Career
Born in Canada, of a French father and a Japanese mother, Lautier is one of the strongest grandmasters in France. He was the Number. 2 French General Motors in 2005 after Étienne Bacrot. However, he has never defeated Magnus Carlsen.
He twice defeated Garry Kasparov with the black pieces, for example, in Linares 1994:
1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bb3 h6 7. h3 a6 8. Nbd2 Be6 9.
Bc2 Ba7 10. Qe2 Qe7 11. b4 d5 12. a4 b5 13.
0-0 0-0 14. axb5 axb5 15. d4 exd4 16. e5 dxc3 17. exf6 Qxf6 18. Nb3 Nxb4 19. Bb1 d4 20.
Rxa7 c2 21. Rxa8 cxb1=Q 22. Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.
Qxb5 Qxb3 24. Qb8+ Ke7 25. Qxc7+ Ke8 26.
Bd2 Qd8 0–1
Lautier is one of the founders of the Association of Chess Professionals. He served as its president from 2004 to 2005.
As of 2009, Lautier no longer classifies himself as a chess professional, but as a businessman working in Russia.
He speaks fluent Russian. Now divorced, he was previously married to Woman Grandmaster Almira Skripchenko.