Merab Gagunashvili

Merab Gagunaschwili (Georgian მერაბ გაგუნაშვილი; born January 3, 1985 in Tbilisi ), writing at the World Chess Federation FIDE Gagunashvili, is a Georgian chess player.

Life

He learned the game of chess as a child by his grandmother. When he started school, his talent was recognized and he was a coach. As a result, he won the Georgian Youth Championships U12 and U14 age categories. The title of a Grand Master he received at the age of 17 years, after a split second place at the 2002 European Championships in Batumi.

In 2004 he was Georgian 's singles champion. After anterior placements in individual tournaments he won in early 2007 at the traditional tournament of Hastings. With the Georgian national team he played from 2002 to 2006 in all three Chess Olympiads. At his first Olympic assignment, 2002 in Bled Gagunaschwili scored 6.5 points from 8 games and thus achieved a Elo performance of 2786; Georgia landed at the end of fourth place.

In the Chess League, he plays for the SC Kreuzberg.

His current Elo rating is 2553 (as of January 2008), so that it is ranked 10 in Georgia. His previous best Elo rating was 2625 in April 2007.