GM Andrey Esipenko is entering the Berlin FIDE Grand Prix 2022. GM Dmitry Andreikin withdrew from the third leg of the FIDE Grand Prix due to personal reasons. GM Esipenko enters the Berlin Grand Prix as the highest rated eligible player in the December 2021 list. Recent article about GM Esipenko and how the young chess talents are advancing here
Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko is a Russian chess grandmaster. He won the European U10 Chess Championship in 2012, and both the European U16 and World U16 Chess Championship in 2017.
Esipenko competed in the Tata Steel Challengers in January 2019, placing second with 8½/13 (+5–1=7). In March, he participated in the European Individual Chess Championship. He placed 16th with 7½/11 (+6–2=3) and qualified for the Chess World Cup 2019. At the Chess World Cup, Esipenko defeated former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in round one. Paired against Peter Svidler in round two, Esipenko drew the classical games but was eliminated in the rapid tiebreaks.
In January 2020, Esipenko participated in the Gibraltar Masters. He was sole leader after six rounds with 5½/6, and ultimately shared first on 7½/10 for a performance rating of 2809. In a four-way playoff for the title, Esipenko was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual tournament winner David Paravyan.
Esipenko competed in the Tata Steel Masters in January 2021. In round eight he defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen in their first game at a classical time control. Esipenko finished the tournament in third place, with 8/13 (+4–1=8) for a performance rating of 2815.
In round four of the Chess World Cup 2021, Esipenko defeated GM Daniil Dubov in their blitz tiebreaker, after drawing the classical games and the rapid tiebreaks. He was then knocked out in round five of the tournament by Magnus Carlsen after blitz tiebreaks.
Esipenko also participated in the 74th edition of the Russian Chess Championship, held from 9 October 2021 to 20 October 2021. He finished third place on tiebreaks, with a score of 6/12.
In 2022, Esipenko participated in the 2022 Airthings Masters. In the preliminary stage, he finished 4th with 24 points, thus qualifying for the quarterfinals where he beat Eric Hansen 3-1. He then proceeded to the semifinals, where Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated him by a score of 2.5-0.5.
