Azeri-Jewish chess grandmaster Teimour Radjabov broke into tears after winning the final match of the Champions Chess Tour Airthings Masters online tournament on Monday against Armenian player, Levon Aronian.
“This is a huge deal for me. I am not the kind of person who likes to show his emotions during the game. But after I won the tournament, I felt really overwhelmed and could not hold back my tears," declared Radjabov, winner of the $60,000 prize dedicated to the winner of the competition.
"The final match was quite intense. I was so close to getting defeated but managed to save the day. I wanted to give my country a reason to feel proud," he added.
His country was indeed proud. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva sent him a congratulatory letter, saying, “Your convincing victory during this competition by demonstrating professionalism will and perseverance made the people of Azerbaijan happy. This success of yours is also a clear indication of the high intellectual potential of our people.”
Radjabov is ranked number 10 in the world, and earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14, making him the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time.
In 2003, Radjabov gained international attention after beating the world No. 1 Russian Garry Kasparov in the Linares tournament, followed by victories over former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov all in the same year.
Born in Baku, Radjabov's father, Boris Sheynin, is a petroleum engineer who attended the same chess school in Baku as Kasparov, and his mother, Leyla Radjabova, is an English language teacher.