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Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; , ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani
chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...
. A former
child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...
, he earned the title of Grandmaster in March 2001 at age 14, the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time. In 2003, Radjabov gained international attention after beating the then-world No. 1
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
in the Linares tournament, followed by victories over former world champions
Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
and
Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and is the youngest holder of the title at the age of 18 years and 104 days, though the title was split ...
the same year. Radjabov continued his progress over the years to become an elite chess player. In November 2012, he achieved his peak rating of 2793 and was ranked as number 4 in the world. This made Radjabov the nineteenth-highest rated player in chess history. He has thrice competed at the
Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The win ...
, in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, and
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
(where he obtained third place); he also qualified for the 2020 edition but withdrew due to the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. He won 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 ...
with Azerbaijan in 2009, 2013, and 2017. His major individual achievements include joint first place in the 2007 Corus tournament, winning the 2008 Elista Grand Prix, 2017 Geneva Grand Prix, 2019 FIDE World Cup, and 2021 Airthings Masters.


Early life

Radjabov was born on 12 March 1987 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 ...
,
Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...
(now
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
), to Boris Sheynin, a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
petroleum engineer who attended the same chess school in Baku as
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
, and Leyla Radjabova, an Azerbaijani English languages teacher. Radjabov started playing chess at age three and attended secondary school number 160 in Baku. He was coached by his father.


Career

Despite being the youngest of the participants, Radjabov in 1999 won the European Under 18 Championship, with the six years older Evgeny Postny in second place. While still 13 years old, the 2483-rated Radjabov finished in second place in the 2001 tournament Wijk aan Zee B, scoring +6−2=3. Mikhail Gurevich (2694) in first place was ½ point ahead and the player to qualify for next year's Wijk aan Zee A. Radjabov became the second-youngest player, after Judit Polgar, to make it into the FIDE Top 100 players list. With a rating of 2599 in January 2002, he was ranked 93rd in the world while still 14 years old. In the FIDE Moscow Grand Prix rapid event in June, he won matches against Ivanchuk, Svidler, Beliavsky, and Akopian before losing the final to Kasparov ½–1½. In 2003, Radjabov defeated
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
,
Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
, and
Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and is the youngest holder of the title at the age of 18 years and 104 days, though the title was split ...
with the black pieces, making him the first player to beat three former and reigning FIDE World Chess Champions with black in one year.
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraVladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
. Radjabov's win against Ponomariov came in Wijk aan Zee, where Radjabov scored +3−3=7, while the one against Anand came in Dortmund, where he scored +2−2=6. The win against Kasparov in Linares was Radjabov's only win in the tournament, where he ended up with a +1−4=7 score. Kasparov had been undefeated in five consecutive Linares tournaments before losing to Radjabov. He had not lost a rated game with white in seven years, and never lost one again. In an interview in 2005, Radjabov claimed that Kasparov used his influence to prevent him from being invited to top tournaments after he defeated him at Linares 2003. Radjabov participated in 2004 Linares, where he scored +2−2=8 and shared fourth place with
Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE ...
, one point behind winner
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, after drawing both his games against
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
. He also reached the semifinals (earning a bronze medal) at the
FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 The FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 was held at the Almahary Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, from June 18 to July 13, 2004. It was won by Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who beat Michael Adams in the final by a score of 4½–3½. He won about US$100,000 and ...
.


