We are thrilled to wish Canadian Grandmaster Mark Bluvshtein a happy birthday!

Mr. Bluvshtein distinguished himself in the chess world as a young man, winning numerous tournaments in Israel. After moving to Toronto, he became both the youngest Canadian to achieve an International Master title (at the age of 13) and Grandmaster title (at age 16). He was also the youngest player to date to compete on the Canadian Chess Olympiad team.

In his career Mark has defeated many well-known chess greats such as Alexey Shirov and Nigel Short, as well as Irina Krush and even former world champion Veselin Topalov!

He was named Canadian chess player of the year multiple times, including in 2011, when Bluvshtein retired from chess to concentrate on his business career. Nevertheless, chess is still a great passion for him. Chess Institute of Canada was delighted when, earlier this year, he agreed to join the board of directors of Canada’s only chess education charity.