Alexander Ivanov (born May 1, 1956) is a chess Grandmaster who lives in and represents the United States of America. He was joint US Champion in 1995 (with Nick de Firmian and Patrick Wolff). In the April 2004 FIDE list, Ivanov had an Elo rating of 2544, making him joint nineteenth in the United States. May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... Winner list: 2005 Hikaru Nakamura 2004 Alexander Shabalov 2003 Alexander Shabalov 2002 Larry Christiansen 2000 Joel Benjamin / Alexander Shabalov / Yasser Seirawan 1999 Boris Gulko 1998 Nick de Firmian 1997 Joel Benjamin 1996 Alex Yermolinsky 1995 Nick de Firmian / Patrick Wolff / Alexander Ivanov 1994 Boris Gulko 1993 Alexander Shabalov / Alex Yermolinsky... Nick de Firmian (born July 26, 1957), is a chess grandmaster and three time U.S. chess champion, winning in 1987, 1995, and 1999. ... Patrick G Wolff (b. ... The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ...