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Teimour Radjabov
Radjabov 
Photo copyright © 2008 Farid Khayrulin.  
Number of games in database: 2,137
Years covered: 1996 to 2022
Last FIDE rating: 2765 (2758 rapid, 2757 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2793

Overall record: +351 -162 =737 (57.6%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 887 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Reti System (103) 
    A04 A06 A05
 Queen's Gambit Declined (101) 
    D37 D38 D39 D35 D30
 Sicilian (88) 
    B97 B46 B96 B90 B22
 Queen's Pawn Game (75) 
    D02 A45 A46 E10 E00
 Slav (69) 
    D10 D15 D12 D17 D11
 Grunfeld (64) 
    D85 D80 D97 D87 D86
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (242) 
    B30 B33 B32 B31 B45
 King's Indian (220) 
    E97 E92 E60 E94 E81
 French Defense (107) 
    C11 C05 C02 C03 C01
 Ruy Lopez (86) 
    C67 C65 C63 C80 C78
 Queen's Gambit Declined (57) 
    D37 D35 D38 D31 D30
 French (56) 
    C11 C00 C12 C10
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Kasparov vs Radjabov, 2003 0-1
   Shirov vs Radjabov, 2007 0-1
   Anand vs Radjabov, 2003 0-1
   Radjabov vs Anand, 2006 1-0
   Karjakin vs Radjabov, 2008 0-1
   Radjabov vs Karjakin, 2006 1-0
   Radjabov vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2008 1-0
   Eljanov vs Radjabov, 2008 0-1
   Ponomariov vs Radjabov, 2003 0-1
   Radjabov vs O Bortnyk, 2016 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2004)

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Cap d'Agde (2006)
   FIDE Moscow Grand Prix (2002)
   Corus Group B (2001)
   European Championship (2005)
   FIDE Grand Prix (2008)
   Meltwater Tour Final (2021)
   Corus Group A (2007)
   World Cup (2019)
   Airthings Masters 2020/21 (2020)
   Skilling Open (2020)
   FTX Crypto Cup (2021)
   World Cup (2011)
   World Cup (2005)
   Calvia Olympiad (2004)
   Istanbul Olympiad (2012)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Match Radjabov! by docjan
   Match Radjabov! by amadeus
   Teimour Radjabov`s Selected Games by Jafar219
   Radjabov's best games by percyblakeney
   King's Indian by KingG
   King's Indian by igiene
   Rgrrgrr at Fredthebear by fredthebear
   zumakal blunders archivadas6 by zumakal
   Radjabov! by larrewl
   Radjabov vs. Ivanchuk by percyblakeney
   Azeri players' masterpieces by ahmadov
   Defesa Índia do Rei by Gerareis
   Blunderdome's favorite games of 2010-2011 by Blunderdome

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Airthings Masters
   Swiercz vs Radjabov (Feb-03-23) 1/2-1/2, rapid
   Z Pakleza vs Radjabov (Feb-03-23) 0-1, rapid
   Kovalenko vs Radjabov (Feb-03-23) 1-0, rapid
   Radjabov vs M Matlakov (Feb-03-23) 1/2-1/2, rapid
   Radjabov vs E Blomqvist (Feb-03-23) 1/2-1/2, rapid

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Teimour Radjabov
Search Google for Teimour Radjabov
FIDE player card for Teimour Radjabov


TEIMOUR RADJABOV
(born Mar-12-1987, 36 years old) Azerbaijan

[what is this?]

Teimour Radjabov was born March 12, 1987 in Baku and started playing chess when he was four years old. He became an International Master in 1999 at the age of 11 years and 11 months and in 2001, at the age of 14 years and 14 days, he became the youngest Grandmaster in the world at the time, and the second youngest person after Bu Xiangzhi ever to become a GM at that time. In January 2002, with a rating of 2599 he entered FIDE's World Top 100 rating list, the 2nd youngest to ever do so after Judit Polgar, with an initial world ranking of 93rd. He has remained on this list ever since. He became the youngest player ever to defeat long-time World Champion Garry Kasparov in 2003. That same year he tallied wins against FIDE World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov.

