Eugene Perelshteyn's fighting spirit and wide range of chess skills shined at the 2006 Foxwoods Open , when Eugene tied for first and earned his final GM norm. He won a complicated game against Mikhalevski that he analyzed for Chess Life Magazine. "Becoming a GM is a dream of every aspiring chess player. For me, the dream came true at the magical world of Foxwoods."

Eugene's father, Mikhail an FM and professional chess coach in Russia taught Eugene how to play at seven. Soon after moving to the United States in 1994, Eugene began studying with GM Roman Dzindzhichasvili. Roman is known for his unorthodox opening preparation and amazing positional feeling: "My results sky-rocketed after I started work with Roman." Eugene also credits his development to friend and study partner GM Aleks Wojtkiewicz. Read Eugene's memorial of Wojtkiewicz (1963-2006).

Not content to live off his chess strength alone, Eugene graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2002, where he captained the chess team and earned a degree in computer science. He then won the Samford Scholarship and focused on chess for two years. Now he works as a Tech Support Engineer at Symantec. Eugene is the co-author of the well received opening books Chess Openings for White, Explained (reviewed by Pete Tamburro in Chess Life Magazine) and Chess Openings for Black, Explained.