Baadur Jobava – a Leading Chess Player

Baadur Jobava, 26, is a chess Grandmaster (2001) from Gali, Georgia and born on 26th November, 1983. His FIDE rating is 2696 and World ranking is no. 39 on November 2009.

Coming from a chess loving family, Jobava is one of Georgia’s leading GMs. His brother is an IM and a former junior champion, and the easy going Jobava seems to enjoy the lifestyle of a regular chess professional. He first came to public notice at the turn of the millennium when he rose from a 2430 player to a solid 2550+ GM, and again in 2003 when he won the strong Dubai open.

However, Jobava’s true claim to fame was a result of excellent home preparation. In 2003, at the European club competition held in Greece, he beat the famous GM Bareev with some brilliant home-brewed line which lasted all the way to move 34 when his opponent resigned. This was no fluke, for again in 2004 at the Calvia chess Olympiad, he repeated his homework presentation when he won the scalp of the GM Grischuk. Played in the FIDE incremental time control, when Grischuk was pondering his lost position, the young Jobava had more time on his clock than what he had started with!
Baadur Jobava had an off form year in 2005 and lost quite a few rating points, but he came back with a bang at the end of the year when he took an unshared first at the 2nd edition of the category 17 Samba Cup in Denmark.

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