Irina Krush is an American chess player. She was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2013. Krush is a seven-time U.S. women's champion.
Early life and career
Irina Krush was born in Odessa, USSR. She learned to play chess at age five, emigrating with her parents to Brooklyn that same year. At age 14 Krush won the 1998 U.S. Women's Chess Championship to become the youngest U.S. women's champion ever. She has won the championship on six other occasions, in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Krush took part in the "Kasparov versus the World" chess competition in 1999. Garry Kasparov played the white pieces and the Internet public, via a Microsoft host website, voted on moves for the black pieces, guided by the recommendations of Krush and three of her contemporaries, Étienne Bacrot, Elisabeth Pähtz and Florin Felecan. On the tenth move, Krush suggested a, for which the World team voted. Kasparov said later that he lost control of the game at that point, and wasn't sure whether he was winning or losing. Krush played in the Group C of the 2008 Corus Chess Tournament, a 14-player round-robin tournament held in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. She finished in joint fifth place having scored 7/13 points after five wins, four draws and four losses. In 2013, she was awarded the Grandmaster title thanks to her results at the NYCMayor's Cup International GM Tournament in 2001, Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013 and Baku Open 2013.
Team competitions
Krush has played on the U.S. national team in the Women's Chess Olympiad since 1998. The U.S. team won the silver medal in 2004 and bronze in 2008. She also competed as part of the US team in the Women's World Team Chess Championship in 2009 and 2013. She played for the team Manhattan Applesauce in the U.S. Chess League in 2015; she previously played for the New York Knights. Krush and her ex-husband, Canadian Grandmaster Pascal Charbonneau, have played in the United Kingdom league for Guildford-ADC.
Journalist
Krush also is an author, who frequently contributes articles to Chess Life magazine and uschess.org. Her article on earning her grandmaster title in 2013 was honored as the "Best of US Chess" that year.
Personal life
Krush attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn. She graduated in International Relations from the New York University in 2006. In March 2016 she appeared as a guest on Steve Harvey, along with Hillary Clinton. Along with two other women, who were actresses, she answered questions from host Steve Harvey and Clinton regarding her life and chess career. Krush and the two impostors all gave plausible answers to the questions. Clinton successfully identified the real Irina Krush. In March 2020, she was hospitalized and treated for a "moderate" COVID-19 infection, then released to recover under quarantine at home. While quarantined, she played in the Isolated Queens Swiss, an online women's blitz chess tournament played by internet streaming. She scored 7.5/10 in the tournament, putting her in joint second place, a half point behind tournament winner GM Alexandra Kosteniuk. In May 2020, Krush played for the USA team in the FIDE Online Nations Cup.
