Irina Krush

Title: 
Grandmaster
Rating: 
2422
Federation: 
USA
Age: 
36
Status: 
Accepted
Bio: 

Irina Krush was born in Odessa, Ukraine (USSR) in 1983 and emigrated to the US in 1989. Over the years, the now brooklyn native has proven herself to be one of the most dominant female players in the country. At the mere age of 14, she dominated the field of the 1998 US Women’s Championship with a score of 8.5/9. This would become a staple event for her, and she has been crowned US Women’s Champion an additional six times.

Krush has also represented her country well in team competition, playing her first Olympiad in 1998. She helped lead the team to a silver medal in 2004 and a bronze in 2008. At the 2018 Olympiad in Batumi, Krush scored an impressive 7.5/10, securing a silver medal on board 2.   

Outside of chess, Krush graduated from NYU in 2006 with a degree in International Relations. She made a TV appearance on Steve Harvey, where Hillary Clinton was tasked with telling Irina apart from two imposters.