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Alireza Firouzja
Firouzja 
 

Number of games in database: 1,485
Years covered: 2015 to 2025
Last FIDE rating: 2760 (2754 rapid, 2857 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2804
Overall record: +178 -86 =197 (60.0%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 1024 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (116) 
    C65 C67 C70 C78 C92
 Sicilian (114) 
    B90 B30 B45 B48 B31
 Giuoco Piano (55) 
    C50 C53
 Queen's Pawn Game (54) 
    D02 A45 A46 D04 E00
 French Defense (36) 
    C11 C18 C02 C01 C10
 Sicilian Najdorf (34) 
    B90 B96 B97 B94 B91
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (137) 
    B90 B51 B67 B22 B30
 King's Indian (80) 
    E94 E92 E73 E71 E66
 Caro-Kann (63) 
    B12 B10 B13 B18 B11
 Ruy Lopez (62) 
    C67 C65 C78 C77 C92
 Sicilian Najdorf (45) 
    B90 B92 B91 B93 B94
 Queen's Pawn Game (43) 
    D02 A45 A46 A40 E10
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Firouzja vs Ding Liren, 2022 1/2-1/2
   Firouzja vs Bluebaum, 2017 1-0
   Firouzja vs M Zarkovic, 2019 1-0
   Firouzja vs Rapport, 2021 1-0
   Firouzja vs Carlsen, 2021 1-0
   V Erdos vs Firouzja, 2021 0-1
   Firouzja vs Rapport, 2022 1-0
   Caruana vs Firouzja, 2022 0-1
   Radjabov vs Firouzja, 2022 1/2-1/2
   Firouzja vs Carlsen, 2023 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Iranian Championship (2019)
   Chessbrah May Invitational (2020)
   European Team Championship (2021)
   Norway Chess (2020)
   Chessable Masters (2021)
   Iranian Championship (2018)
   Chess.com SpeedChess Finals (2024)
   Bullet Chess Championship (2023)
   FTX Crypto Cup (2022)
   SuperUnited Croatia (2022)
   TechM Global Chess League (2024)
   New In Chess Classic (2021)
   chess.com Speed Chess (2020)
   Magnus Carlsen Invitational (2020)
   Skilling Open (2020)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 212 by 0ZeR0

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Freestyle Grand Tour Weissenhaus
   D Gukesh vs Firouzja (Feb-14-25) 0-1, unorthodox
   Firouzja vs D Gukesh (Feb-13-25) 1/2-1/2, unorthodox
   Firouzja vs Abdusattorov (Feb-12-25) 0-1, unorthodox
   Abdusattorov vs Firouzja (Feb-11-25) 1/2-1/2, unorthodox
   Keymer vs Firouzja (Feb-10-25) 1/2-1/2, unorthodox

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Alireza Firouzja
Search Google for Alireza Firouzja
FIDE player card for Alireza Firouzja

ALIREZA FIROUZJA
(born Jun-18-2003, 21 years old) Iran (federation/nationality France)

[what is this?]

International Master (2016); Grandmaster (2018); Asian U12 Champion (2015); Iranian Champion (2016, 2019); Asian Blitz Champion (2018)

In January, 2016, Alireza Firouzja won the Iranian national championship at age 12, with a score of 8-3. As of May 2016, he was the highest rated player in the world under 14. Along with Parham Maghsoodloo (who commandeered their top board) and Arash Tahbaz (8 out of 9 games played at their 4th seat), the 3 each scored 7.5 for Iran and a team win at the 2016 World youth chess Olympiad(1). Firouzja also earned the silver medal on second board at that event. He scored eight points from nine games at the 2017 WYCO(2) playing as Iran's second board.

At the FIDE World Cup in September 2019, Firouzja defeated Arman Pashikian and Daniil Dubov in rounds one and two, respectively. This made Firouzja the first Iranian player to reach the third round of a Chess World Cup. In round three, he faced the number-one seed Ding Liren. Firouzja drew with Ding in the two classical games, but lost both of the rapid tiebreakers and was eliminated from the tournament.

Firouzja participated in the 2020 annual Norway Chess supertournament, in Stavanger. The tournament was held with a football scoring system (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss). In the case of a draw, players played an armageddon game for an additional 1/2 point. Firouzja finished in second place, behind World Champion Magnus Carlsen and ahead of Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana and Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

He is the second-youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700 (after Wei Yi), at the age of 16 years and 1 month. By his eighteenth birthday in June 2021 he was rated 2759 and ranked 13th in the world.

In September 2021, Firouzja finished in second place in the Norway Chess supertournament, behind Magnus Carlsen, but ahead of a field including World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi and former challenger Sergey Karjakin. He scored +5 -2 =3 in standard time control games, and moved into the world's top 10 for the first time in the October 2021 rating list.

In November 2021, he won the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament (+6 -1 =4), which qualified him for the Candidates Tournament 2022.

Since 2019, he has been based in France, and he became a French citizen in July 2021.

