I am an Azerbaijani chess Grandmaster, coach, author, and the founder of ChessEver. I am based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Chess career
I was born on February 24, 1992, in Sumqayit, Azerbaijan, and began playing chess as a child. At 14, I became the youngest player to represent Azerbaijan at a Chess Olympiad.
My early results included second place in the 2006 European Youth Championship Under-14, winning the 2006 World Youth Championship Under-14, and winning the 2010 European Youth Championship Under-18.
I received the International Master title in 2007 and became a Grandmaster in 2010.
I have won the Azerbaijani Chess Championship twice, in 2021 and 2023. At the 2021 FIDE World Cup, I reached the fifth round after defeating Dmitry Sklyarov, Alexandr Predke, David Navara, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Coaching
I have coached players of different ages and levels, from ambitious juniors and adult improvers to titled competitors. I have also worked as a second for GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
My coaching focuses on understanding the player first: identifying recurring weaknesses, analyzing decision-making, and building a practical training plan around the positions that actually appear in their games.
One of my students, Ruben Quintans, became the youngest player in US Chess history to cross the 2000 rating threshold, at seven years, two months, and six days. US Chess credited both me and Tongsen Wang as his coaches.
Learn about private chess lessons →
Writing
I write about tournament chess, preparation, improvement, chess psychology, and the conditions facing professional players. I am also the author of 2021 in 52 Games, a collection built around notable and instructive games from that year.
ChessEver
I founded ChessEver after years of frustration with how difficult it was to follow professional chess. Live boards, commentary, standings, player information, and preparation tools were scattered across disconnected products.
ChessEver is my attempt to build a better experience around the complete journey: discover an event, follow the games, understand what is happening, save important ideas, and return later to analyze and prepare.
It brings together my experience as a professional player, chess fan, and product founder without changing the purpose of this website: durarbayli.com remains my personal home for chess writing, coaching, photographs, and media.