The Most Famous

CHESS PLAYERS from Azerbaijan

This page contains a list of the greatest Azerbaijani Chess Players. The pantheon dataset contains 461 Chess Players, 12 of which were born in Azerbaijan. This makes Azerbaijan the birth place of the 10th most number of Chess Players behind United Kingdom, and Georgia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Azerbaijani Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Azerbaijani Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Azerbaijani Chess Players.

1. Garry Kasparov (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 67.41, Garry Kasparov is the most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 92 different languages on wikipedia.

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11). Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed world champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He defended the title against Karpov three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1990. Kasparov held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicised match. He continued to hold the "Classical" world title until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the PCA title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player at the time of his official retirement. Kasparov coached Carlsen in 2009–10, during which time Carlsen rose to world no. 1. Kasparov stood unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014. Since retiring from chess, Kasparov has devoted his time to writing and politics. His book series My Great Predecessors, first published in 2003, details the history and games of the world champion chess players who preceded him. He formed the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew. Following the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution. Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split. Kasparov was chairman of the Human Rights Foundation from 2011 to 2024. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organisation promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov is also a security ambassador for the software company Avast.

2. Vladimir Bagirov (1936 - 2000)

With an HPI of 46.40, Vladimir Bagirov is the 2nd most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Vladimir Konstantinovich Bagirov (Russian: Влади́мир Константи́нович Баги́ров; Latvian: Vladimirs Bagirovs; August 16, 1936 – July 21, 2000) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, author, and trainer. He played in ten USSR Championships, with his best result being fourth place in his debut in 1960. Bagirov was world senior champion in 1998. He was the coach of Mikhail Tal and Garry Kasparov, both of which are considered to be among the greatest chess players of all time.

3. Tatiana Zatulovskaya (1935 - 2017)

With an HPI of 46.23, Tatiana Zatulovskaya is the 3rd most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Tatiana Zatulovskaya (Hebrew: טטיאנה זטולובסקיה; Russian: Татьяна Яковлевна Затуловская, Tatiana Yakovlevna Zatulovskaya; 8 December 1935 – 2 July 2017) was an Israeli (formerly Soviet and Russian) chess player. She was a three-time Soviet women's champion and twice the world women's senior champion. She was awarded the titles Woman International Master (WIM) in 1961 and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1976 by FIDE. Her last name may also be spelled as Zatulovskaia or Zatulovskaja. Zatulovskaya won the Women's Soviet Chess Championship in 1960, 1962, and 1963. She represented the USSR at the Women's Chess Olympiad in 1963 and 1966, winning the team gold medal on both occasions. She won an individual silver medal in 1963 and an individual gold in 1966. In the 1960s and the 1970s, she often qualified for Interzonals and Candidates Tournaments for the Women's World Chess Championship. In 1993, she won the Women's Seniors World Championship with a score of 10 out of 11 points (10 wins, 0 losses, and 2 draws). She repeated this success in 1997. In 2000, she emigrated to Israel, which she represented at the 2002 Women's Chess Olympiad. Zatulovskaya died on 2 July 2017 at age 81. In her lifetime, she was also a geological engineer and a good gymnast.

4. Vladimir Akopian (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 40.89, Vladimir Akopian is the 4th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Vladimir Akopian (Russian: Владимир Акопян, Armenian: Վլադիմիր Հակոբյան; born December 7, 1971) is an Armenian-American chess Grandmaster.

5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 40.37, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the 5th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Shahriyar Hamid oghlu Mammadyarov (Azerbaijani: Şəhriyar Həmid oğlu Məmmədyarov; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. As of December 2023, he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-highest-rated player in chess history. Mamedyarov has competed in the Candidates Tournament in 2011 (eliminated in quarterfinals), in 2014 (placing fourth) and in 2018 (placing second). He is a two-time World Junior Champion (2003 and 2005) and was World Rapid Champion in 2013. A gold medalist at the 2012 Chess Olympiad on the third board, he is a three-time European Team Champion (2009, 2013, 2017) with Azerbaijan. He is also a two-time winner at Tal Memorial (2010 joint and 2014 Blitz) and Shamkir Chess (2016 and 2017), as well as the winner of 2018 Biel Chess Festival where he beat reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

6. Teimour Radjabov (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 40.01, Teimour Radjabov is the 6th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; Azerbaijani: Teymur Boris oğlu Rəcəbov, pronounced [tejˈmuɾ boˈɾis oɣˈlu ɾæˈdʒæbof]; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. A former child prodigy, 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 in the Linares tournament, followed by victories over former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov 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, in 2011, 2013, and 2022 (where he obtained third place); he also qualified for the 2020 edition but withdrew due to the coronavirus pandemic. He won the European Team Chess Championship 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.

