Before Maghsoudloo, Iranian players were not taken seriously, as it was believed that they did not systematically work on chess and relied solely on talent. But Parham, even without the genius of Firouzja, changed the picture. By consistently training 10-12 hours a day he broke into the world elite!
Parham was born on August 12, 2000 in Gonbad-e Kavus. He attended a good school for talented children and wanted to become a pharmacist, but at the age of 9, he discovered chess and it completely captivated him. From the very beginning, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to training and soon became the provincial champion, then began winning all the youth tournaments in the country. In 2014 Maghsoudloo was included in the Iranian youth team which took 3rd place at the Youth Olympiad, and in the next two years won "gold" twice! The team leader was close to becoming the adult champion of Iran (3rd place, Firouzja won) and made it to the 2015 World Cup, where he lost to So in the 1st round.
Maghsoodloo became a grandmaster at the age of 16, but immediately after that, in 2017 he became the national champion (and again in 2018 and 2021) and the World Champion "under 20". He won the title with a round to spare, scoring 9.5/10 – even a loss in the last round still left him with a one-point lead. In 2018, he won five opens: in Mumbai (where he received a prize and praise from Anand), Amol, Chomein, Sharjah (his 7/7 start caused a real sensation) and Yerevan. After that Parham led the Iranian team at the Olympiad (6.5/10), the Asian Team Championship (5/7 – 1st place on board 1), and the World Team Championship (4/9).
Maghsoudloo soared to a rating of 2689, ranked 4th among juniors in the world, and began receiving invitations to major tournaments, but his career was interrupted by the pandemic. He returned to active play only at the end of 2021, immediately surpassing the "2700" mark. Like many of his peers, Parham performed brightly at the Chennai Olympiad (8/11), but played even better at the 2023 Asian Games, leading the Iranian team to the championship title. His personal contribution to the victory was to score 7.5/9 on board 1, defeating Gukesh, Wei Yi, Le Quang Liem and others.
Today Maghsoodloo is an integral part of the young elite. At the same time, Parham is very good in strong opens: he took 3rd place in the Grand Swiss (7.5/11) and Qatar Masters (6.5/9), and 5th in Sharjah Masters (6/9), but he has not yet performed as well in round-robin tournaments, which hinders his further rise. So far, the Iranian's peak is 12th place (2742) in December 2023, but with his incredible work ethic and unabashed ambitions, this is certainly not the limit!
