Michał Krasenkow


Michał Krasenkow is a Polish chess grandmaster, a chess trainer and writer. He is one of the strongest Polish chess players since World War II. His playing style is aggressive and he has won many "best game" awards.

Life and career

He was born in Moscow. Master of applied mathematics.
His first notable successes date back to the 80s: he became a national master of the USSR in 1982, an International Master in 1988 and an International Grandmaster in 1989. He became Champion of Georgia in 1987 and team champion of the USSR in 1990.
In 1992 Krasenkow emigrated to Poland. Since 1996 he represents that country at international competitions. Two-times champion of Poland. Krasenkow holds an unofficial record of winning Polish team championships, which he has done 14 times: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998 with "Stilon" Gorzów Wielkopolski, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009 with "Polonia" Warsaw. European Cup winner and silver medalist. Representative of Poland at European team championships and Chess Olympiads since 1996. Also German team champion and German Cup winner with Ooser Schachclub Baden-Baden, French team champion with L'Echiquier Chalonnais, Turkish team champion with Hatay Buyuksehir Belediyesi Genclik Spor Kulubu.

Notable performances

He participated in all FIDE k.o. World Championships since 1997. Best results: Groningen/Lausanne - 5th round qualifier ; Las Vegas - 3rd round qualifier ; Tripoli – 4th round qualifier.
Major tournament victories: Moscow 1992 - I-III places, New York 1997 - I-II, Vilnius 1997 - I, Shanghai 2001 - I-III, Ostrava 2007 - I, Moscow Open 2014 - I-IV, Warsaw 2014 - I-VII.
Important tournament victories: Budapest 1989 - I-II places, Vienna 1990 - I-VI, Gausdal 1991 - I-II, Katowice 1992 - I-II, Metz 1993 - I-III, Pardubice 1993 - I-V, Las Palmas 1993 - I-II, Pardubice 1994 - I-II, Stockholm 1994/95 - I, Stockholm 1995/96 - I, Asti 1996 - I, Reggio Emilia 1996/97 - I, Buenos Aires 1998 - I-V, Cutro 1999 - I, Shanghai 2000 - I-II, Barlinek 2001 - I-III, Kavala 2001 - I-II, Bad Wiessee 2001 - I-IV, Wijk aan Zee 2002, tournament "B" – I, Budapest 2004 - I, Vlissingen 2006 - I, Wijk aan Zee 2007, tournament "C" – I, Helsingør 2007 - I-V, Mumbai 2008 - I-VI, Hilversum 2009 - I-IV, Vlissingen 2009 - I, Stockholm 2012/13 - I, Vlissingen 2013 - I-IV, Vlissingen 2014 - I-IV, Porticcio 2017 - I.
Runner-up in major tournaments in Hastings 1993/94, Polanica Zdroj 1995, Pamplona 1998/99, Lviv 2000, behind Vassily Ivanchuk. Polanica Zdroj 1998 - III-VI places.
In 2000 Krasenkow crossed the then extra-class threshold of 2700 rating points, obtaining 2702 in July and October rating lists. He was ranked number ten in the world at that time.
Krasenkow achieved notable successes in rapid chess: USSR Cup - I-II places, European Championships - IV-VII, GMA tournament - V-VI, USSR Cup - I, CIS Cup - I, Russian Open Cup - I, León 2010 - I-II.
He was the Blitz Chess Champion of Poland in 1999 and 2001.

Coaching work

Krasenkow has coached national teams, young prodigies, including many future GMs, and occasionally top players including Viswanathan Anand. National coach of Poland in 2010 - 2014 and Turkey since 2016. He has been a FIDE Senior Trainer since 2012.

Theoretical contributions

Krasenkow has made major contributions to several areas of opening theory, most notably in the Classical King's Indian Defense. His consistent use of the relative sideline 5.h3 in that opening helped to establish it as a viable manner of combating the King's Indian. Other members of the elite now use the system from time to time, including on occasion Magnus Carlsen. It is typically called the Makogonov system, though some authors now refer to it as the Krasenkow System; he himself calls it the Bagirov system. Krasenkow's other important contribution is the so-called Groningen Attack in the English Opening : 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g4!?

Writings

Krasenkow has written several books on chess openings and middlegames: