In the last list of the top Chess players we published, we went over the best Japanese Chess players. Now in this article, we’re ranking the best Azerbaijani Chess players from Azerbaijan, also known as the Republic of Azerbaijan, starting with the number ten spot in FIDE.
Most of these players are Grandmasters with elo ratings over 2500. For more information on ratings, see the guide on how to get a FIDE rating.
10. Misratdin Iskandarov
Full Name: Misratdin Iskandarov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: January 14, 1995
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 244
Rapid: 2363
Blitz: 2351
Classical: 2589
Profiles
Iskandarov was granted the grandmaster title in 2020 and the International Master title in 2013. He has played a total of 276 games; 131 wins, 66 losses, and 79 draw- accumulating to an average score of 59.42 percent. He has played in several games, including; the 76th ch-AZE final 2022, 22nd ch-EUR Indiv 2022, 15th Agzamov Mem 2022, and 5th Sharjah Masters 2022
9. Nidjat Mamedov
Full Name: Nidjat Mamedov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: April 2, 1985
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 248
Rapid: 2624
Blitz: 2645
Classical: 2589
Profiles
In 2006, Nidjat Mamedov was accorded the title of Grandmaster, the International Master, and the FIDE Master title in 2000, while the Licensing of being a FIDE trainer was given to him in 2016. He has a FIDE rating of 2589 and a Peak rating of 2624. In 1999 Mamedov clinched the Under-14 European youth chess tournament and the Azerbaijani tournament in 2011. He clinched the Teplice Open in 2013 and the Nakhchivan Open in 2018. Mamedov represented his country in the 2000 chess olympiad and the world team chess tournament in 2010 & 2013.
8. Eltaj Safarli
Full Name: Eltaj Safarli
Title: Grandmaster
Born: May 18, 1992
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 209
Rapid: 2650
Blitz: 2634
Classical: 2602
Profiles
Eltaj Safarli was presented with the grandmaster title in 2008 and the International Master title in 2006. In 2017, he was licensed as a FIDE trainer and had a Peak rating of 2694 and a FIDE rating of 2601. He clinched the U10 world Youth chess tournament in 2002. Safarli and the national team became silver medalists at the 2011 European team chess tournament. In addition, he clinched the Azerbaijan chess tournament in 2016, the Chigorin Memorial in 2010, and the Tata Steel Challengers championship in 2016.
7. Nijat Abasov
Full Name: Nijat Abasov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: May 14, 1995
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 134
Rapid: 2567
Blitz: 2528
Classical: 2633
Profiles
In 2011, Nijat Abasov was granted the title of Grandmaster and the International Master title in 2009, and he has a FIDE rating of 2635 and a Peak rating of 2670. In 2015, he gained victory at the Cultural Village championship, qualifying him for the Tata Steel Challengers tournament. Furthermore, Nijat attained victory in the 2016 Zurich Christmas Open and the 2017 Azerbaijani chess and Baku Open championship.
6. Vasif Durarbayli
Full Name: Vasif Durarbayli
Title: Grandmaster
Born: February 24, 1992
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 120
Rapid: 2458
Blitz: 2528
Classical: 2638
Profiles
Vasif Durarbayli was crowned the title of Grandmaster in 2010 and the International Master title in 2007. He has a FIDE rating of 2638 and a similar Peak rating of 2638. In the Under-14 category, he was runner-up in the European Youth Chess tournament in 2006 and clinched the Under-14 World Youth Chess tournament that year. In 2021, he qualified for the chess world cup and achieved victory in the Azerbaijani tournament.
5. Arkadij Naiditsch
Full Name: Arkadij Naiditsch
Title: Grandmaster
Born: October 25, 1985
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 86
Rapid: 2600
Blitz: 2577
Classical: 2664
Profiles
Arkadij Naiditsch was conferred with the title of International Master in 1999 and later the grandmaster title. Arkadij Naiditsch has participated in 2434 games between 1994 and 2022. In those particular games, he has won 1078, drawn 830, and lost 526, earning him a winning percentage score of 61.34 percent. The last tournaments he played include; TCh-FRA Top 16 GpA 2022, TCh-HUN 2021, TCh-AUT 2nd Mitte 2021, and the TCh-FRA Top 16 Haute 2022.
