Elshan Moradiabadi

Elshan Moradiabadi is an Iranian-American grandmaster originally from Tehran. He won the 2001 Iranian Chess Championship at the age of 16 and in 2016 was the second Iranian player in history to cross the 2600 FIDE rating threshold. Elshan moved to the U.S in 2012 to attend Texas Tech University, helping them win the 2012 Collegiate Final Four as well as the 2015 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. In 2017, Elshan switched to the U.S. Federation, winning a number of events since then, including the 2017 Washington Congress, 2019 Rilton Cup, and the 2022 U.S. Open.