Timur Gareyev

Overview

Timur Gareyev (often spelled Gareev) is an Uzbekistani-born chess Grandmaster, born on March 3, 1988. Currently registered under the FIDE flag (federation "NON"), Gareyev earned the Grandmaster title in 2004 at the age of 16, which made him the youngest GM in Asia at the time. He reached a career-high classical FIDE rating of 2682 in February 2013. Gareyev is widely recognized as a highly creative over-the-board tournament player, a collegiate chess champion, a FIDE World Cup competitor, and one of the most prolific blindfold chess exhibitionists in history, holding the Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous blindfolded games.

Biography & Major Career Milestones

Gareyev was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and was introduced to chess at the age of six by his grandfather. By age ten, he was dedicated to rigorous study under correspondence Grandmaster Georgy Borisenko, who had previously trained world-class figures like Viktor Korchnoi and Mark Taimanov. Gareyev won the Asian Under-14 Championship in 2000 at the age of 12. He quickly progressed through the FIDE ranks, earning the FIDE Master title in 2002 and completing his Grandmaster norm requirements in 2003, with the title officially conferred in 2004.

On the national stage in Uzbekistan, Gareyev tied for first place in the 2005 national championship with Anton Filippov and again shared first place in the 2007 Uzbekistani Championship with Vladimir Egin and Anton Filippov.

In 2005, Gareyev moved to the United States to attend the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB). He represented the UTB chess team during two distinct periods (August 2005 to August 2006 and August 2009 to December 2011), driving the team to its first-ever National Collegiate Chess Championship. He graduated with a B.A. in Business Marketing in 2011.

Following his graduation, Gareyev embarked on a highly successful professional path in the United States, securing several major open tournament victories. He was awarded the prestigious Samford Fellowship in 2012 to support his chess development. His major tournament wins and high placements include:

• Co-winner of the Liberty Bell Open in 2008 and 2009.
• Champion of the Arizona International in 2009 and 2010.
• Winner of the 20th Annual Chicago Open in 2011.
• Winner of the Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational in 2011.
• Tied for third place in the 2013 U.S. Chess Championship.
• Champion of the Far West Open in Reno, Nevada, in 2014.
• Champion of the IX Festival International de Xadrez Figueira Da Foz in Portugal in 2015, scoring a dominant 8.5/9.
• Winner of the Doeberl Cup (Australia's largest open) in 2018.
• Winner of the Japfa Indonesia Tournament in 2018.
• Champion of the 119th U.S. Open in 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin.
• Co-winner of the Kenya Open Chess Championship in 2023.

In addition to standard tournament play, Gareyev carved out a unique competitive identity as the "Blindfold King". His simultaneous blindfold exhibitions grew progressively larger, starting with a 19-game exhibition in Cypress, Texas, in 2012, followed by a 33-board exhibition in St. Louis in May 2013 (scoring 29 wins, 4 draws, and 0 losses). In March 2016, he completed a 35-board exhibition in Santa Clara, California. On December 3–4, 2016, Gareyev set the Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous blindfolded chess games by playing 48 games at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Over a grueling span of 19 hours and 9 minutes, during which he pedaled a stationary exercise bike to maintain physical focus, Gareyev scored 35 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses (80.2% score).

Gareyev officially represented the Uzbekistan Chess Federation until transferring to the United States Chess Federation (USCF) in 2012. In March 2024, his FIDE registration was transferred to the neutral FIDE flag (federation "NON").

Elite Team & Event Performance

• 36th Chess Olympiad (2004): Represented Uzbekistan as the first reserve board in Calvià, Spain. He delivered an individual score of 8/11 (+6, =4, -1), contributing to Uzbekistan's team performance.
• 37th Chess Olympiad (2006): Represented Uzbekistan on Board 3 in Turin, Italy, finishing with a score of 5.5/10 and earning a 5th-place individual board finish.
• Asian Team Chess Championship (2008): Represented Uzbekistan on the top board (Board 1), leading the team to a 4th-place finish.
• FIDE World Cup (2021): Represented the United States in Sochi, Russia. In Round 1, he defeated IM Tin Jingyao of Singapore (4-2 after rapid and blitz tiebreaks). In Round 2, he pulled off an upset by defeating GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia (2.5-1.5 after rapid tiebreaks), before being eliminated in Round 3 by GM Amin Tabatabaei.

Playing Style, Material Tendencies & Endgame Profiling

Gareyev's playing style is highly dynamic, unconventional, and hyper-aggressive. He is a creative calculator who thrives in chaotic, concrete, and theoretically neglected positions. Rather than striving for standard positional equality, Gareyev actively invites early structural imbalances, even if they compromise his own king safety or pawn structure.

His deep visualization skills—highly refined through his extensive blindfold training—allow him to navigate messy, non-linear tactical lines. Gareyev regularly uses speculative pawn sacrifices and gambits in the opening to seize a temporal initiative, treating time and piece activity as superior assets to raw material. He is highly comfortable handling atypical material imbalances, including exchange sacrifices and unbalanced minor piece skirmishes.

Defensively, Gareyev is exceptionally tenacious. In compromised or inferior positions, he avoids passive defense, choosing instead to generate counter-threats and complicate the board to provoke tactical errors from his opponents. In the endgame, he is an active and alert converter who utilizes highly active king marches and tactical resources to save compromised endgames or convert marginal advantages.

Opening Repertoire & Theoretical Move Orders

Gareyev's opening preparation is characterized by practical sidelines, sharp gambits, and systems designed to disrupt an opponent's home preparation. He frequently adopts hypermodern setups and early asymmetric pushes.

1. As White

Gareyev's primary move choice is 1.d4, though he possesses a vast, highly unpredictable flank repertoire including 1.b4, 1.Nf3, and 1.g4.

• The Trompowsky Attack: This is Gareyev's signature weapon against 1...Nf6. He is a primary theoretical expert on the system, having produced video instructional guides detailing its tactical ideas:

  In the main line after 2...d5, Gareyev regularly opts to compromise the black pawn structure:

• The Grob Opening: He frequently employs 1.g4 in rapid, blitz, and exhibition games to shock opponents and prompt early tactical errors:

  In his competitive practice, he has played extreme gambit variations within this line:

• The Polish (Sokolsky) Opening: Gareyev has used the Polish Opening to bypass theoretical lines and establish asymmetric queenside play:

• The Reti / Double Fianchetto: When playing more positional lines, Gareyev frequently steers the game into double-fianchetto systems:

2. As Black

Against both open and closed systems, Gareyev aims for counter-attacking chances and complex middlegames.

• The Ruy Lopez: Against 1.e4, Gareyev often enters the classical systems of the Ruy Lopez:

• The Caro-Kann Defense: When seeking a sturdier defensive barrier, Gareyev utilizes the Caro-Kann:

• The Sicilian Defense: Employed when seeking highly asymmetric, sharp counter-play:

• The Queen's Indian Defense: Against 1.d4, Gareyev frequently deploys the Queen's Indian, meeting the standard white fianchetto system with:

• The King's Indian Defense: Used as a primary dynamic response to closed setups:

Links

• FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/14200937
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur_Gareyev