4. Rauf Mamedov
Full Name: Rauf Mamedov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: April 26, 1988
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 92
Rapid: 2584
Blitz: 2666
Classical: 2656
Profiles
Rauf Mamedov was granted the title Grandmaster in 2004 and the International Master in 2003. He has a FIDE rating of 2560 and a Peak rating of 2708. Mamedov was a winner of the Azerbaijan championship in 2015, 2008, and 2006. He participated in the FIDE World Cup competition in 2015, 2011, 2009, and 2007. Other tournaments he won include; the 2011 Corsica Masters Blitz tournament, the 2015 European Blitz chess tournament, and the men’s blitz chess event in 2016.
3. Gadir Guseinov
Full Name: Gadir Guseinov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: May 21, 1986
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 81
Rapid: 2692
Blitz: 2581
Classical: 2668
Profiles
Gadir Guseinov was accorded the title of Grandmaster in 2002 and the International Master title in 2000, whereas he got licensed as a FIDE trainer in 2017. He has a FIDE rating of 2668 and a Peak rating of 2668. Gadir clinched the U10 European chess championship in 1994, tied for first to eighth place in both the President’s Cup and the 12th Dubai Open Chess tournament. In 2015, he competed in the chess world cup but was eliminated by Matlakov and Navara David in the first and second rounds. He went on to win the 2018 Sitges Open.
2. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Full Name: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Title: Grandmaster
Born: April 12, 1985
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 12
Rapid: 2699
Blitz: 2778
Classical: 2759
Profiles
In 2002, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was accorded the title of Grandmaster. He has a FIDE rating of 2751 and a Peak rating of 2820. Mamedyarov reached the quarterfinals of the Candidates Tournament in 2014 before being knocked out. Mamedyarov has twice been a World Junior champion- 2003 &2005 and a 2013 world rapid champion. He was a gold medalist at the chess olympiad in 2012, a triple winner of the European team championship, double winner of the Tal Memorial- 2010 & 2014, Shamkir chess- 2017 & 2016, and the Biel Chess Festival winner in 2018.
1. Teimour Radjabov
Full Names: Teimour Radjabov
Title: Grandmaster
Birth: March 12, 1987
Federation: Azerbaijan
Ratings
World ranking: 18
Rapid: 2747
Blitz: 2685
Classical: 2738
Profiles
Teimour Radjabov was accorded the grandmaster title in 2001 and the International Master title in 1999. He has a FIDE rating of 2753 and a Peak ranking of 2793. He is a two-time competitor in the Candidates tournament in 2011 and 2013.
Radjabov together with teammates of the national team clinched the European team chess tournament on three occasions (2017, 2013, and 2019). He also emerged victorious in the FIDE world cup- 2019 and the Elista Grand Prix-2008among other tournaments.
That concludes the list of the best Azerbaijani Chess players. If you like list posts like this, you may also be interested in seeing the ten best Norwegian Chess players or the best Spanish Chess players.
Sources
- Vishy wins Wijk Archived 2016-01-06 at the Wayback Machine.
- A Black Day in Linares! Radjabov Defeats Kasparov Archived 2016-01-05 at the Wayback Machine.
- Naiditsch, Ranked the Lowest, Takes Top Honors in Dortmund
- Tata R13: Karjakin, Wang score, Carlsen wins Wijk by 1½ points
- “Gold for Azerbaijan and Russia in Novi Sad”. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.
- “Kurnosov wins Nakhchivan Open”.
- 12th Dubai Open 2010 July 2010 United Arab Emirates FIDE Chess Tournament report
- FIDE Rating History – Guseinov, Gadir
- The Week in Chess 1203
- Magnus Carlsen wins his fifth Tata Steel Masters