Ruslan Ponomariov

Ruslan Ponomariov
Руслан Пономарьов
Ponomariov in 2014
Personal information
BornRuslan Olehovych Ponomariov
(1983-10-11) 11 October 1983
Horlivka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Chess career
CountryUkraine
TitleGrandmaster (1998)
World Champion2002–2004 (FIDE)
FIDE rating2631 (March 2026)
Peak rating2764 (July 2011)
RankingNo. 93 (March 2026)
Peak rankingNo. 6 (April 2002)

Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (Ukrainian: Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and is the youngest holder of the title at the age of 18 years and 104 days, though the title was split at the time. He won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2011.

He was runner-up in the Chess World Cup 2005 and Chess World Cup 2009, and reached the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarterfinals in 2007.