Irina Krush

Irina Krush was born into a Jewish family in Odesa, USSR (now Ukraine), and emigrated with her parents to Brooklyn in 1989. Her father, a college chess player, taught Irina the game. When she was 6, she won her first tournament, and at the age of 7 she represented the U.S. at the World Youth Championships for girls under 10 in Poland. 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 seven other occasions, in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2020. In 1999, Krush took part in the "Kasparov versus the World" chess competition. 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.