Peter Leko (born September 8, 1979 in Subotica, Yugoslavia) is a Hungarian chess player. He became a grandmaster in 1994 at the age of 14 (a world record at the time). In the January 2009 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2751, making him number nine in the world, and Hungary's number one. His best rating was number four, first achieved in April 2003.

　　Early life

　　Leko was a chess prodigy and became a Grandmaster at age 14, then the youngest ever.

　　He is the son-in-law of Armenian grandmaster Arshak Petrosian.

　　World Championship results

　　In 2002 Leko won the Candidates Tournament to qualify as the challenger to Vladimir Kramnik for the Classical World Chess Championship 2004. (The World Chess Championship was split at the time, but most of the strongest players participated, the most notable exceptions being the world's top two, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand). After several delays, the match was held from September 25 – October 18, 2004, in Brissago, Switzerland. Leko led by a point with just one game left to play. Kramnik managed to win the last game, tying the match 7–7, which entitled him to remain the reigning "classical" world champion.

　　In October 2005, Leko played for the FIDE World Chess Championship title in San Luis, Argentina, and was ranked fifth with 6.5 points. For more information, see FIDE World Chess Championship 2005.

　　In May-June 2007 Leko played in the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2007. He won his matches against Mikhail Gurevich and Evgeny Bareev, to qualify for the eight-player championship tournament. In the championship he finished fourth out of eight.

　　Chess960

　　In 2001, Leko narrowly defeated Grandmaster Michael Adams in an eight game Fischer Random Chess (Chess960) match played as part of the Mainz Chess Classic. As a result, Leko was hailed by many as the first Fischer Random Chess world champion. This claim is not universally accepted, since there were no open qualifying matches. Many do accept the claim, however, since this was also true of the first orthodox world chess champion titleholders, and both players were in the top five in the January 2001 world rankings for orthodox chess.

　　Miskolc rapid chess matches

　　Every year since 2005, Peter Leko played a rapid chess match in the Hungarian city of Miskolc. Each year, he faced a different world-class opponent.

　　In 2005, he drew Michael Adams 4–4
　　In 2006, he beat Anatoly Karpov 4.5–3.5
　　In 2007, he lost to Vladimir Kramnik 3.5–4.5
　　In 2008, he lost to Magnus Carlsen 3–5
　　In 2009, he lost to Viswanathan Anand 3–5

　　Playing style

　　Leko is an extremely solid player and is considered to be one of the most difficult players in the world to defeat. He has been criticized in the past for a perceived lack of killer instinct and a propensity to draw a large percentage of his games. As White, Leko almost always plays 1. e4, and as Black he often plays the Sveshnikov Sicilian or Grünfeld Defence. More recently he relies on the Marshall Attack, the Nimzo Indian and Queen's Indian with black. In addition, he is renowned for his endgame skill.

　　Notable accomplishments

　　2008: 1st prize board one at the chess olympiad in Dresden
　　2008: 1st Dortmund (Cat. 18)
　　2007: 1st ACP Rapid World Cup
　　2006: 1st Tal Memorial (Cat 20)
　　2005: 1st Corus chess tournament
　　2004: Drew Classical World Chess Championship 2004 (+2 ?2 =10) versus Vladimir Kramnik
　　2004: 2nd Linares chess tournament (Cat 20)
　　2004: 2nd Wijk aan Zee (Cat 19)
　　2003: 2nd Monaco
　　2003: 1st Linares (Cat 20)
　　2002: 1st Candidates Tournament at Dortmund chess tournament
　　Won the right to challenge Vladimir Kramnik for the World Chess Championship
　　2002: 2nd place at Essen (Cat.17)
　　2002: 3rd place at Monaco
　　2002: 1st Rapid Grand Prix at Dubai
　　2001: 1st Rapid Master Event in Nordhorn (Germany)
　　2001: 3rd Dortmund (Cat. 21)
　　2001: Defeated Michael Adams in a Fischer Random Chess match, Mainz, Germany
　　2000: Defeated Alexander Khalifman in match play, Budapest
　　1999: 1st Dortmund (Cat. 19)
　　1999: 1st the Rapid Grand Prix in Bordeaux (France)
　　1998: 2nd place at Tilburg (Cat. 18)
　　1996: 1st World Junior Chess Championship U16
　　1995: 3rd Dortmund (Cat. 17)

　　At the age of 15
　　1994: Awarded International Grandmaster title

　　At then-record age of 14 years old
　　1992: Awarded International Master title