American Grandmaster (1977) born in Georgia, who played in two USSR Championships before emigrating to Israel in 1976 then to the USA. Became He won Hastings 1977-78 and shared third in 1978, his best result before to immigrate to U.S. in 1980. He won the U.S. title twice (in 1983, tied with GM Walter Browne

January Armenia. K. H. Grigoryan scored 6/9 points and won the 75th Armenian Highest League in Yerevan, ahead of A. Mikaelyan (5.5/9) and R. A. Hovhannisyan (5/9). Australia. Ni Hua scored 10.5/11 and won the Australian Open in Sydney ahead of M. Kazhgaleyev (8/11) and M. Illingworth (8/11). Azerbaijan. In Baku, R. Mamedov won the 70th Azerbaiji Championship on tie-break,

January Armenia. T. Kotanjian won the 74th Armenian Championships on tie-break, edged out R. Hovhannisyan. They geained 6.5/9 points. A. Pashikian reached the third place with 5.5/9. Belarus. At the 80th ch-BLR in Minsk, K. Stupak scored 9/13 and won the tournament with a clear half ahead of A. Aleksandrov. S. Zhigalko reached the third place with 8/13. Costa Rica. L.

January Armenia. T. L. Petrosian scored 7/9 and won the 73rd Armenian Championship in Yerevan with a clear half ahead of A. Grigoryan and R. Hovhannisyan. They both gained 6.5/9. Belarus. S. Zhigalko  finished on 8/11 and won the Belarus Championship in Minsk ahead of V. Kovalev (7.5/11). Croatia. At the 18th Bosnjaci Open, the Serbian Grandmaster, N. Sedlak won

January Armenia. T. L. Petrosian scored 7/11 and won the 72nd Armenian Championships in Yerevan with a clear half point. Belarus. At the 78th Championship of Belorus in Minsk, S. Zhigalko won the title after collected 8/11 points. Croatia. M. Palac won the Croatian Championships in Opatija with 7.5/11 points ahead of A. Brkic, I. Saric and D. Kuljasevic.

January Azerbaijan. N. Mamedov took a clear first at the Azerbaijan Championships in Baku after scored 8/11. Belarus. At the Belarus Championships in Minsk, A. Zhigalko became the champion on tie-break from S. Zhigalko. They both collected 9.5/12 points. A. Fedorov took the third place with 8.5/12 points. Brazil. R. Leitao (BRA) took a clear first at the Antonio Rocha