LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — One of the best chess players in the world lives right here in Lexington, and he's preparing for the Inaugural Senior US Chess Championship.
"It's like the whole universe i could talk for hours about this," said 59-year-old Gregory Kaidanov.
Kaidanov said that his love for the game of chess began when he was six-years-old.
"My dad's friend gave me a chess set as a birthday present, and it was love from the first sight," he told LEX 18.
He began carrying his chess board everywhere with him in his native Soviet Russia. As he got older, the game he loved went from being a hobby, to a life-long passion and career.
"Then my ambitions grew and grew and I became one of the best players in the world," he said.
In 1988, Kaidanov became a grandmaster, then after immigrating with his family to America in 1991, his career continued to take off. He is now recognized as one of the foremost instructors in the country and in 2013, he was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.
In just days, he'll fly to St. Louis as one of ten players invited to compete in the first ever Senior US Championship.
