Player Profile: Teimour Radjabov

Full name - Teymur Boris oglu Radjabov

Peak FIDE Rating: 2793 (November 2012)

Highest Ranking: #4

Active Since: 1999 - present 

Federation: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

Player’s Description

Teimour Radjabav, born on March 12, 1987, in Baku, Azerbaijani is one of the well known chess grandmasters. He established himself as a child prodigy, by becoming the second- youngest grandmaster. In the year 2001 when he earned the grandmaster title at just the age of 14 years old. 

Radjabov was born in a family where chess already prevailed. His father, Boris Sheynin who was a petroleum engineer had coincidentally attended the same chess school as Garry Kasparov. He started playing chess at the astonishing age of 3 years. His father was his 1st coach, who introduced him to the fundamentals of chess. 

During his teenage years, Radjabav was already a big name playing international tournaments. He won the European Under-18 Championship in 1999, where is the youngest player to participate. Also just at the age of 14 years old he earned the title of Grandmaster. He gained international fame in 2003, when he defeated three former world champions- Garry Kasparov, Vishwanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov. 

He is known for his imaginative, counter attacking style in games. His style is a sophisticated mix of artistic flair and tactical ruthlessness. 

Current Ranking (as of 2025)

World Championship Cycle

• 2011 Candidates Tournament

• 2013 Candidates Tournament

• 2022 Candidates Tournament – finished third

Olympiad & Team Medals

• European Team Chess Championship Gold Medals with Azerbaijan:

• 2009

• 2013

• 2017

Notable Tournaments Won

• 2007 Corus Tournament (joint 1st)

• 2008 Elista Grand Prix

• 2017 Geneva Grand Prix

• 2019 FIDE World Cup

• 2021 Airthings Masters (online rapid event)

Most Notable Games:

Viswanathan Anand vs. Teimour Radjabov – Dortmund 2003

Radjabov, took on Anand’s Sicilian Defense. The game followed the Kalashnikov Variation of the Sicilian.The critical moment came when Radjabov sacrificed his queen to launch a devastating kingside attack, culminating in a beautiful finish with his minor pieces and rooks swarming the board

Radjabov vs. Bu Xiangzhi – M-Tel Masters 2008

Radjabov played a slow-burning positional masterpiece. He used the Queen’s Gambit structure to build pressure, then launched a kingside pawn storm with f4–f5 and g4, eventually cracking open Bu’s defenses. 

Radjabov vs. Karjakin – Cap d’Agde Rapid 2006

Radjabov played the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf and sacrificed material for a vicious initiative. The turning point came with a knight sacrifice on f6, followed by a queen sacrifice on d3, leading to a devastating attack that Karjakin couldn’t survive.