References / Sources

(1) http://wyco2016chess.sk/en (2016 World youth chess Olympiad), (2) http://www.chess-results.com/tnr319... (2017 World Youth Chess Olympiad).

Wikipedia article: Alireza Firouzja

Last updated: 2021-11-21 06:02:41

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 60; games 1-25 of 1,485  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Y Solodovnichenko vs Firouzja 1-0512015Dubai Chess OpenB51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
2. S Kidambi vs Firouzja  ½-½1202015Dubai Chess OpenA16 English
3. Firouzja vs I Abdelnabbi  1-0412015Dubai Chess OpenC71 Ruy Lopez
4. M Karthikeyan vs Firouzja  1-0582015Dubai Chess OpenB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
5. Firouzja vs S Grover  0-1412015Dubai Chess OpenA07 King's Indian Attack
6. P Rout vs Firouzja  1-0108201522nd Abu Dhabi MastersB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
7. Firouzja vs P Tregubov 1-0422015Qatar MastersA06 Reti Opening
8. Swiercz vs Firouzja 1-0502015Qatar MastersB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
9. Firouzja vs R Svane  ½-½702015Qatar MastersB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
10. Firouzja vs H Dronavalli  ½-½342015Qatar MastersA05 Reti Opening
11. B Esen vs Firouzja  1-0402015Qatar MastersE60 King's Indian Defense
12. S Lorparizangeneh vs Firouzja 0-1712015Qatar MastersE84 King's Indian, Samisch, Panno Main line
13. Firouzja vs S Bromberger  ½-½402015Qatar MastersA04 Reti Opening
14. M Al Sayed vs Firouzja  1-0482015Qatar MastersD80 Grunfeld
15. Firouzja vs N Das 1-0592015Qatar MastersA07 King's Indian Attack
16. E Ghaem Maghami vs Firouzja 0-1422016IRI-ch Men Final 2015E61 King's Indian
17. S Lu vs Firouzja 1-0642016Aeroflot OpenB51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
18. Firouzja vs K Kulaots  ½-½902016Aeroflot OpenB41 Sicilian, Kan
19. B Lalith vs Firouzja 1-0392016Aeroflot OpenE90 King's Indian
20. B Socko vs Firouzja  ½-½892016Aeroflot OpenB91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation
21. Firouzja vs N Maiorov  ½-½632016Aeroflot OpenC48 Four Knights
22. Firouzja vs C Aravindh  0-1602016Aeroflot OpenB33 Sicilian
23. Goryachkina vs Firouzja 1-0532016Aeroflot OpenA48 King's Indian
24. Firouzja vs Y Wang 1-0292016Aeroflot OpenC10 French
25. Firouzja vs Dineth Nimnaka Naotunna 1-0662016Asian Nations CupE32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
 page 1 of 60; games 1-25 of 1,485  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Firouzja wins | Firouzja loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 19 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-14-20  EdwinKorir: Wesley So puts some reality check on Alireza. This is where his chess learning begins. You can not go for wins all the time against the best in the world.
Jan-16-20  EdwinKorir: Wait till Alireza plays a Super Grandmaster they said; then he clears Giri.
Jan-18-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: There is no chess future for this boy
Jan-18-20  ndg2: KirilOutAlirezaIn
Jan-18-20  0o0o0o0o0: This is the guy. Chess is full of the prodigy and like Wei Yi they fall short, but there is something about this guy. He has a bite about him, an attitude that will take his obvious talents right up to the top. When he hits 20 we will know what he is all about but for now he is the only one since Carlsen where I have thought, oh aye!
Jan-18-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: <<EdwinKorir> Wait till Alireza plays a Super Grandmaster they said; then he clears Giri.>

When did Giri become a Super Grandmaster? ;-) Seriously, on what basis is a GM considered a super GM? Tournament results? Rating? If the later, what's the threshold? If 2700+ is the threshold (a commonly used criteria) then in the 3rd round Firouzja defeated Artemiev who had a pre-tournament rating of 2731, not too far behind Giri's pre-tournament rating of 2768. And after 7 rounds both Artemiev and Giri have the same 3.5/7 score, the same as Carlsen and Anand.

Let's see how he does against Carlsen in round 9 and Anand in round 11 (not to mention future tournaments) before we start proclaiming him the second coming of AlphaZero. Fortunately for Firouzja he has White against both of them, just like he did against Artemiev and Giri, and after 7 rounds White has won 17 out of the 18 decisive games, so that is in his favor. Maybe it's the water in Wijk aan Zee?

Jan-19-20  ndg2: My prediction: a loss(!) in round 9 against Carlsen who must and will finally awaken from his winter slumber, but a win(!) against Anand in round 11. Also tough will also be round 10 (black against Caruana). I see a second loss likely there. Not sure about round 8 (black against a strong J. van Foreest who may count as the true tournement surprise given his 2650-ish ELO). Everything possible there. Vitiugov and Dubov are beatable opponents, but let's not get carried away. One point of the last two rounds wouldn't be bad either.

