David was born in Milan in 1970, and in 1974 moved with his parents to Luxembourg, where he learned to play chess a year later. He attained some success at the youth level but it was not until he finished his philosophy studies in London in 1992 that his chess career began. He earned his grandmaster title in 1998, becoming Luxembourg's first grandmaster. He competed for Luxembourg at the Chess Olympiads of 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006, playing on the each time. In 2002 he won the individual silver medal with a score of 84.6% (+10–1=2). In 2012 he obtained Italian citizenship and transferred to the Italian Chess Federation in July of the same year. He competed for Italy on board 2 at the 2014 Olympiad.