Anton Kovalyov is an Argentinian-Canadian chess player who has held the title of Grandmaster (GM) since 2008. He was born on March 4, 1992 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
At age 5, Kovalyov moved to Argentina where he learned to play chess and won his first local U-20 championship at 8. At 13, he won the 1999 Argentinian U-20 Championship and the South American U-20 Championship, achieving an International Master (IM) norm. In 2003, he relocated again to Canada, continued pursuing chess, and by age 16, he attained the GM title.
He has appeared in several World Youth Chess Championships, finishing second in the U-12 division in 2003 and winning the U-16 division in 2006. Over the years, Kovalyov has had several notable tournament victories. These include winning the 2012 Canadian Open Chess Championship, the 42nd Annual World Open in Arlington, Virginia in 2014, and the 2017 World Open in Philadelphia.
Kovalyov received press attention during the 2017 Chess World Cup due to an incident in which he withdrew following a dispute over his attire. Kovalyov was wearing shorts and was asked to change into more formal attire. Feeling humiliated and bullied, he decided to withdraw from the tournament.
Despite his youth, Kovalyov has had a successful career in chess, earning the title of GM at a young age and achieving victories in various tournaments. He continuously represents his adoptive country, Canada, in major global chess tournaments to date.