"I have dedicated my entire conscious life to chess, to playing for my country - my native Azerbaijan, both in individual and team competitions.

I would like to list my achievements during my chess career: 4 gold medals at the European Youth Championship, one of which I won at the age of 12 in the under-18 category.

This result remains a record that has not been repeated until now.

Gold medal of the World Youth Championship".

Apasport reports that Azerbaijani grandmaster Teymur Rajabov said this while clarifying the reason for his refusal to participate in the 44th World Chess Olympiad.

"At the age of 14, I made history as an international grandmaster and the youngest chess player to enter the top 100 in the FIDE world ranking list among men.

At the age of 15, in a tournament in Linares, I defeated Harry Kasparov, who at that time was number one in the world chess ranking.

That year, I became the first chess player in history to defeat three world champions in one year by defeating Ruslan Ponomaryov and Viswanathan Ananda.

I experienced the joy of victory in the historic match against the Russian team as part of the World Team.

In 2002, the Russian team included Kasparov, Kramnik, Karpov and other top chess players.


Bronze medalist of the World Championship among men, Libya 2004. Silver medalist of the European Championship among men in 2005.

I am a five-time winner of the European Champions Cup.

Also, as a member of the SOCAR Azerbaijan chess club, I won first place in the European Champions Cup.

I am the winner of many international supertournaments, Grand Prix series tournaments and the bronze medalist of the 2015 World Rapid Chess Championship in Berlin.

In 2019, I managed to bring gold to our country in the World Cup by defeating Chinese Ding Liren, the second-ranked chess player in the world, in the final in a tough fight.

According to the results of that year, I was recognized as the best athlete of Azerbaijan.

In 2021, I defeated Levon Aronia in the finals of the Airthings Masters tournament of Magnus Carlsen's "Championship Tour" and became the winner of the tournament.

In the final tournament of the "Championship Tour" I took the second place in the prestigious competition, after the world champion Magnus Carlsen.

In 2022, I won a bronze medal for my country by taking the third place in the Candidates Tournament in Madrid, where 8 best chess players competing for the world chess crown took part.

I started playing for the national team for the first time in 2001, when I was 14 years old, and until today I have played for my country and people despite many physical, psychological and other problems.

I became a three-time European champion as part of the Azerbaijani national team.

For more than 30 years, I have been playing chess for my country, defending its interests in the international arena, in chess and beyond, protecting the interests of our people and trying with all my might to raise the flag of our state high.

Now I would like to explain the situation regarding my forced - force majeure - non-participation in the Olympics due to my health.

I have been taking medication for treatment for a long time and I am experiencing severe physical pain.

The Candidates Tournament, which is the main tournament in the life and career of any professional chess player, was, as expected, the most difficult test for me, which completely destroyed my physical and psychological health.

Also, after returning from the tournament, I contracted covid, which was complicated by high fever, severe cough and post-covid syndrome.

In the current state of my health, I cannot benefit the national team, I have to recover for a while.

Let me inform you that doctors have forbidden any psycho-emotional stress by recommending outpatient treatment for several months.

I will do everything to return to professional chess and to benefit my country's national team in the future.

I wish all my teammates in the Azerbaijan national team good luck in the upcoming Olympics, I will watch all the matches as a fan of them and be excited together with my teammates.


I hope that I will be able to compete again in the Azerbaijan national team at a high level!", he said.