Firouzja, Alireza Age 21

Source: Lennart Ootes/NorwayChess

Title

Grandmaster

Live Rating

2760.5

Live Rank

#7

FIDE Rating

2763

World Rank

#7

France Rank

#1

FIDE Peak Rating

2804 - Dec 2021 (Age 18)

FIDE Peak Rank

#2 (2804) - Dec 2021 (Age 18)

Rapid

2754 World #5, Peak 2756 (Nov 2024)

Blitz

2871 World #2, Peak 2904 (Nov 2022)

Born

18 Jun 2003
Babol, Iran

FIDE ID 12573981

Wikipedia

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."

Every chart point has info (FIDE Rating, Date, Rank, Age). Click on the chart to compare the player with any other top player.

Games

#	White Player	Rating	Black Player	Rating	Result	Moves	Site	Date
1	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Livaic, Leon	2557	1/2-1/2	25	Germany	12 Jan 2025
2	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2768	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	41	Germany	11 Jan 2025
3	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	So, Wesley	2747	0-1	61	New York	31 Dec 2024
4	So, Wesley	2747	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1-0	74	New York	31 Dec 2024
5	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	So, Wesley	2747	1/2-1/2	40	New York	31 Dec 2024
6	So, Wesley	2747	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	55	New York	31 Dec 2024
7	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Carlsen, Magnus	2831	1/2-1/2	12	New York	30 Dec 2024
8	Niemann, Hans Moke	2734	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	12	New York	30 Dec 2024
9	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Wei, Yi	2753	1-0	41	New York	30 Dec 2024
10	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	14	New York	30 Dec 2024
11	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Duda, Jan Krzysztof	2740	1-0	33	New York	30 Dec 2024
12	Erigaisi, Arjun Kumar	2801	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	28	New York	30 Dec 2024
13	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Caruana, Fabiano	2805	0-1	29	New York	30 Dec 2024
14	Shankland, Samuel L	2672	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	0-1	30	New York	30 Dec 2024
15	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Aronian, Levon	2747	1/2-1/2	44	New York	30 Dec 2024
16	Sadhwani, Raunak	2673	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	0-1	66	New York	30 Dec 2024
17	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Sargsyan, Shant	2646	1-0	61	New York	30 Dec 2024
18	Tari, Aryan	2629	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	0-1	61	New York	30 Dec 2024
19	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Pichot, Alan	2637	1-0	39	New York	30 Dec 2024
20	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Erigaisi, Arjun Kumar	2694	1/2-1/2	90	New York	28 Dec 2024
21	Esipenko, Andrey	2642	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	0-1	62	New York	28 Dec 2024
22	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Dubov, Daniil	2677	1/2-1/2	21	New York	28 Dec 2024
23	Bluebaum, Matthias	2608	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	0-1	38	New York	28 Dec 2024
24	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Hong, Andrew Z	2560	1-0	58	New York	27 Dec 2024
25	Sevian, Samuel	2614	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	1-0	42	New York	27 Dec 2024
26	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Sargsyan, Shant	2601	1/2-1/2	65	New York	27 Dec 2024
27	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Antipov, Mikhail Al	2591	1-0	60	New York	27 Dec 2024
28	Shankland, Samuel L	2618	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	1/2-1/2	39	New York	26 Dec 2024
29	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Volokitin, Andrei	2569	1-0	26	New York	26 Dec 2024
30	Le Tuan, Minh	2492	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	0-1	37	New York	26 Dec 2024
31	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	Sadhwani, Raunak	2591	0-1	44	New York	26 Dec 2024
32	Erenburg, Sergey	2510	Firouzja, Alireza	2756	0-1	24	New York	26 Dec 2024
33	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1-0	47	Oslo	20 Dec 2024
34	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	1/2-1/2	60	Oslo	20 Dec 2024
35	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1-0	62	Oslo	20 Dec 2024
36	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	0-1	58	Oslo	20 Dec 2024
37	Keymer, Vincent	2733	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	0-1	81	Oslo	19 Dec 2024
38	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Keymer, Vincent	2733	1/2-1/2	95	Oslo	19 Dec 2024
39	Vachier Lagrave, Maxime	2731	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	72	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
40	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Vachier Lagrave, Maxime	2731	1-0	22	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
41	Carlsen, Magnus	2831	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	58	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
42	Carlsen, Magnus	2831	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1/2-1/2	38	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
43	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Carlsen, Magnus	2831	1/2-1/2	54	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
44	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	0-1	35	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
45	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2755	1/2-1/2	52	Oslo	18 Dec 2024
46	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Lazavik, Denis	2578	1/2-1/2	89	Oslo	17 Dec 2024
47	Lazavik, Denis	2578	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1-0	55	Oslo	17 Dec 2024
48	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	Lazavik, Denis	2578	1-0	84	Oslo	17 Dec 2024
49	So, Wesley	2747	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	1-0	34	Oslo	17 Dec 2024
50	Firouzja, Alireza	2763	So, Wesley	2747	0-1	32	Oslo	17 Dec 2024