Hristos Banikas

Hristodoulos (Hristos) Banikas (b. May 20, 1978) is a distinguished Greek chess player. He is a resident of Salonica.

Achievements in chess

Banikas won the 1990 Greek U-12 championship, the 1993 Greek U-16 championship, and the 1996 Greek U-20 championship.He won six consecutive Greek Championships from 2000 through 2005.Ranked number 196 in the world, his May 2006 FIDE Elo rating is 2576, the highest he has yet achieved. Banikas has received the Grandmaster title from FIDE. He is the reigning Greek champion, although he is only the fourth-highest rated Greek player.

In 2001 he played a Man vs. Machine match against Deep Junior.

Chess style

Banikas is well-known for entering into tactical complications. With the black pieces he usually plays the Sicilian Defence against 1.e4. With the white pieces he prefers 1.d4, but occasionally plays 1. Nf3 or 1.c4.

External links

*fide|id=4202031|name=Hristos Banikas
*chessgames player|id=41086
* [http://chess.vrsac.com/search/player_e.asp?FC=4202031 Rating data]
* [http://www.chessworld.net/chessclubs/statistics_pgn_rating_chart.asp?username=Banikas,Hristos Statistics at ChessWorld.net]
* [http://www.chess.gr/tourn/2001/djunior_vs_banikas/index.html 2001 match vs. Deep Junior]