Championships

In 1994, Radjabov won an U9-Tournament in Dresden winning all games. He was U10 European Champion 1996 and 1997, and U12 European and World Champion in 1998. In 1999, he won the European Under-18 Championship when he was still 12, a record that still stands.

Radjabov’s first tilt at the world championship cycle was during the FIDE World Championship knockout tournament held in Moscow in 2002, where he lost in the first round to Jaan Yukhanovich Ehlvest . In 2004, he made it to the semifinals of the FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament, but lost to the British player Michael Adams after defeating Mateusz Bartel, Peter Heine Nielsen, Etienne Bacrot, Pavel Smirnov, and Leinier Dominguez Perez in preliminary rounds. In the FIDE World Cup (2005) qualifier, he bested Diego Flores and Murtas Muratovich Kazhgaleyev before losing to Loek van Wely in round 3. In the World Chess Cup (2007) , he beat Vladimir Genba before bowing out to Bartlomiej Macieja in round 2. At the World Cup (2009) he defeated Mohamed Ezat but lost to Konstantin Rufovich Sakaev in round 2. Despite his poor showing in the 2009 World Cup, Radjabov had placed second in the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 series, qualifying him for the World Championship Candidates (2011) for the World Chess Championship 2012. There, Radjabov was eliminated in the quarterfinal by Vladimir Kramnik in blitz tiebreak after tieing the classical and rapid matches 2-2 each. By reason of his rating, he qualified for the World Cup (2011), where he defeated Cuban GM Francisco De la Paz Perdomo, Indian GM Parimarjan Negi, French GM Etienne Bacrot and Russian GM Dmitry Jakovenko in the early rounds, but lost to Ukrainian veteran, GM Vassily Ivanchuk, in their quarter final match. The sting of this loss was offset by being selected by the organisers to be the 8th Candidate at the World Championship Candidates (2013) that was held in London in March 2013, but he fared poorly, coming last with 4/14, losing half his games and shedding over 30 ratings points (for the rating period to 1 May 2013). He started participating in the 2012-13 Grand Prix, but his first foray in the series was the 3rd event, the FIDE Grand Prix Zug (2013), in which he placed equal last with 4.5/11. He subsequently withdrew from the Grand Prix series.

He qualified by rating to contest the World Cup (2013), where he defeated Jorge Cori in the first round and Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista in the second round tiebreaker. He was defeated by Russian GM and former Candidate Peter Svidler in the third round. This loss combined with Levon Aronian 's elimination in the third round, means that he cannot qualify for the Candidates via rating replacement, as he is second rating reserve after Karjakin; in other words he needed Aronian and Kramnik - who are otherwise the rating qualifiers to the Candidates - to both win through to the World Cup final for him to qualify on rating for the Candidates.

Qualifying as one of the organizer's nominees to play in the Grand Prix series 2014-2015, Radjabov scored 5.5/11 and sole 8th in both the FIDE Grand Prix Baku (2014) and the FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent (2014), all but eliminating him from contention for one of the top two places in the Grand Prix series, and qualification for the Candidates Tournament 2016. He still had a chance to qualify for the Candidates through the World Cup (2015), as he was one of the Organizer's Nominees to play in this event. He defeated young US GM Samuel Sevian and veteran Israeli GM Ilya Yulyevich Smirin in the first two rounds but fell to Russian GM Peter Svidler in the first set of third round tiebreakers to be eliminated from the Cup.

Classical tournaments

Radjabov’s early successes include winning the 1998 Kasparov Cup, and in Budapest. In 2001:

- he took =1st in the Alushta Spring 2001 with Alexander Riazantsev and Alexander Goloshchapov, while he

- came =2nd with the legendary Viktor Korchnoi behind the even more legendary Anatoly Karpov at the Najdorf memorial.

In 2002:

- he took 2nd place behind Kasparov at the Moscow World Chess Grand Prix 2002.

