Alireza Firouzja

Firouzja is an Iranian-born grandmaster living in France, a world-class player and the youngest player in the world rated over 2700. He is a two-time Iranian champion and the reigning European Fischer Random champion. As of February 1, 2020 Firouzja is the only teenager ranked in the top 25 (ranked #23 with a rating of 2726).

In late 2019 and early 2020, Firouzja electrified the chess world with his second place finish in the World Rapid Championship (one point behind World Champion Magnus Carlsen) and his amazing 5/7 start at the 2020 Tata Steel tournament. In April, Firouzja faced Magnus Carlsen in the final of the Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup and won. Firouzja then competed in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational and placed sixth overall, an excellent showing for this Iranian chess prodigy.