Yermo, as he is known to friends in the chess community, was being crushed by medical bills which his Medicare is not covering, as there is no reciprocal agreement with Turkey. His doctors told him that it will be at least six-months before he could safely return to the United States. He requires a prolonged hospital stay with antibiotic therapy – but his long-term prognosis following the bypass surgery is excellent.
You can contribute to Yermo's medical fund at this GoFundMe site.
The GoFundMe action was initiated by Alex Shabalov, GM Gregory Kaidanov and Stewart Katz. They and Yermo are very grateful to the chess community for their generous support!
Yermo has written a large number of reports for our news page. You can get a full index of his articles by clicking the image on the right.
Beyond competitive play, Yermolinsky is known for his chess commentary, and for his instructional work, including the acclaimed book "The Road to Chess Improvement".
Biographical notes on Alexander Yermolinsky
The Russian-born American grandmaster, author, and commentator was born on April 11, 1958, in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). He learned chess at age eight and rose through the Soviet chess school, becoming one of the top ten youth players in the USSR. After emigrating from the Soviet Union in 1989, he moved to the United States in 1990 and soon became a U.S. citizen.
Yermolinsky achieved the IM title in 1990 and became a grandmaster in 1992. He is a two-time U.S. Chess Champion (1993 and 1996) and has won several major tournaments, including the World Open in Philadelphia (1993, 1995, 1996) and the American Continental Championship in 2001. He represented the U.S. at multiple Chess Olympiads and was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2012.
GM Yasser Seirawan, who drew my attention to the plight of Alexander Yermolinsk and the GoFundMe action, reminded me that it was a great honour for him "to play behind Yermo at a number of Olympiads."
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