That is: I see a score of 2.5 to 3.5 points out of the last 6 rounds for Firouzja but not more. 8.5/13 would still be tremendous for a first time participant.

Jan-19-20  Pulo y Gata: Alireza is the only player Carlsen fears
Jan-19-20  fisayo123: Let's not predict losses now. Firouzja is perfectly capable of a surprise against anyone.
Jan-19-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <AylerKupp>
You're right, there is no official definition of "super-GM".

In another thread on another page, someone proposed a criterion for super-GM like "a player who remains in the top 10 for at least 3 years." Obviously this re-opens our long simmering debate whether "top N" should use a fixed N or should scale with the population of chessplayers, but that's another story.

Giri played in the Candidates in 2016 and made an even score, was Kramnik's second for the 2018 Candidates, and will be in the 2020 Candidates, and based on those qualifications I'd call him a super-GM. If not, then who do you think is a super-GM, and why?

Jan-21-20  Caissanist: I always thought that the best definition of a pre-FIDE "grandmaster" came from Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander 50 years ago: "somebody who might reasonably be expected to play a match for the world championship". These days I think of that as being a good definition of "super GM". Of course this is vague and open to argument, but I believe most people would agree that Giri has been in that category for several years now, while Artemiev hasn't, yet.
Jan-21-20  fabelhaft: <"somebody who might reasonably be expected to play a match for the world championship". These days I think of that as being a good definition of "super GM">

Rather harsh definition though. Players like MVL, Mamedyarov and Nepomniachtchi are maybe not expected to play a title match, but not calling them super GMs would feel wrong.

Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: <"somebody who might reasonably be expected to play a match for the world championship">

For that we don't need a new term, we already have one: Candidate (that is, somebody who has ever played a Candidates tournament. After all, the "Candidates" in Candidates Tournament stays for "candidate for a world championship match").

Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: Also, pre-FIDE grandmaster meant simply somebody who has won an international tournament.
Jan-21-20  fabelhaft: <<"somebody who might reasonably be expected to play a match for the world championship">

For that we don't need a new term, we already have one: Candidate (that is, somebody who has ever played a Candidates tournament>

But Pilnik, Panno, Filip, Olafsson and Benko were maybe not expected to play a title match after all

Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: They became candidates too late :)

As I noted on the Carlsen page, all (undisputed) world champions born after 1930 played their first Candidates tournament at the age 22 or earlier.

Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: Where world champions born after 1930 were in the year they turned 22:

Tal in 1958: qualified for his first Candidates

Spassky in 1959: had one Candidates tournament (1956) behind him

Fischer in 1965: had two Candidates tournaments (1959, 1962) behind him

Karpov in 1973: qualified for his first Candidates

Kasparov in 1985: became world champion

Kramnik in 1996: had one Candidates tournament (1994) behind him. Also played FIDE Candidates in the same year.

Anand in 1991: played his first Candidates

Carlsen in 2012: had one Candidates tournament (2007) behind him.

Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: With Tal and Karpov still being 22 when the Candidates they qualified for started.
Jan-21-20  Caissanist: <alexmagnus> There was no commonly agreed definiton of "grandmaster" before FIDE formalized the title in 1950. Supposedly the term was first coined to honor the five finalists in St. Petersburg 1914, though this may be apocryphal.
Jan-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: < Supposedly the term was first coined to honor the five finalists in St. Petersburg 1914, though this may be apocryphal.>

This <is> apocryphal, as in the invitation to the tournament <only grandmasters> were invited!

Jan-21-20  Caissanist: <fabelhaft> I don't think any of the players you mentioned would be more unreasonable a WC challenger than Karjakin or Gelfand were. I guess you could say "reasonable person to play a WC match" could mean at least as well established as those two were.
Jan-21-20  fabelhaft: <I don't think any of the players you mentioned would be more unreasonable a WC challenger than Karjakin or Gelfand were>

Karjakin and Gelfand won a bunch of super tournaments. Gelfand was top three behind only Kasparov and Karpov in 1990-91 and Karjakin was very much predicted to play for the title. I don't think players like Pilnik and Filip ever were at the same level as them.

Jan-21-20  anandrulez: Here is a nice lecture on Firouzja's 2019 games by GM Denes Boros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NN...
Jan-22-20  SChesshevsky: <ndg2...My prediction...but a win against Anand in round 11...> This would be an important result for AF's advancement. Beating the or an ex-world champion is a big confidence builder for a young advancing GM.

Fischer got his first champ scalp at around 16 and second at 18. By the cg database, I believe Carlsen around the same. Prodigy GM Karjakin got his at 14 but I think took awhile to get his second. Leko, I think didn't get one until around 20.

Idea is simple. If I can beat a world champion then I have the ability to be world champion. That's the kind of energy and confidence that can help a young player eventually get there.

Jan-24-20  Whitehat1963: So, how good is he?
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