Greece’s Chess Prodigy Wins Silver in Olympiad

Greece’s chess prodigy, Nikolas Theodorou, won the silver medal in the chess Olympiad that took place in India earlier in August.

Twenty-two-year-old Theodorou, who holds the title of Grand Master, came second at Board 2 Open Section behind Nihal Sarin of India.

Although the chess Olympiad is essentially a team event, board prizes were awarded for the best performances on each individual board.

In order to qualify for the medal, players had to have completed at least eight of the eleven games. Nonetheless, many of the players went the full distance.

Theodorou, born in Athens in 2000, is regarded as one of the leading new talents in chess. In 2006, his family moved to Rethymno, Crete where he grew up and finished high school.

He began taking chess lessons in 2007 at a very young age at the Chess Club of Rethymno (SKOR). Since 2015, he has been an athlete of the Chania Chess Academy (SACH).

Greece’s Nikolas Theodorou becomes chess Grand Master at 21

In July 2016, Theodorou obtained the title of International Master (IM). In September 2021, he completed the three norms for the Grand Met (GM) top title. Today, his international rating is 2575 ELO, according to the International Chess Federation.

He has taken part in many pan-Hellenic and international chess competitions and has achieved many distinctions. In 2022, with the chess team of the University of St. Louis, USA, he achieved first place in the Final Four of the USA Collegiate Chess.

In May 2022, he received his bachelor’s degree with a double major in Physics and Mathematics from St. Louis University in the United States.

For the next two years, beginning in August 2022, he will undertake postgraduate studies in the Biostatistics & Health Analytics program at the same university and continue his participation on the university chess team with a renewed full scholarship.