Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk is a Ukrainian chess Grandmaster. He was born on March 18, 1969 in Berezhany, Ternopil Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988.
Throughout his career, Ivanchuk has defeated all World Chess champions that competed from 1988 to 2004, including Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
He is well-known for his erratic performances. In contrast to his exceptional performances against world-class players, he tends to underperform against lesser-known players.
Ivanchuk is also known for his deep and eclectic opening repertoire, unpredictable style, and his ability to both attack and defend well.
Aside from chess, Ivanchuk also has a strong interest in draughts, also known as checkers. He achieved International Grandmaster of Draughts level after winning seventh place in the 2016 World Draughts Championship.