Teimour
Radjabov is now the
World's Youngest Grandmaster !!!
Ties
for first in Alushta to achieve his final GM norm !!
"When
I approach a child, he inspires me in two sentiments:
tenderness
for what he is, and respect for what
he may
become." -- Louis Pasteur |
A milestone has
been reached ! On March 26, 2001 after a meeting in Cannes, the Presidential
Council of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) has awarded the
Grandmaster title to the prodigy extraordinaire Teimour Radjabov.
A FIDE spokesperson at the official headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland
has likewise announced that Radjabov has also been confirmed as the youngest
Grandmaster in history.
Young Teimour
finished tied for first, scoring 8.5/11, at the International Chess Title
Tournament in Alushta, Ukraine held through March 9 to 19 to earn his 3rd
and final GM norm. At 14 years and 14 days, Radjabov has therefore
completed the three GM norms required for the Grandmaster title in a span
of only four months. He achieved his first GM norm on December, 2000
when he won the FSGM tournament in Budapest, Hungary. His 2nd GM
norm followed when he finished a strong second at the Corus Super GM tournament
in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands last January.
Radjabov is said
to be following in the footsteps of former world champion Garry Kasparov
who had also come under the patronage of Heydar Aliyev, who was then the
leader of the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic but now the president of independent
Azerbaijan. Teimour’s progress has also been aided by support from
Azerbaijan's National Olympic Committee. Ilham Aliyev, the committee’s
chairman, expressed his belief in a recent televison interview that Radjabov
would win the world title and bring the chess crown back to Azerbaijan.
As a youth player,
Teimour had already won a total of seven World and European junior titles.
Despite his young age however, he has now expressed his preference to play
against strong adult players from whom he said, he can learn more.
International
Chess Title Tournament
Alushta,
Ukraine
March
9-19, 2001
 |
DOWNLOAD
Teimour's games at the 2001 International
Title
Tournament in Alushta, Ukraine
Tournament's
website here |
Below is the new
statistic of the record for youngest
Grandmaster in
history:
| Player |
Final GM norm
at |
| Teimour Radjabov |
14 years, 0 months,
14 days |
| Ruslan Ponomariov |
14 years, 0 months,
17 days |
| Etienne Bacrot |
14 years, 2 months,
0 days |
| Peter Leko |
14 years, 4 months,
22 days |
| Judit Polgar |
15 years, 4 months,
28 days |
| Robert Fischer |
15 years, 6 months,
1 day |
Note:
The Chinese player Bu Xiangzhi is claimed to have taken his final GM norm
at
13
years, 10 months, 13 days but under suspicious circumstances. Further
details are
awaited
from FIDE on the issue.
For more information
on Teimour's final GM norm and on
the publication
of youngest GM record holders please read
the article of
David
Llada that is published on the Spanish
chess magazine
Gambito
here: www.revistagambito.com
 |
Teimour
and his Dad, Boris Sheinen
Photo by David Llada
|