In 2003:

- Radjabov blooded himself in the super tournaments at Corus, Linares and Dortmund such that in the following year at Linares (2004) he scored an extremely creditable 6/12, placing =4th alongside Veselin Topalov , a point behind winner Kramnik and a half point behind joint second Kasparov and Peter Leko .

In 2005:

- he was outright 2nd behind Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu with 9.5/13 in the 6th European Individual Championship

- 1st at the powerful GM tournament at XIII Dos Hermanas (2005) and

- =6th with 6/9 behind the 5 joint first place getters by half point at Aeroflot A 2005.

The following year, in 2006:

- he came joint second at the prestigious Morelia-Linares (2006) and

- =2nd at Biel Int'l Festival (2006) with Magnus Carlsen behind Alexander Morozevich.

Radjabov's greatest success yet came at the start of 2007, when he shared first place at the category 19 Corus (2007) with Topalov and Levon Aronian.

In 2008:

- he came first at Odessa Chess Tournament

- =3rd with Anand behind Carlsen and Aronian at Corus (2008)

- he scored 8/13 (+4 -1 =8) to share first place in the Elista Grand Prix (2008) with Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Jakovenko

- he came 3rd at M-Tel 2008 behind Vassily Ivanchuk and Topalov.

In 2009

- he scored 7.5/13 to come =2nd at Corus (2009) with Sergei Movsesian and Aronian half point behind Karjakin.

In 2010

- at the King's Tournament (2010) he came =2nd with Boris Gelfand behind Carlsen.

In 2012:

- at the Tata Steel (2012), he came =2nd with 8/13 (+3 -0 =10; TPR 2834) behind Aronian and alongside Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, the only undefeated player in the A group.

- In June he came =2nd (3rd on tiebreak) alongside Fabiano Caruana in the category 22 Tal Memorial (2012) with 5/9 (+2 -1 =6; TPR 2818) behind Magnus Carlsen.

On 2013:

- Following on from his poor performances at the Candidates and the Grand Prix event at Zug, Radjabov also fared poorly in the category XXI Norway Chess (2013), scoring 3/9 and losing another 12 rating points.

- His poor form continued at the Kings Tournament (2013), where his 3.5/8 (-1 =7) placed him 4th out of a field of 5.

In 2014:

- He returned to top chess at the inaugural Gashimov Memorial (2014), a category XXII 6-player DRR event to commemorate the late Azeri grandmaster, and scored 5/10 placing =3rd behind Carlsen and Caruana, picking up 11 rating points.

In 2015:

- He participated in Tata Steel (2015), scoring 6/13 and finishing 8th out of 14.

Team Competition

<Olympiads and other national team events> Radjabov has represented his native Azerbaijan at the Olympiads since 2002, and won his first medal at the Chess Olympiad (2012) when he won individual bronze on the top board. He played board 2 for Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiad (2014) held in Tromsø in Norway.

A regular participant in the European Team Championships since 2003, he led the Azerbaijani team to victory at the 17th European Team Championship (2009) in Novi Sad and in November 2011 to 2nd place at the European Team Championship (2011) at Porto Carras, Greece. Toward the end of 2013, Radjabov played board 2 for Azerbaijan, which won the gold medal at the European Team Championship (2013). In 2015, he also played board 2 for his country at the European Team Championship (2015).

He was also a member of the Azerbaijani team which lost the Azerbaijan vs the World (2009) by 10.5-21.5. He has also played for Azerbaijan in the World Team Championships; at the World Team Championship (2010), he won a silver medal for board 2, Azerbaijan coming fourth, and at the World Chess Team Championship (2011), he scored a bronze medal on the top board, although his team came 7th.