Early wins

Radjabov won Dos Hermanas in April 2005, ahead of, among others, Dreev and Azmaiparashvili. Later in the year, he finished second in the European Championship, behind Nisipeanu but with Karjakin, Ivanchuk, and Aronian in third to fifth place. On February 22, 2006, Radjabov defeated FIDE World Champion
Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE ...
(2801) with the black pieces and subsequently finished second in Linares/Morelia after scoring +4−2=8 in the tournament. In November that year Radjabov won the strong Cap d'Agde rapid tournament. He won all his games in quarterfinal and semifinal against Volokitin and Bacrot, and won the final against
Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...
(who had eliminated Magnus Carlsen in his semifinal) 1½–½. In December, during the Creativity Festival in Florence (Tuscany, Italy), Radjabov lost a rapid game against Deep Junior, the chess engine that won the Turin World Computer Chess Championship. In January 2007, Radjabov shared first place at the Category 19
Corus Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...
in Wijk aan Zee with Veselin Topalov and
Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
, ahead of Kramnik and Anand. He scored five wins, one loss and seven draws. Radjabov was also to play the Morelia/Linares Tournament 2007, but due to a robbery of some of his belongings in Mexico, he withdrew from the tournament. His position was taken by
Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhailovych Ivanchuk (; born March 18, 1969) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading chess player since 1988, Ivanchuk has been ranked at No. 2 on the FIDE world rankings thr ...
. In January 2008, Radjabov won the ACP Rapid Cup in Odessa after beating Grischuk in the final 2½–1½. Later the same month he shared third in Wijk aan Zee together with World Champion
Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
after beating him with white, finishing ½ from first (+3−1=9). Radjabov had an average Linares (+2−2=8), and a disappointing Baku (+2−3=8), but finished third in Sofia (+2−1=7), behind Ivanchuk and Topalov. In Sochi in August he finished second (+5−2=6) behind Aronian, and capped a very active tournament year by sharing first in Elista (+4−1=8). In Wijk aan Zee Radjabov shared second place with Aronian and
Sergei Movsesian Sergei Musheghi Movsesian (; born 3 November 1978) is an Armenian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1997. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the 2011 World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo. ...
, ½ behind winner
Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...
. He finished fifth on tiebreak in Linares after scoring his only win in the tournament against Aronian, and was undefeated in Bazna in June, even if he only won once, against
Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky (; ; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 at the age of 22, and reached a ranking of fourth in the world ...
. In October Radjabov led the Azerbaijani team to victory 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
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
.


Early 2010s

In May Radjabov shared second place in Astrakhan, securing second place in the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, thereby qualifying for the Candidates tournament for the
World Chess Championship 2012 The World Chess Championship 2012 was a chess match between the defending World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the 2011 Candidates Tournament. After sixteen games, including four rapid games, Anand ...
. In Bazna the following month Radjabov shared second place with
Boris Gelfand Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player. A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...
after beating him in both their individual games (Carlsen won the tournament). Radjabov finished in second place also in the World Blitz Championship, with 24/38. Aronian won with 24½ while Carlsen was third with 23½. In his 2011 Candidates quarterfinal in Kazan, Radjabov was eliminated by
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
in the blitz tiebreak, after a controversial incident of
chess clock A chess clock is a device that comprises two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. The clocks are used in games where the time is allocated between two parties. T ...
malfunction. Radjabov got married on October 7 after a spectacular
performance rating The PR (performance rating, P-rating, or Pentium rating) system was a figure of merit developed by AMD, Cyrix, IBM Microelectronics and SGS-Thomson in the mid-1990s as a method of comparing their x86 processors to those of rival Intel. The idea ...
of 3019 in the European Chess Cup Championships playing first board for the team SOCAR, with the team coming second overall. Later the same month, Radjabov led the Azerbaijani team to silver medal 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 Porto Carras. In November, he reached a new peak rating o
2781.
In January, Radjabov competed in the
Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...
in Wijk aan Zee; the field included among others, world No. 1
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
and world No. 2
Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
. The average rating of the field was 2755, making this thirteen-round event a category 21 tournament. Radjabov scored +3−0=10 and tied for second place with Magnus Carlsen and
Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...
, a point behind winner Levon Aronian. It was his fourth consecutive top three finishes in Wijk. In the even stronger Tal Memorial (category 22 with an average rating of 2776) he shared second place again (+2−1=6), behind winner Carlsen, and reached a new peak rating and ranking as No. 4 with 2788 on the July list. Radjabov also competed as first board in the 2012 Olympiad in Istanbul Turkey 2012, and as a result pushed his rating from 2788 to his personal all-time high of 2793, and received second-highest performance on the first board. On October 17th, Radjabov led the SOCAR chess team to a win in the European Chess Club Cup by playing on the first board, and again received the second-highest performance on his board. Radjabov played in the 2013 Candidates Tournament, which took place in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, from 15 March to 1 April. He finished last, with +1−7=6. Radjabov's national team won at the European Team Chess Championship in November 2013 in Warsaw, Poland. Radjabov scored 4½/8 (+1−0=7) in the tournament.


