Sergey Kudrin is an American chess Grandmaster who was born on September 7, 1959, in Novosibirsk, Russia. He emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1978 and became a naturalized citizen. Kudrin studied electrical engineering at the University of Bridgeport, and upon graduating, decided to pursue a career in chess.
Sergey is known for securing multiple victories in high-level chess tournaments, such as the U.S. Open (1981), the World Open (1985), the Manhattan Chess Club Championship (1985–86), the Chicago Open (1987) and the Reggio Emilia chess tournament (1988). He has also performed remarkably in the U.S. Chess Championships, with his best performance being the shared 3rd-5th place in 2006.
In 1980, he obtained the International Master title and in 1984, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE. Sergey Kudrin was also a participant in a number of team competitions, representing the U.S. on several occasions, and being a part of the winning team at the Pan American Team Championship in 1985, and the World Team Championship 1993.
In terms of openings, he has contributed to Nimzo-Indian Defence theory and is an expert in the Semi-Slav Defence, using it in several impactful games.
Employing his professional background in electrical engineering, Kudrin has also been involved with chess software programming for a company named Chess Assistant.