Jacob Murey is a professional chess player born on September 2, 1941. He is a Grandmaster, the highest title bestowed by the World Chess Federation and is considered one of the world's best elite chess players. Murey has dual citizenship of both Israel and the United States.
Murey was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. He pursued higher education in the field of Mathematics in Ukraine before moving to Israel with his mother in 1977.
His professional chess career has seen many triumphs, beginning when he achieved the International Master title in 1980. He came in first alongside Viktor Kupreichik in the 1983 Open Canadian Chess Championship and tied for second place at the 1985 New York Open. Murey was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1987 by FIDE.
Apart from playing chess tournaments, Murey also had an impressive career as a coach. He worked as a coach for Women's World Championship contenders in the 1980's.
Though he moved to New York in 1988, in 1989, he was in Paris to play on behalf of the Israeli team at the European Team Championship. He later moved to Los Angeles in 1990 where he still resides.
Following his retirement from competitive chess, he has been active in promoting and teaching chess. He has also been associated with the non-profit organization American Chess Academy, which aims to teach chess to disadvantaged youth.
In his personal life, Murey married Maria Litinskaya-Shul, another chess player, in 1980. They have four children together - two sons and two daughters. Their son, Michael Murey, is also a notable chess player. Murey lost his wife in 2012.