Alireza Firouzja: Biography, Achievements & Lasting Legacy

Alireza Firouzja (Persian: علیرضا فیروزجا, pronounced [æliːɾeˈzɒː fiːɾuːzˈdʒɒː]; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2800, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months.

A chess prodigy, Firouzja won the Iranian Chess Championship at age 12 and earned the Grandmaster title at 14. At 16, Firouzja became the second-youngest 2700-rated player. In 2021, at 18, he won the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament and an individual gold medal at the European Team Chess Championship. In 2022, Firouzja won the Grand Chess Tour. He qualified for the Candidates Tournament in 2022 and 2024.

Firouzja left the Iranian Chess Federation in 2019 because of the country's longstanding policy against competing with Israeli players. Firouzja played under the FIDE flag until mid-2021, when he became a French citizen and began representing France, where he had already been living. In March 2025, he signed to the Saudi esports organization Team Falcons.