Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
- October 4, 2025
Three-time Candidate Tournament participant (2011, 2014, 2018)
Ranking: World number two for three months in 2018
Highest FIDE Elo Rating: 2820
Tournament Career: Winner of nine super-tournaments:
2x winner of Tal Memorial, Shakmir Chess Masters
Winner of Biel Chess Festival 2018, Grand Chess Tour Bucharest 2021
and a few others…
Chess Olympiads: Without major success
What earned him this:
Mamedyarov is a mainstay of contemporary chess, having first entered the world top ten in 2007! Although he is currently outside the top 10, his achievements clearly justify a place in this ranking. For instance, he finished second at the 2018 Candidates Tournament, behind the winner Caruana. His victories in super-tournaments are almost counted in double digits. Mamedyarov’s highest rating is also the sixth highest in history and is higher than the ratings of world champions Kramnik and Anand. The cherry on top of his career is a brief stint as the world’s number two, which in the era of Magnus Carlsen can essentially be considered first among “the rest.” He defeated Carlsen on his way to one of his most valuable titles in Biel 2018.
Why he isn’t higher:
Mamedyarov has achieved almost everything in his career, perhaps with the exception of success at the Olympiad. The problem is that he has achieved a bit of everything. He has won a respectable number of super-tournaments, but not as many as some of his contemporaries. He was second in the world, but didn’t stay there for long. He played in the Candidates Tournament three times, but only once finished among the top places. It is, of course, an amazing career. But in this competition, it is enough for this placement.
Best Game:
Loek van Wely vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Ciudad Real 2004
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Miroslav Janeček graduated in English Philology at Palacký University Olomouc. Currently he works in Prague as a content editor for a large marketing company. His roots are in Opava - the historic and cultural centre of the Czech part of Silesia. That city is also the home of Slezan Opava, the chess club where Miroslav started to play chess, later went on to work as a youth coach and which he to this day proudly represents. As an aspiring chess publicist, he is the main author of articles on ChessDB.cz. In his free time, in addition to chess and writing, he also devotes himself to racket sports, history, and literature.