Rustam Kasimdzhanov, born on 5 December 1979 in Tashkent, is an Uzbek grandmaster and the 2004 FIDE World Champion. The first world champion from Uzbekistan, he went on to become one of the most respected trainers in the game.
Quick facts
- Title: Grandmaster (1997)
- Born: 5 December 1979, Tashkent
- Federation: Uzbekistan
- Peak rating: 2715 (May 2015)
- Biggest achievement: 2004 FIDE World Champion
- Coaching: Anand, Caruana, Karjakin, Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi
Early years and first successes
Kasimdzhanov became a grandmaster in 1997, won the Asian Championship in 1998 and finished second at the 1999 World Junior Championship. At the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad he took bronze on board one with 9½/12, and at the 2002 FIDE World Cup he reached the final, losing to Viswanathan Anand.
The 2004 FIDE World Championship
At the 2004 FIDE World Championship in Tripoli, Libya, he made a surprise run to the final, knocking out players such as Vasyl Ivanchuk, Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov. His six-game final against Michael Adams ended 3–3, and he won the rapid tie-break to become world champion.
He later won the 2006 Corsica Masters and individual rapid gold at the 2010 Asian Games, and his rating peaked at 2715 in 2015.
Coaching career
Kasimdzhanov was Viswanathan Anand's second in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 World Championship matches and Fabiano Caruana's second in the 2018 match. He trained Sergey Karjakin at the 2014 Candidates and Caruana at the 2016 Candidates, and coached Germany to victory at the 2011 European Team Championship.
In recent years he has worked with stars of the new generation such as Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Arjun Erigaisi. In 2026, as team captain, he led Uzbekistan to Olympiad gold on home soil in Samarkand.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov on Chess School
Kasimdzhanov is one of the advisors of the talent programme and works with Aydın Süleymanlı. This category collects his games, news and videos.
Sources: Wikipedia: Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Chess.com