<European Club Cup> A regular participant in the European Club Cup, he has been a member of the winning team at the European Champion's Cup five times, once with the Bosna club from Bosnia in 2002, once with French NAO Chess Club team in 2004, once with the Ural Sverdlovsk region team in 2008, and twice with the SOCAR Baku team, in 2012 and 2014. He has also won team silver medal with the Ladja-Kazan club from Russia in 2006. He won an individual gold medal at the European Club Cup (2011), scoring 4.5/5 and a TPR of 3016 on the top board of SOCAR Baku, leading his team to a silver medal. The following year he helped his team, SOCAR Baku, to the gold medal at the European Club Cup (2012), scoring 4/6 on top board and in 2013 he played second board for SOCAR, this time helping his team to win bronze in the European Club Cup (2013). He struck gold twice at the European Club Cup (2014) when he won team and individual bronze (for 3+ 3+) playing board 5 for his team SOCAR Baku. at the European Club Cup (2015), he scored individual and team silver playing for SOCAR Baku. His total medal tally at the ECC is team: 5 golds 4 silvers 2 bronzes, and individually: 2 golds and 2 silver. (1)

<National Leagues> Radjabov has also competed in club and team championships in Greece, France, Spain and Russia.

Rapid

A top class rapid player, Radjabov beat Carlsen in the Match of the Hopes (2007) by 3-2. In 2006 he was 1st at Cap d'Agde (2006), defeating Karjakin in the final. He lost the Chess Classic Mainz (2006) to Anand by 5-3 but in January 2008, he won the ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa. In June 2014, he placed =6th with 10/15 at the FIDE World Rapid Championship (2014), a point behind the winner Carlsen. Also in that month, he was =12th with 12.5/21 in the FIDE World Blitz Championship (2014). Radjabov lost ratings points at the Mind Games rapid event in Beijing in December 2014, scoring only 2/7 against top level opponents, but gained nearly a 100 blitz points in his 3rd placed 18/30 result at the Mind Games blitz event. In 2015 he was equal second alongside Ian Nepomniachtchi and Leinier Dominguez Perez at the World Rapid Championship (2015) with 10.5/15, a point behind the winner Magnus Carlsen.

Ratings

Radjabov's highest ever standard rating was 2793 in November 2012, when he also achieved his highest world ranking so far, ie: #4.

Other

Radjabov's ICC handle is "Velimirovich" in tribute to the late tactical grandmaster Dragoljub Velimirovic. He is the UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Azerbaijan advocating universal salt iodization in Azerbaijan.

Live ratings: http://www.2700chess.com/

Wikipedia article: Teimour Radjabov

(1) http://www.olimpbase.org/playersc/6...

Last updated: 2019-01-13 04:29:11

 page 1 of 86; games 1-25 of 2,150  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Radjabov vs M Goguadze  1-0281996Wch U10A06 Reti Opening
2. P Berta vs Radjabov 0-1281996EU-ch U10C02 French, Advance
3. T Manescu vs Radjabov 0-1901996EU-ch U10C05 French, Tarrasch
4. Harikrishna vs Radjabov 1-0301996Wch U10A10 English
5. Radjabov vs A Nakamura 1-0221996Wch U10A46 Queen's Pawn Game
6. Radjabov vs G Guseinov  1-0521996EU-ch U10D02 Queen's Pawn Game
7. Radjabov vs J C Sadorra  1-0461996Wch U10A04 Reti Opening
8. V Gashimov vs Radjabov  ½-½271996Wch U10B40 Sicilian
9. Radjabov vs I Cheparinov 1-0371996Wch U10A04 Reti Opening
10. Radjabov vs I Hera  1-0561996Wch U10B40 Sicilian
11. Radjabov vs Anisimov  1-0651996EU-ch U10A45 Queen's Pawn Game
12. Radjabov vs Wojtaszek ½-½221996EU-ch U10A05 Reti Opening
13. Radjabov vs A Fier 1-0271996Wch U10A45 Queen's Pawn Game
14. M Erwich vs Radjabov  1-0321996Wch U10C02 French, Advance
15. Radjabov vs V Gashimov  ½-½211996EU-ch U10C45 Scotch Game
16. Radjabov vs A Avetisian  1-0231996EU-ch U10D00 Queen's Pawn Game
17. M Szablewski vs Radjabov ½-½1151996EU-ch U10A93 Dutch, Stonewall, Botvinnik Variation
18. A Murariu vs Radjabov  0-1481996EU-ch U10A07 King's Indian Attack
19. A Maidel vs Radjabov  1-0521997Kasparov CupC05 French, Tarrasch
20. Radjabov vs D Batsanin  0-1301997Kasparov CupA04 Reti Opening
21. A Mista vs Radjabov  1-0361997Kasparov CupA40 Queen's Pawn Game
22. G Guseinov vs Radjabov  ½-½491997Kasparov CupC10 French
23. Radjabov vs K Gratka 0-1441997Kasparov CupA04 Reti Opening
24. Radjabov vs G Sargissian 1-0471997Kasparov CupA04 Reti Opening
25. V Gashimov vs Radjabov  ½-½261997Kasparov CupA15 English
 page 1 of 86; games 1-25 of 2,150  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Radjabov wins | Radjabov loses  
 

