GM Igor Novikov Print E-mail GM Igor Novikov Igor seems pleased
with his next round opponent- Photo J.S Novikov is known as the
“grinder” because of his technical and positional skills. A
weaker player often gets an equal, dry position against Igor
Novikov, and becomes excited about a draw. “Not so easy!” is the
Novikov philosophy.  Novikov famously said to chess journalist
Jerry Hanken that he doesn’t enjoy playing chess. This stark
statement is countered by Novikov’s second point: He loves the
social, experimental act of analyzing chess. The playing on the
other hand, is a job.  Novikov has a solid, narrow and well-
studied opening repertoire, consisting of 1.d4, the Najdorf and
the Semi-Slav.  In both Europe and America, Igor Novikov has
played in many tournaments in which he is the highest rated
player in the event. Often, these tournaments are Round Robins
in which other players are after Grandmaster norms (you need
three to get the title); as a high-rated Grandmaster, Igor is
paid to play in such events.