Tamaz Gelashvili

Overview

Tamaz Gelashvili (born April 8, 1978) is a Georgian chess grandmaster (GM) and FIDE Trainer who represents the Georgian Chess Federation (GEO). He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1998 and achieved his Grandmaster title in 1999. Gelashvili reached his career-high classical FIDE rating of 2623 in October 2007, ranking among the top active players in Georgia. He is recognized as an accomplished open tournament competitor, a key representative of the Georgian national team at multiple Chess Olympiads, a dedicated coach, and a prominent opening specialist who has significantly contributed to the theory of hypermodern flanking systems.

Biography & Major Career Milestones

Gelashvili developed rapidly during the late 1990s, securing his IM title in 1998 and his GM title in 1999 at the age of 21. In 1997, he secured a major international victory by winning the Acropolis International tournament in Athens, an event he would go on to win again in 2006.

In 2000, Gelashvili won his first Georgian Chess Championship in Tbilisi. He continued to achieve strong international results throughout the decade:

• In 2001, he tied for 1st place at the 9th Neuchâtel Open alongside Yannick Pelletier, Mark Hebden, and Vladimir Tukmakov.
• In 2006, he won the Acropolis International on tiebreaks ahead of a strong grandmaster field.
• In 2008, he tied for 2nd place at the Gyumri International and shared 1st place at the prestigious President's Cup in Baku alongside Nigel Short, Vadim Milov, Aleksej Aleksandrov, Baadur Jobava, Alexander Lastin, Gadir Guseinov, and Farid Abbasov.
• In 2010, he claimed his second Georgian Chess Championship, sharing the title with Merab Gagunashvili.

In the 2010s, Gelashvili expanded his competitive activity to North America, winning the 5th Annual Philadelphia Open in 2011, the 6th New York International in 2013, and sharing 1st place at the highly competitive World Open in both 2013 and 2016. Alongside his active playing career, he is a sought-after chess coach and FIDE Trainer with over two decades of coaching experience.

Elite Team & Event Performance

• 12th European Team Chess Championship (1999), Batumi: Represented Georgia on Board 4, scoring an impressive 5.5/9 to help lead the team.
• 34th Chess Olympiad (2000), Istanbul: Represented Georgia on the first reserve board, scoring 3.5 points in 6 games.
• 36th Chess Olympiad (2004), Calviá: Represented Georgia.
• 16th European Team Chess Championship (2007), Heraklion: Played on Board 2 for Georgia, scoring 3.5/8.
• 38th Chess Olympiad (2008), Dresden: Selected for the national squad.
• 39th Chess Olympiad (2010), Khanty-Mansiysk: Represented Georgia.
• 42nd Chess Olympiad (2016), Baku: Represented Georgia on Board 4, scoring 4/9.
• 44th Chess Olympiad (2022), Chennai: Represented Georgia on Board 4, scoring critical victories against notable opponents including GM Max Warmerdam.

Playing Style, Material Tendencies & Endgame Profiling

Gelashvili is categorized as a dynamic, pragmatic, and highly creative hypermodern calculator. Rather than entering theoretical mainline discussions in heavily analyzed openings, he deliberately steers his opponents into relative sidelines where deep understanding of pawn structures and concrete, engine-assisted calculation take priority.

He treats king safety with concrete pragmatism, frequently delaying castling or choosing queenside castling to support aggressive flank expansions. He is highly proficient in handling space disadvantages, particularly as Black, where he regularly steers games into compact, semi-closed positions. In these structures, he excels at timing pawn breaks to undermine the opponent's center.

Gelashvili frequently employs queenside bishop fianchettos to exert long-term diagonal pressure, showing a distinct fondness for utilizing the bishop pair in open and semi-open middlegames. In transitions to the endgame, he displays a disciplined technical conversion style, excelling in rook-and-minor-piece endings where his active king placement and structural solidity often prove decisive in grinding down opponents.

Opening Repertoire & Theoretical Move Orders

1. As White

Gelashvili is historically recognized as one of the world's premier specialists in queenside fianchetto variations. He has repeatedly utilized 2.b3 systems against various semi-open defenses to bypass mainlines.

• The Snyder Variation (Anti-Sicilian): Gelashvili's signature weapon against the Sicilian Defense is the Snyder Variation, using an early queen's bishop fianchetto to establish long-range control:

  Against the standard continuation of
  , Gelashvili often deploys his light-squared bishop aggressively with
  to establish control over the weakened d5-square.

• The French and Caro-Kann Fianchetto Systems: Gelashvili transposes his queenside bishop-fianchetto concept directly against the French Defense:

  He applies a identical treatment against the Caro-Kann Defense, seeking asymmetrical middlegames:

• Nimzo-Larsen Attack / Reti Opening: Gelashvili also frequently opens with the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, prioritizing rapid flank development:

2. As Black

As Black, Gelashvili avoids highly symmetrical, sterile lines in favor of asymmetrical setups that offer counterplay.

• Philidor Defense (Hanham Variation): Against 1.e4, Gelashvili is one of the most prominent practitioners of the Hanham Variation of the Philidor Defense, utilizing a restricted but highly resilient pawn structure:

  Additionally, he frequently transitions into the Exchange Variation of the Philidor to simplify the center while maintaining excellent defensive coordination:

• Scandinavian Defense: He regularly deploys the Scandinavian Defense with a queen retreat to the a5-square to create immediate imbalances:

• Modern Defense: Against both 1.e4 and 1.d4, Gelashvili deploys the hypermodern Modern Defense to challenge the opponent's center from the wings:

Links

• FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/13600702
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaz_Gelashvili