov
The youngest FIDE world champion in history. Ponomariov won the title in 2002 at 18, at a time when the world title was split, and held it until 2004.
He was runner-up at the World Cup in 2005 and 2009, and won Olympiad gold with Ukraine in 2010. In 2011 he won the strongest Ukrainian championship ever, with a 2853 performance.
Career highlights
- FIDE World Champion 2002–2004, the youngest ever at 18
- World Cup runner-up in 2005 and 2009
- Olympiad gold with Ukraine in 2010
- 2011 Ukrainian Champion
- Peak rating 2764 (July 2011)
Titles
- World Chess Championship: 2002
From the winners lists on our event pages.
FIDE profile · Wikipedia
Profile last reviewed September 29, 2026. Ratings update monthly from FIDE.