7. Emil Sutovsky (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 35.50, Emil Sutovsky is the 7th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Emil Sutovsky (born 19 September 1977) is an Israeli chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996. Sutovsky is the FIDE CEO since 2022. Previously, he served as FIDE Director-General (2018-22). He was the president of the Association of Chess Professionals from 2012 to 2019.

8. Elina Danielian (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 35.37, Elina Danielian is the 8th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Elina Danielian (Armenian: Էլինա Դանիելյան; born 16 August 1978 in Baku) is an Armenian chess grandmaster and six-time Armenian women's champion (1993, 1994. 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004). She has represented Armenia twelve times during the Women's Chess Olympiads (1992–2014). She played in the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the 5th Women's European Team Chess Championship in Plovdiv 2003. In 2021 she won the European Individual Chess Championship. Danielian won the World Under-14 Girls Championship in Duisburg 1992 and the World Under-16 Girls Championship in Bratislava 1993. In 2001, she won the European Women's Rapid Chess Championship in Minsk. In October 2010, she was in the top 10 women chess players in the world. In March 2011, she was tied for first place in the Doha stage of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011. Danielian won the bronze medal in the 2011 European Women's Championship in Tbilisi, scoring 8/11 points. In May 2019, Elina narrowly defeated grandmaster Kateryna Lagno (the reigning women's world blitz champion) in round 1 of the Women's Speed Chess Championship hosted by Chess.com. The match was a combination blitz & bullet format with the first set being 5 minutes with a 1-second increment (5+1), the second set being 3+1, and the final set being 1+1. The match was decided by the final bullet game, as the score was tied leading up to the finale.

9. Vugar Gashimov (1986 - 2014)

With an HPI of 35.19, Vugar Gashimov is the 9th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Vugar Gasim oghlu Hashimov (Azerbaijani: Vüqar Qasım oğlu Həşimov; 24 July 1986 – 11 January 2014), known internationally as Vugar Gashimov, was an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. He was a noted player of blitz chess. At his peak ranking, he was No. 6 in the world, achieved in November 2009. He won the Athens 2005 (Acropolis International), and tied for first at the Cappelle-la-Grande open in 2007, he again tied for first and was winning it on tie-break in 2008. He won the strong and traditional invitation tournament at Reggio Emilia in 2010–11 on tie-break above Francisco Vallejo Pons.

10. Ashot Nadanian (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 34.05, Ashot Nadanian is the 10th most famous Azerbaijani Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Ashot Nadanian (sometimes transliterated as Nadanyan; Armenian: Աշոտ Նադանեան; born 19 September 1972) is an Armenian chess International Master (1997), chess theoretician and chess coach. His highest achievements have been in opening theory and coaching. Two opening variations are named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening. He began coaching at the age of 22 and has brought up three grandmasters. He has coached the national teams of Kuwait and Singapore and was awarded the titles Honoured Coach of Armenia in 1998 and FIDE Senior Trainer in 2017. Since 2011, he has been a permanent second of Levon Aronian. Although a strong player who competed in the 1996 Chess Olympiad and narrowly failed to qualify for the 1999 FIDE World Chess Championship, he has never fulfilled his potential. According to Valery Chekhov, Nadanian "possesses enormous chess potential, but he was not able to find enough time to work professionally on his chess." Levon Aronian said that due to the situation in Armenia, Nadanian "was not able to display even one-tenth of his playing talent." Due to his imaginative attacking style, Nadanian has been described as a "chess artist", a "brilliant eccentric", the "Armenian Tal" and "Kasparov's half-brother". The sixth chapter of Tibor Karolyi's 2009 book Genius in the Background is devoted to Nadanian.

People

Pantheon has 16 people classified as Azerbaijani chess players born between 1935 and 2000. Of these 16, 13 (81.25%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Azerbaijani chess players include Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Akopian, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The most famous deceased Azerbaijani chess players include Vladimir Bagirov, Tatiana Zatulovskaya, and Vugar Gashimov. As of April 2024, 4 new Azerbaijani chess players have been added to Pantheon including Farid Abbasov, Nijat Abasov, and Eltaj Safarli.