Rauf Mamedov (; born 26 April 1988) is an Azerbaijani

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster and a four-time national champion. He competed in the

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. History Three different formats have been used: *In 2000 and 2002, it was a multi-stage tournament, with a group stage consisting of 24 players in fo ...

in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015.

Career

Born in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Mamedov started playing chess at the age of seven. In 2004, he won the Under 14 section of the European Youth Chess Championships. In the same year, he became a Grandmaster (GM), following his victory in the Dubai Open. Mamedov won the Azerbaijani championship in 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2025. He competed in the

in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015. In 2009, he tied for 1st-3rd with

Yuriy Kuzubov Yuriy Kuzubov (; his first name is sometimes spelled "Yuri" or "Yury"; born 26 January 1990 in Sychyovka, Smolensk Oblast)

and

Dmitry Andreikin Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin (, born 5 February 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster, World Junior Chess Champion in 2010 and two-time Russian Chess Champion (2012 and 2018). He won the Tashkent leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 and finish ...

in the category 16 SPICE Cup tournament at

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

. Mamedov won the Corsica Masters blitz tournament in 2011. In 2015 Mamedov won the European

Blitz Chess Fast chess, also known as speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

Championship in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. In 2016, he won the men's blitz chess event of the IMSA Elite Mind Games in

Huai'an ) , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , established_title = ...

, China. In 2013, Mamedov won the U.S. Masters Chess Championship. In February 2018, he participated in the

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament organised through the joint efforts of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Russian Ministry of Sport with the sponsorship from the Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot. It is played in Moscow, ho ...

. He finished tenth out of ninety-two, scoring 6/9 (+5–2=2). In April 2018, he participated in the fifth edition of Shamkir Chess, finishing ninth with a score of 4/9 (+0–1=8).

Team competitions

He played in the gold medal-winning Azerbaijani team at the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

in 2009, 2013 and 2017. He produced the best board 4 performances of the tournament in 2017, scoring 8/9 for a 2920 .

Personal life

Rauf Mamedov is

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

to Ukrainian international master Nataliya Buksa.

Gallery

File:Azeri Chess Team EuroChess 2007 c.jpg, Mamedov with Azerbaijani Chess team, winners of

in 2007 File:Rauf Mamedov 2007.jpg, Mamedov at EuroChess 2007

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamedov, Rauf 1988 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess players from Baku Chess Olympiad competitors Azerbaijani chess players