Igor Glek

Who is Igor Glek?

Igor Vladimirovich Glek, is a Russian chess master, coach, theorist, writer and organiser. He now lives in Essen, Germany and has mainly resided there since 1994.

Glek was born in Moscow. Completing his University of Moscow engineering/economics qualification in 1983, he worked as an economist until 1986 and followed this with two years of military service in the Soviet Army. From 1989, he was able to concentrate on chess, becoming first a professional player, then a Grandmaster in 1990.

Over the years, he has coached many talented young players and has been a regular writer on chess. He is perhaps most commonly known for his contributions to the New In Chess series of opening surveys and also the Secrets Of Opening Surprises series of books, which fall under the general editorship of Jeroen Bosch. Famed for his extensive and very creative opening repertoire, many enthusiasts find Glek's games and advice on offbeat opening lines invaluable. As a player, he mostly opens with e4 as white and prefers the King's Indian, French Defence and Dutch Defence as Black. A variation of the Classical King's Indian Defence, characterized by the move 7 ... Na6, is named after him, as is a variation of the Four Knights Game.