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 94 OF 94 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Oct-20-21  nok: <gazafan's> chess board?
.
May-31-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Radjabov is in the field for Norway Chess as a warm-up to the Candidates - and he certainly needs it!

Look at his recent classical record:

Nov 2021 - European Teams: +0 -0 =7

Jun 2021 - GCT Bucharest Classic: +0 -0 =9

Nov 2019 - FIDE Grand Prix (Hamburg):

+0 -0 =2 (eliminated by Dubov on tie-breaks)

Sep/Oct 2019 - World Cup: +5 -1 =10

July 2019 - Dortmund: +1 -0 =6

May 2019 - FIDE Grand Prix (Moscow):

+0 -0 =2 (eliminated by Nakamura on tie-breaks)

Mar/Apr 2019 - Gashimov Memorial: +0 -0 =9

Jan 2019 - Tata Steel: +1 -1 =11

In classical chess in the past 2 1/2 years, his score is +7 -2 =56.

That's according to the <cg.com> DB. It's possible he's played some league games that have evaded the dragnet.

Jul-22-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Teimour's withdrawal proved controversial, with teammate Vasif Durarbayli posting the following yesterday in Azerbaijani on his Facebook page (as picked up by Russian Azerbaijan media).

"For a long time I didn’t write about this in order not to spoil relations with my teammates. There was a chance that Teimour would play, but it didn’t happen. We’ll soon find out how they’ll explain it.

Azerbaijan this time had a great chance to win Olympiad medals. In principle, the chance still hasn’t gone, but we have to speak frankly. Azerbaijan doesn’t have a chess player who could replace Teimour. His absence will significantly reduce our chances of medals.

Here I’d like to note that on Radjabov’s development, in order for him to reach such a level, millions were spent by the government. It’s a debt that can’t be repaid, but the condition should at least be playing for the national team. After all, we’re playing here for a common cause.

Apparently Radjabov, in whom millions were invested, doesn’t feel any moral responsibility. In 2019, complaining of tiredness, he left the team halfway through. In 2021 he played eight lifeless games that all ended in draws. Now he’s completely refused. Knowing all this, and a lot more I can’t talk about, I’ve got a basis for speaking about this.

For me, Radjabov should play in the Olympiad at all costs, even if he was up to his elbows in blood. And I condemn him for not doing that.">

https://new.chess24.com/wall/news/r...

Jul-22-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Messiah: <MissScarlett: <Teimour's withdrawal proved controversial, with teammate Vasif Durarbayli posting the following yesterday in Azerbaijani on his Facebook page (as picked up by Russian Azerbaijan media).

"For a long time I didn’t write about this in order not to spoil relations with my teammates. There was a chance that Teimour would play, but it didn’t happen. We’ll soon find out how they’ll explain it.

Azerbaijan this time had a great chance to win Olympiad medals. In principle, the chance still hasn’t gone, but we have to speak frankly. Azerbaijan doesn’t have a chess player who could replace Teimour. His absence will significantly reduce our chances of medals.

