| Rustam Kasimdzhanov | |
|---|---|
Rustam Kasimdzhanov at the Turin 2006 Olympiad |
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| Full name | Rustam Qosimjonov |
| Country | Uzbekistan |
| Born | December 5, 1979 Tashkent, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| World Champion | 2004–2005 (FIDE) |
| FIDE rating | 2675 (No. 68 on the November 2011 FIDE ratings list) |
| Peak rating | 2706 (October 2001) |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbek: Rustam Qosimjonov; Рустам Касымджанов) (born December 5, 1979)[1] is an Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster, best known for winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004.[2] He was born in Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. He is an ethnic Uzbek.[1]
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His best results include first in the 1998 Asian Championship, second in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1999, first at Essen 2001, first at Pamplona 2002 (winning a blitz playoff against Victor Bologan after both had finished the main tournament on 3.5/6), first with 8/9 at the Vlissingen Open 2003, joint first with Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu with 6/9 at Pune 2005, a bronze-medal winning 9.5/12 performance on board one for his country at the 2000 Chess Olympiad and runner-up in the FIDE Chess World Cup in 2002 (losing to Viswanathan Anand in the final). He has played in the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament twice, but did not perform well either time: in 1999 he finished 11th of 14 with 5/13, in 2002 he finished 13th of 14 with 4.5/13.
In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 in Tripoli, Libya, Kasimdzhanov unexpectedly made his way through to the final, winning mini-matches against Alejandro Ramírez, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, Vasily Ivanchuk, Zoltán Almási, Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov to meet Michael Adams to play for the title and the right to face world number one Garry Kasparov in a match.
In the final six-game match of the Championship, both players won two games, making a tie-break of rapid games necessary. Kasimdzhanov won the first game with black, after having been in a difficult position. By drawing the second game he became the new FIDE champion.
Kasimdzhanov's 2004 championship earned him an invitation to the eight player FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, where he tied with Michael Adams for 6-7 place.
The 2004 championship also earned him one of sixteen places in the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. His first round opponent was Boris Gelfand. In their match, all six regular games were drawn. Then Gelfand won the rapid tie-break 2.5-0.5, eliminating Kasimdzhanov from the tournament.
On the April 2007 FIDE list Kasimdzhanov had an Elo rating of 2683, making him number 27 in the world and Uzbekistan's number one. He has been rated as high as 2706 (in the October 2001 list).
On June 23, 2005, in the ABC Times Square studios, the AI Accoona Toolbar driven by a Fritz 9 prototype engine, drew against him.[3]
He made his first appearance at Linares in 2005, finishing tied last with 4/12. In 2006, Kasimdzhanov won the knock-out Corsica Masters tournament.[4] He is currently a second for World Champion Vishwanathan Anand, having worked with Anand in preparation for the World Chess Championship 2008 and World Chess Championship 2010.[5]
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Ruslan Ponomariov |
FIDE World Chess Champion 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Veselin Topalov |
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