Zviad Izoria is a Georgian-American chess grandmaster. He was born on January 6, 1984, in Zugdidi, Georgia, and later moved to the United States. Izoria won the championship of Georgia three times (1999, 2001, and 2002). He also represented Georgia in five Chess Olympiads.
Izoria had many key wins in his career. He won the Abu Dhabi Chess Festival in 2004 and came first in the New York Masters that same year. He also finished first in the Las Vegas International Chess Festival in 2007 and the 9th Balaguer Open in 2010.
In 2018, Izoria played his first season for the Saint Louis Arch Bishops in the PRO Chess League. In the 2018 U.S. Championship, he defeated Fabiano Caruana, the previous challenger to the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Notable performances from 2019 include a win against World Champion Magnus Carlsen during PRO Chess League, becoming the first person to defeat Carlsen in the PRO Chess League.
With regards to his style of play, Izoria has been described as a solid and defensive player who does not like to take unnecessary risks. He is known to focus more on his positional understanding and prefers endgames. He tends to thrive in complex positions where he can exploit his opponents' weaknesses.