Alex Onischuk

Alexander began playing chess at the age of six and has been one of the top 100 players in the world for the past two decades.  The Ukrainian-American Onischuk  earned his GM title in 1994.  After winning the 2000 Ukrainian Championship he emigrated to the U.S. and played collegiate chess for the University of Baltimore, Maryland.  GM Onischuk led the program to multiple national titles before graduating in 2006 with a degree in linguistics.  He has been invited to every FIDE World Cup since 2005, and has won more than twenty major tournaments along the way.  The experienced chess professional said that winning  the 2006 U.S. Championship was the happiest moment of his career, sharing a trophy with legendary names such as Bobby Fischer and Paul Morphy.

Onischuk’s strong performances at the 2006 and 2008 Olympiads helped to secure America’s Bronze Medal finishes. In 2009, he delivered a Gold Medal performance on board two at the World Team Championship in Bursa, Turkey. As head coach of Texas Tech’s chess program, he has led the team to national recognition.  The Ukrainian-American GM has finished in the top three in the U.S. Championships eight times, and in 2015, as head coach, he led his Texas Tech team to first place at the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.