Here I’d like to note that on Radjabov’s development, in order for him to reach such a level, millions were spent by the government. It’s a debt that can’t be repaid, but the condition should at least be playing for the national team. After all, we’re playing here for a common cause.

Apparently Radjabov, in whom millions were invested, doesn’t feel any moral responsibility. In 2019, complaining of tiredness, he left the team halfway through. In 2021 he played eight lifeless games that all ended in draws. Now he’s completely refused. Knowing all this, and a lot more I can’t talk about, I’ve got a basis for speaking about this.

For me, Radjabov should play in the Olympiad at all costs, even if he was up to his elbows in blood. And I condemn him for not doing that.">

https://new.chess24.com/wall/news/r...

Donald is a terrible guy, I'm very happy he will not play!

Jul-22-22  fabelhaft: He has gone from Drawjabov to Withdrawjabov.
Jul-22-22  fabelhaft: From Tiemore Drawjabov to Retiremore Withdrawjabov.
Jul-22-22  hashtag: #Fraudjaboff
Jul-22-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Messiah: #Terriblov
Jul-22-22  SChesshevsky: <...Apparently Radjabov, in whom millions were invested, doesn’t feel any moral responsibility...>

Very rare when these guys of lesser chess skill go out and tell the superior and more experienced player what they should do. Especially from a guy who made the 2022 team only after 16 years of trying.

Given the factual inaccuracies in the statement, I'm not even sure this guy even posted it.

Radjabov apparently has a long history in the Olympiad. In the last three, seems from the CG database, Radjabov was at least 4 wins, 1 loss, with draws at the 2016 Olympiad. With a win v. Kramnik.

Appears from FIDE, at 2018 Batumi, he was undefeated with 4 wins. Including McShane and So.

And per CG, in the 2020 online, he was at least 3-0 with draws.

Given his excellent Candidates, which probably should be celebrated at home and which obviously wiped him out. Think a 2022 pass isn't such a big deal. Guessing this post might be a forgery or maybe Durarbayli is just unbalanced.

Jul-23-22  Cassandro: Yes, this seems to be a very unfair criticism of Radjabov. Take Anand for instance, he could never be bothered to play for India in Chess Olympiads or any other national team tournaments, except for perhaps one or two occasions, but I have never seen any criticism from other Indian players of him being "unpatriotic" because of that. Radjabov seems to have contributed a lot over the years for his country, so he should certainly be free to make his own choices.
Jul-23-22  fabelhaft: <this seems to be a very unfair criticism of Radjabov>

It is probably connected to his withdrawing from so many events with short notice. It isn’t just Olympiads but Linares, Grand Prix tournaments, Candidates, Gashimov Memorial, online events etc. I guess the reaction now may have to do with a general feeling that he seems to easily find reasons not to play.

Jul-23-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Apparently Radjabov, in whom millions were invested, doesn’t feel any moral responsibility. In 2019, complaining of tiredness, he left the team halfway through. In 2021 he played eight lifeless games that all ended in draws.>

2021 refers to the European Team Championship (European Team Championship (2021)/Teimour Radjabov) but Radjabov didn't play in either the World or European team events in 2019 - maybe what's meant is that he joined up with the team but dropped out before the games began. Arkadij Naiditsch played in both events but hasn't played for the national team since, it appears.

Jul-23-22  SChesshevsky: <2021 refers to the European Team Championship...>

Probably important to note that Radjabov apparently played every European Team Championship from 2001 to 2017. Seems if Durarbayli did post that message, he either has some deep issue with Radjabov or he's just a flake.

Jul-23-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Can anyone else connect to https://www.olimpbase.org/? Let's hope this isn't the feared end of the site (which hasn't been updated since 2018, I think).

<Seems if Durarbayli did post that message, he either has some deep issue with Radjabov or he's just a flake.>

Maybe he is a flake (is that a recognised medical condition?) and maybe he does have personal issues with Radjabov, but the substance of his criticism appears to be Radjabov's change in behaviour. Do obligation and loyalty to team/country come with expiry dates?

