Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin was born on 12 January 1990 in Simferopol. He learnt to play chess at the age of five, and he has been participating in tournaments since he was six. He received his International Master title when he was 11 years and 11 months old, becoming the youngest ever International Master. His peak World Ranking was 4th (July 2011). His current rating is 2779 (April 2016).

He has played World Championship matches two times. According to his ratings between August 2012 and June 2013 he qualified for the Candidates Tournament in 2014, where his finished second behind title winner Viswanatan Anand. In 2016 Karjakin qualified to the Candidates Tournament again, and by defeating Italian-American Fabiano Caruana in the finals he won the right to challenge current World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

Between 2004 and 2014 he participated in six Chess Olympiads altogether. From 2004 to 2008 he represented Ukraine and won individual gold medal and team gold medal in 2004. From 2010 to 2014 he represented Russia and won individual gold medal again in 2010 and also silver medal with the team. In 2012 he won individual bronze and team silver.