Return to top chess

Radjabov returned to top chess at the inaugural Gashimov Memorial, also known as Shamkir Chess, commemorating the late Azeri grandmaster. Radjabov scored 5/10 and placed third behind Carlsen and Caruana, picking up 11 rating points. He defeated Magnus Carlsen in their individual game. Radjabov participated in the
Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...
and placed eighth out of 14 with 6/13 points. In the same year, he won the bronze medal at the
World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...
behind Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. In 2016, Radjabov played in numerous tournaments such as the Gashimov Memorial, European Club Cup, World Blitz and Rapid Championship and Chess Olympiad without winning any tournaments. In April, Radjabov competed in the annual Shamkir Chess tournament and finished 8th out of 10 players. Radjabov competed in the FIDE Grand Prix 2017. He placed fourth out of 18 in the Moscow round in May. In July, Radjabov won clear first in the Geneva round by scoring 6/9 points. In the final of his three tournaments, he scored 5/9 points. This put Radjabov third in the overall Grand Prix ranking, meaning he narrowly missed qualifying for the 2018 Candidates Tournament; with an extra 1/2 point in the final tournament he would have finished in the Grand Prix top two, and qualified. In the September 2017 ranking of FIDE, Radjabov was ranked as no. 19 in the world. This was the first time since October 2015 when Radjabov was able to enter the top 20 in the list. The following month, he climbed to no. 17, his highest ranking in more than four years. In November, Radjabov won the gold medals 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 ...
with the Azerbaijan national team and earned an individual silver medal on the second board. In April 2018, Radjabov participated in the fifth edition of Shamkir Chess, finishing seventh with a score of 4½/9 (+0–0=9). He gained three rating points and reached #16 in the May FIDE world rankings, his highest ranking in more than 5 years. In the
43rd Chess Olympiad The 43rd Chess Olympiad ( ka, 43-ე საჭადრაკო ოლიმპიადა, ''43-e sach’adrak’o olimp’iada''; also known as the Batumi Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) ...
in
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
, Radjabov played for Azerbaijan and scored +6−0=4 with a notable victory over
Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster, a three-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the first World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 201 ...
. Team Azerbaijan completed the tournament as #15 while Radjabov earned an individual bronze medal on board 2. He also earned six rating points and moved to #14 in the world rankings. In January 2019, Radjabov returned to
Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...
and placed seventh by earning 6.5 points (+1−1=11). In April, Radjabov played in Shamkir Chess for the fifth time. He also continued his rally in the world rankings and reached #12. In May, Teimour played in the Moscow round of 2019 FIDE Grand Prix, and was eliminated from the Moscow Grand Prix tournament in the first round on tie-breaks by American grandmaster
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraDaniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in S ...
in the first round tie-breaks. In December, Radjabov missed the Jerusalem round for health reasons. In July, Teimour played in
Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an open chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Until 2020, Dortmund was an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund was awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot ...
and placed joint second-fifth places with four points (+1−0=6). In September, Radjabov participated in and won the 2019 Chess World Cup in
Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...
. After eliminating Ziska, Sjugirov and Yuffa in the first three rounds, Radjabov faced fellow Azerbaijani grandmaster
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov (; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-h ...
in round 4 and defeated him in the tie-break series. Radjabov then beat American grandmaster Jeffery Xiong in the quarterfinal, 1.5 to 0.5. In the semifinal, Radjabov defeated French grandmaster
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Chess Championship, World Blitz Champion. With a peak Elo rating system, ra ...
. The final took place on 4 October 2019, in which he drew against
Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...
in the classical games (+1-1=2); in the tie-breaks, he drew the four games in the rapid section, then defeated him in the blitz section (+2-0=0). As a result of reaching the final in the World Cup, Radjabov qualified for the 2020 Candidates tournament where he could have earned the right to play
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
in the World Chess Championship.


Withdrawal from Candidates

Citing concerns about the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and what he considered FIDE's inadequate attempts to deal with it, Radjabov withdrew from the 2020 Candidates tournament on March 6, 2020. He was replaced by
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Chess Championship, World Blitz Champion. With a peak Elo rating system, ra ...
. On March 26, the tournament was abruptly postponed as a result of new governmental policies aimed at containing the pandemic. This development prompted Radjabov to call for his reinstatement in the tournament. In an interview with
Daniel Rensch Daniel "Danny" Michael Rensch (born October 10, 1985) is an American chess International Master, event organizer, lecturer and commentator. He holds the Arizona state record for youngest national master, at the age of 14. He is a Co-founder and ...
and Robert Hess, he stated: "I think FIDE should take some action to include me back into the tournament, that's what I think. I think it's a fair decision. From my side, I think I have done everything possible. I just asked them, warned them, I also warned the chess community by expressing it openly. (...)". Members of the Azerbaijani national chess team signed an open letter in support of his reinstatement. In November 2020, Radjabov participated in the Skilling Open rapid chess tournament, which was the first tournament as part of Champions Chess Tour 2021. Radjabov qualified to the quarterfinals by earning eight points in 15 games, and was eliminated by Wesley So. In December, Radjabov joined Airthings Masters, the second tournament of the Champions Chess Tour. Radjabov placed fifth among 12 players in the preliminary round by performing +1-0=10, and qualified to the play-offs. In the quarter-finals, he defeated
Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...
on the Armageddon round after drawing all of their games. In the semifinals, Radjabov defeated Russian grandmaster
Daniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in S ...
, who had upset then-world chess champion and tournament favorite
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
in the quarter-finals. In the finals he defeated
Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
in two sets, and was declared the winner of the Airthings Masters. In May 2021, FIDE decided to give Radjabov direct entry into the
Candidates Tournament 2022 The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022,FIDE announces qualification paths for Candidates Tournament 2022
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
, 25 May 2021
where he obtained third place.