Jul-23-22  Retireborn: <MissS> I'm getting error 503: unknown domain. Might be a temporary problem?
Jul-23-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <MissScarlett: Yesterday's FIDE Historical Committee meeting discussed the importance of <Olimpbase>, the fear it may disappear and the possibility of officially co-opting it...>

Biographer Bistro (kibitz #21452)

Jul-23-22  SChesshevsky: <...Do obligation and loyalty to team/ country come with expiry dates?>

With chess? Of course it does. For nearly 20 years, Radjabov has represented his country and federation. Individually and with teams and quite successfully.

The evidence clearly shows that Radjabov hasn't tried to duck any loyalty or perceived obligation. He's clearly got a good reason for missing the 2022 Olympiad. Substantially better than using "listless draws" as some sort of evidence toward lack of moral responsibility.

Might be any loyalty/obligation issues reside with the Federation. Continuing to rely on 30+ year old's to play forever? Where are the 16 to 25 year old next generation? Where were the now 26 to 35 year olds? Would appear a significant development problem.

In chess, I'd say 20 years pretty much fulfills any federation or team obligation. Much like it does with U.S. military service. The message is either a personal grudge or just irrational rambling (symptom of being a flake) because the mass of evidence clearly shows the premise doesn't hold much.

Feb-15-23  saturn2: Watching him playing 'blindfolded' five minute games is impressive. He even talks and does not seem very tense. Nevertheless he hardly loses against 2000 elo players.
Feb-25-23  saturn2: In the last days I watched five of his banter sessions each about 90 minutes two blindfolded. He only lost one single game I paused the videos often for guess the move. After 30 or more seconds I find the same move Radjabov almost plays instantly. He takes the games seriously and does nor make fun moves like Nepo from time to time. Even when almost everthing wins he looks for the strongest move playing merciless wirhout concessions. This speed and precision leaves me shocked.
Feb-25-23  SChesshevsky: <Even when almost everything wins he looks for the strongest move...>

Always felt Radjabov is a "sneaky" player. In the best chess sense. Seems to play very solid, unassuming moves. All good but not overly aggressive. Then all of the sudden he unleashes something or he presses a small advantage and voila, he's clearly better. Often much better.

His win as black vs. Nepom in the 2020/2021 Airthings Masters and a relatively recent win as white vs. Giri in think the chess.com global event might be examples.

Did you get the same impression from the banter sessions?

Feb-25-23  saturn2: I remember some situations he avoided complications and went for the solid continuaition. I think he does not like to be in danger not to speak from losing. One risk he took. Against much lower rated players he played 1... b6 and tried out a system he said to have worked out with Giri. His knight walked Nc6, e7, f8, g6, f4. his king remaining in the center. After some further moves he started a kingside attack and the opponents collapsed soon.
Feb-25-23  saturn2: ☆Knight walk Nc6, e7, g6, f4 or
or Nf6, d7, f8 g6 f4
Apr-13-23  SChesshevsky: Happened to stumble on Radjabov's stream of game 4 of Nepom-Ding WC match on his YouTube channel.

Think he's one of the most clever (and dangerous) of all the top players. He seems to see/sense potential far in advance. Even relative to GM standards. For instance, he was looking for some sort of sac to push Ding's advantage well before the actual (winning) exchange sac occurred. Might also want to check out the video of his stunning beat of Carlsen in the World Blitz. Think it was Berlin 2015.

His stream is a more casual, laid back look than the official commentary but the top level insights are probably well worth the time to check it out.

Apr-14-23  fisayo123: He's using an engine as well during his streams. Not taking anything away from him, he's obviously a world class player but its not so easy when you are analyzing the games completely blind with zero engine help.
Apr-14-23  SChesshevsky: <fisayo123> It's true that he does employ the engine on and off. But the difference is that he uses it as a GM does. Comes up with the understanding first, then checks for an other, likely deeper view. A tool to understand the position better rather than an expert device just spitting out the best move. Probably worth checking him out just for an example on how to get the best use out of an engine.
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