Gennadi Sosonko

Gennadi Sosonko
Gennadi Sosonko
Full name	Геннадий Сосонко
Country	Netherlands
Born	May 18, 1943 (age 80); Troitsk, Russia
Title	Grandmaster
FIDE rating	2520 (April 2024)

Gennadi (Gennady, Genna) Borisovich Sosonko ([Геннадий Борисович Сосонко] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); born 18 May 1943, Troitsk, Russia) is a Dutch chess Grandmaster (GM).

At the beginning of his career, in 1958, he won in the Leningrad juniors championship.

Sosonko moved from the Soviet Union to the Netherlands via Israel in 1972. This was a highly publicised defection, which led to the Soviet Union Chess Federation pressuring FIDE to declare him an "unperson". He won the Dutch Championship in 1973 and 1978 (jointly). His tournament record includes 1st at Wijk aan Zee 1977, 1st at Nijmegen 1978, 3rd at Amsterdam 1980, 1st at Wijk aan Zee 1981, 3rd at Tilburg 1982 and 4th at Haninge 1988. He also drew a match with Jan Timman (+1 =0 −1) in 1984.

Sosonko played eleven times for Dutch team at the Chess Olympiads in 1974-84, and 1988-96. He won two individual medals: gold at Haifa 1976, bronze at Nice 1974, and two medals for team: silver at Haifa 1976, and bronze at Thessaloniki 1988.

FIDE, the World Chess Federation, awarded Sosonko the International Master (IM) title in 1974, the GM title in 1976 and the FIDE Senior Trainer title in 2004.^[1]

Sosonko has also authored three non-technical chess books centering heavily on his chess life in the Soviet Union and his relationships with and memories of both leading Soviet players and lesser-known but colorful characters in chess history. His books, published by New in Chess, are Russian Silhouettes, The Reliable Past, and Smart Chip from St. Petersburg.

Books

Sosonko, Genna (2001). Russian Silhouettes. New in Chess. ISBN 90-5691-078-7.
Sosonko, Genna (2003). The Reliable Past. New in Chess. ISBN 90-5691-114-7.
Sosonko, Genna (2006). Smart Chip from St. Petersburg: And Other Tales of a Bygone Chess Era. New in Chess. ISBN 90-5691-169-4.