It's hard to argue that in the 21st century after Carlsen, there has been a more worthy contender for world chess supremacy than Alireza Firouzja. Like Magnus, he emerged from a country without a strong chess tradition and lacked a formal chess education, yet his combinational skills made up for any deficiencies in his game. By the age of 16 he was already competing on equal footing with the world's top players, and by 18 he had risen to second place in the rankings. However, as it turned out, he wasn't prepared for the grueling demands of the Candidates Tournament and so far, he hasn't reached a World Championship match. Nevertheless, few doubt that the most exciting chapters in Alireza Firouzja's career are yet to come – after all, the Iranian-French genius is only 21 years old!
Firouzja was born on June 18, 2003 in Babol. His older brother taught him to play chess at the age of 8 and just a year later his father, noticing Alireza's rapid progress, hired a coach for him. Within another year he was defeating all his peers in Iran and by 12, he had become the Asian Youth Champion. Realizing that there was nothing left for him in junior chess, he began competing exclusively with adults and in 2016, after winning the national qualifying tournament he sensationally won the Iranian Championship (8/11)! By that time, he already had several victories over grandmasters in head-to-head matches. Another year passed, and he earned the grandmaster title himself.
At 12 years and 7 months Firouzja was invited to join the Iranian national team for the Asian Games (scoring 5.5/7), where he drew with Wei Yi, the youngest player to achieve a 2700 rating. That same year, he represented Iran on the fourth board at the Chess Olympiad. He began to gain serious attention in 2017 when he delivered several impressive performances and showcased brilliant attacking games. But 2018 was his true breakout year. Alireza gained over 100 rating points and made a huge splash at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships! The 15-year-old grandmaster finished sixth in rapid (10/15) and started with 6.5/7 in blitz. Carlsen had to personally defeat him to knock him off the podium.
Firouzja continued his ascent in 2019, gaining another 100+ rating points in a single year, rising from 2618 to 2723 (the second-best result in history; he broke 2700 at 16 years, 1 month and 16 days). Through the Asian Championship, he qualified for the World Championship cycle for the first time, competing in the World Cup, where he was only eliminated in the 3rd round by eventual winner Ding Liren. In the World Rapid & Blitz he finished second only to Carlsen, becoming the first Iranian to reach the podium (10.5/15). Unfortunately, this was his last appearance under the Iranian flag: after a conflict in Germany, where he was barred from playing against an Israeli player under Iranian law, Alireza changed his nationality to France and moved to the outskirts of Paris.
In 2020 the former Iranian prodigy caught Carlsen's eye. He defeated the champion in an exhibition match in the Banter Blitz Cup (8.5-7.5), which earned him an invitation to a series of online tournaments and the Stavanger tournament, where he nearly surpassed Carlsen, finishing second (6.5/10). In 2021 Alireza repeated that result but again let Magnus slip ahead, making a costly blunder in their game. This race for the tournament victory propelled Firouzja into the top 10 for the first time. But after winning the Grand Swiss (8/11), which qualified him for the Candidates Tournament, and delivering a phenomenal performance on the top board for the French team at the European Championship (8/9 with a perf. of 3000+), his rating soared to 2804 (at 18 years, 5 months, and 13 days – a record still unbroken). After this the world champion remarked: "If someone other than Firouzja wins the 2022 Candidates Tournament, it's unlikely I'll play the next World Championship match!"
The weight of such expectations proved too heavy: Firouzja struggled (6/14) and chess history took a new course. Nepomniachtchi won the tournament, Carlsen, as promised, declined to defend his title and Ding Liren, who surprisingly replaced him, became the new World Champion... Meanwhile, Alireza seemed to lose interest in chess. He announced that he wanted to become a fashion designer and significantly reduced his participation in live tournaments (although he continued to play online chess frequently and with great success). However, this didn't stop him from winning the Grand Chess Tour in 2022 (and repeating the success in 2024) with consecutive victories in St. Louis in rapid/blitz (26/36 and 20/36) and classical (5/8 and 6/8). He also earned a second spot in the Candidates Tournament, where he again played a secondary role, not seriously contending for victory (5/14).
The story of this genius is far from over by his young age... It seems he is beginning to understand his place in chess history and is taking a more measured approach to the pursuit of the crown. After all, there is no such thing as a "Candidates Tournament curse."
