Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; az, Teymur Boris oğlu Rəcəbov, ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
grandmaster, ranked number 18 in the world
A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster in March 2001 at the age of 14, making him 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 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
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 and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating o ...
and
Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov ( uk, Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004. He won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in ...
all in 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 fifteenth highest rated player in chess history.
He has thrice competed at the Candidates Tournament, in 2011,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, and
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
(where he obtained the 3rd place); he also qualified for the 2020 edition but withdrew due to the coronavirus pandemic. 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 ...
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
), to Boris Sheynin, a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
petroleum engineer who attended the same chess school in Baku as
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
, and Leyla Radjabova, an AzerbaijaniEnglish languages teacher. Radjabov started playing chess at the age of 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 being 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 ever, 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 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
,
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating o ...
, and
Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov ( uk, Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004. He won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in ...
with the black pieces, making him the first player to have beaten three former and reigning FIDE World Chess Champions with black in one year.
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraVladimir Kramnik. 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 ; bg, Весели́н Александров Топа́лов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion.
Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by wi ...
, one point behind winner Vladimir Kramnik, after drawing both his games against
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
. 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 ; bg, Весели́н Александров Топа́лов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion.
Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by wi ...
(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 quarter and semifinals against Volokitin and Bacrot, and went on to win the final against
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken ...
(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, 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.
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 and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating o ...
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 Movsesian ( hy, Սերգեյ Մովսիսյան; 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 Ches ...
, ½ behind winner
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken ...
. 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 ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; 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 Cha ...
. 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, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
.
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 Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) ...
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 in the blitz tiebreak, after a controversial incident of
chess clock
A chess clock consists of two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. Chess clocks are used in chess and other two-player games where the players move in turn, and ...
malfunction.
Radjabov got married October 7 after a spectacular performance rating 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 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 ...
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 chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
and world No. 2 Levon Aronian. 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, a point behind winner Levon Aronian. It was his fourth consecutive top three finish 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 17 Radjabov led the SOCAR chess team to a win in the European Chess Club Cup by playing on the first board, and again received second highest performance on his board.
Radjabov played in the 2013 Candidates Tournament, which took place in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 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 Gashimov Memorial is a chess supertournament played in Azerbaijan in memory of Vugar Gashimov (1986–2014).
Winners
2014
The Gashimov Memorial 2014 took place in the Haydar Aliev Centre in Shamkir City from 16 April to 30 April 2014, consisting o ...
, 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 8th 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 recogn ...
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 Gashimov Memorial is a chess supertournament played in Azerbaijan in memory of Vugar Gashimov (1986–2014).
Winners
2014
The Gashimov Memorial 2014 took place in the Haydar Aliev Centre in Shamkir City from 16 April to 30 April 2014, consisting o ...
tournament and finished 8th out of 10 players.
Radjabov competed in the
FIDE Grand Prix 2017
The FIDE Grand Prix 2017 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2018. The top two finishers, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk, qualified to the 2018 Candi ...
. He placed 4th out of 18 in the Moscow round in May. In July, he 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 him 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 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 Azerbaijan national team and earned 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 3 rating points and reached #16 in the May FIDE world rankings, his highest ranking in more than 5 years. In the 43rd Chess Olympiad in
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...
, 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 and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...
. Team Azerbaijan completed the tournament as #15 while Radjabov earned an individual bronze medal on board 2. He also earned 6 rating points and moved to #14 in 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 7th by earning 6.5 points (+1−1=11). In April, Radjabov played in
Shamkir Chess Gashimov Memorial is a chess supertournament played in Azerbaijan in memory of Vugar Gashimov (1986–2014).
Winners
2014
The Gashimov Memorial 2014 took place in the Haydar Aliev Centre in Shamkir City from 16 April to 30 April 2014, consisting o ...
for the 5th 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 (russian: Даниил Дмитриевич Дубов; 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. He i ...
in the first round tie-breaks. In December, Radjabov missed the Jerusalem round due to health reasons.
In July, Teimour played in
Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting
The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Dortmund is an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund is awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot Open in Moscow ...
and placed joint 2nd-5th places with 4 points (+1−0=6). In September, Radjabov participated in and won the 2019 Chess World Cup in
Khanty-Mansiysk
Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city and the administrative center of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia. It stan ...
. After eliminating Ziska, Sjugirov and Yuffa in the first three rounds, Radjabov faced fellow Azerbaijani grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round 4 and defeated him in the tie-break series. Radjabov then beat American grandmaster
Jeffery Xiong
Jeffery Xiong (born October 30, 2000) is an American chess prodigy. He earned the Grandmaster title in September 2015 at the age of fourteen, the fourth youngest player to qualify in the US.
Chess career
Xiong was aged seven when he played in ...
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 chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest ...
. The final took place on the 4th of October 2019 where he drew against
Ding Liren
Ding Liren (; born 24 October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He is the highest rated Chinese chess player in history and is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vac ...
in the classical games (+1-1=2); in the tie-breaks he drew the 4 games in the rapid section and 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 chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
in the World Chess Championship.
Withdrawal from Candidates
Citing concerns about the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
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 chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest ...
.
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 Rensch (born October 10, 1985) is an American chess player, International Master, event organizer, lecturer and commentator. He holds the Arizona state record for youngest national master, at the age of 14. He is the president of American ...
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
The Champions Chess Tour 2021, known for sponsorship reasons as the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, was a 10-month long series of 10 online chess tournaments featuring the world's top players, playing for a prize money pool of US$1.5 million. T ...
. Radjabov qualified to the quarterfinals by earning 8 points in 15 games, and was eliminated by Wesley So. In December, Radjabov joined Airthings Masters, second tournament of the Champions Chess Tour. Radjabov placed 5th 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 Armageddon round after drawing all of their games. In the semifinals, Radjabov defeated Russian grandmaster
Daniil Dubov
Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (russian: Даниил Дмитриевич Дубов; 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. He i ...
, who had upset the current world chess champion and tournament favorite
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
in the quarter-finals. In the finals he defeated Levon Aronian 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.FIDE announces qualification paths for Candidates Tournament 2022 FIDE, 25 May 2021
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. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...
U-12, 1st
* 1999
European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 there was als ...
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), ...
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 ...
Radjabov is almost single-handedly responsible for the current revival of the
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence 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 is consid ...
. 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 Defence in the Ruy Lopez, 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: ''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 in the Jaén p ...
, Radjabov, who was 15 years old, defeated Kasparov with the black pieces. 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 chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in 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 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...
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 called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
National
Goodwill Ambassador
Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...
for Azerbaijan. He advocates for the cause of the universal
salt iodization
Iodised salt ( also spelled iodized salt) is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is ...
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.