The Playing Style of Teimour Radjabov

Radjabov is almost single-handedly responsible for the current revival of the King's Indian Defence. He even beat world No. 1, Magnus Carlsen, with this defense in 2014 at the Gashimov Memorial 2014. He is also the only top player to consistently employ the sharp Schliemann Defence in the Ruy Lopez, scoring +1−0=10 with it in top tournaments 2008–2011, drawing among others Carlsen, Anand, Topalov, Svidler, Ivanchuk and Karjakin, and beating Adams. Radjabov has been called an excellent counter-attacker, adept at seizing control after an opponent makes a minor mistake.

At the 2003 Linares chess tournament, Radjabov, who was 15 years old, defeated Kasparov with the black pieces. The game was controversially voted the most beautiful game of the tournament. Proponents praised Radjabov's resiliency and courage against the reigning world No. 1; detractors argued that Radjabov was losing and it was only because Kasparov blundered that he won the game.

Radjabov's knight sacrifice, 21...Ngxe5, was praised by several strong players for its bravery, including English grandmaster Nigel Short:

"Radjabov plays very imaginatively... he just won't give up, he is extremely tenacious and will always find a way to muddy the waters to throw you off track. He is very good at finding disconcerting moves. Here he unbalances Kasparov completely, disturbing his rhythm of play... That was the point of Radjabov's sacrifice – it was not sound but it gave him these practical chances."

However, the sacrifice was called "desperation" by GM Miguel Illescas, and according to Chessbase.com, "The Grandmasters we have talked to praised Radjabov's resilience in a bad position but criticized the game as unworthy of a prize because it was based on blunders."

Radjabov became the first player born since Kasparov first became World Chess Champion in 1985, to defeat him. Radjabov is also the youngest player in history to defeat a reigning world No. 1 in a game at tournament time controls.