Notable tournament results

* 1998 Kasparov Cup, 1st * 1998
World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...
U-12, 1st * 1999 European Youth Chess Championship U-18, 1st * 2000 Budapest Chess Tournament, 1st * 2005 Dos Hermanas, 1st * 2005
European Individual Chess Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's) ...
, 2nd * 2006 Cap d'agde Rapid Chess, 1st * 2006 World Blitz Championship, 3rd * 2007
Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Ste ...
, joint 1st * 2008 Elista FIDE Grand Prix, 1st * 2009 European Team Chess Championship, team 1st * 2010 World Blitz Championship, 2nd * 2013 European Team Chess Championship, team 1st * 2015 World Rapid Championship, joint 2nd * 2017 Geneva FIDE Grand Prix, 1st * 2017 European Team Chess Championship, team 1st * 2019
Chess 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 ...
, 1st * 2020–2021 Airthings Masters, 1st * 2021 Opera Euro Rapid, 3rd * 2021 Champions Chess Tour Final, 2nd * 2022
Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The win ...
, 3rd


Playing style

Radjabov is almost single-handedly responsible for the current revival of the
King's Indian Defence The King's Indian Defence (or KID) is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: : 1. d4 Nf6 : 2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead and ...
. He even beat world No. 1, Magnus Carlsen, with this defense in 2014 at the Gashimov Memorial 2014. He is also the only top player to consistently employ the sharp Schliemann–Jaenisch Gambit in the
Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...
, scoring +1−0=10 with it in top tournaments 2008–2011, drawing among others Carlsen, Anand, Topalov, Svidler, Ivanchuk and Karjakin, and beating Adams. Radjabov has been called an excellent counter-attacker, adept at seizing control after an opponent makes a minor mistake. At the 2003
Linares chess tournament The Linares International Chess Tournament (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares'') was an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, which takes its name from the city of Linares ...
, Radjabov, who was 15 years old, defeated Kasparov with the black pieces. Radjabov had a bad position (diagram), but played a courageous piece sacrifice that disconcerted Kasparov. Faced suddenly with an unbalanced position that required calm defense, Kasparov blundered with 27. Rdf1??, losing a piece and the game. The game was controversially voted the most beautiful game of the tournament. Proponents praised Radjabov's resiliency and courage against the reigning world No. 1; detractors argued that Radjabov was losing, and it was only because Kasparov blundered that he won the game. Radjabov's knight sacrifice, 21...Ngxe5, was praised by several strong players for its bravery, including English grandmaster
Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
:
Radjabov plays very imaginatively... he just won't give up, he is extremely tenacious and will always find a way to muddy the waters to throw you off track. He is very good at finding disconcerting moves. Here he unbalances Kasparov completely, disturbing his rhythm of play... That was the point of Radjabov's sacrifice – it was not sound but it gave him these practical chances.Chess News – Kasparov's outburst over beauty prize in Linares
. ''Chessbase.com''. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
However, the sacrifice was called "desperation" by GM Miguel Illescas, and according to Chessbase.com, "The Grandmasters we have talked to praised Radjabov's resilience in a bad position but criticized the game as unworthy of a prize because it was based on blunders." Radjabov became the first player born since Kasparov first became
World Chess Champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
in 1985, to defeat him. Radjabov is also the youngest player in history to defeat a reigning world No. 1 in a game at tournament time controls.


UNICEF

In May 2006, Radjabov was appointed as the
UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
National Goodwill Ambassador for Azerbaijan. He advocates for the cause of the universal salt iodization in the country. UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan Hanaa Singer stated that they were very pleased to have Radjabov in the work to improve the lives of children and young people in Azerbaijan. They were confident that Radjabov would become an outspoken and active advocate for the cause, using his great talents to inspire young people.


See also

* List of Azerbaijani chess players


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Radjabov, Teimour 1987 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Chess players from Baku Azerbaijani chess players UNICEF goodwill ambassadors World Youth Chess Champions Azerbaijani people of Jewish descent