SokolovIvan Sokolov was born in Bosnia in 1968. He was and still is one of the most flamboyant attacking players of his time, reaching several times, over a period of 13 years, the top 12 spot in the FIDE rankings. He notably has beaten world chess champion like Smyslov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand and Topalov. The list of first places he took in his life time achievement is immense, we remember him winning most recent, the World Open ( Philadelphia), the Politikin Cup ( joint first, in Denmark) in 2012 and the Admiral Niels Cup in 2013. Not to forget he was also the national Yugoslav champion in 1988 and Dutch in 1995 and 1998. He is also a successful and beloved writer bringing bestsellers as "Chess Middlegame Strategies 1 & 2. His columns in the last Chess Informants are also widely appraised. As a commentator he was best known to entertain his public at the Tata Steel tournaments in Wijk aan Zee. Read More Read Less