Baadur Jobava, in 2010, defeated current world champion Magnus Carlsen, who has recently drawn comparisons to chess legend Bobby Fischer.
The 29-year-old Carlsen, then the world No 1, went on to claim his first chess championship title three years later.
Jobava made his debut in Bangladesh with the Premier Division Chess League as its prize-giving ceremony was held at National Sports Council Auditorium Wednesday.
The Georgian Grandmaster made it a debut to remember by winning the title with Bangladesh Police, and also securing the individual first board prize trophy.
Police emerged as the unbeaten champion in the Walton Refrigerator Premier Division Chess Leaque after beating Janata Bank Officer Welfare Society comfortably by 3.5-0.5 game points in the last round at the National Sports Council auditorium lounge.https://t.co/XPLeo6IN5u#BCF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 17, 2019
Club championship usually provides the professional chess players financial rewards, unlike the normal tournaments where one has to achieve a particular result to get the prize money.
“But it is not only about money,” said Jobava before adding, “(Also) because of travelling different countries to see different culture. I play all over Europe and also in other countries like China and Cuba. But this is the first time in this region (south Asia), and I hope it’s not the last time.”
It was through his Georgian teammate Mikheil Mehedlishvili and south Asia’s first GM Niaz Morshed through whom Jobava made his way to Bangladesh.
“Atmosphere is very good here and we enjoyed the city and hospitality. We are happy because we were bit lucky than the rivals in the key match (against last year’s champion Saif Sporting Club),” said Jobava.
Mohammad Fahad Rahman talked about his confidence, preparation for the big event and his chess life to @DhakaTribune in an exclusive interview.https://t.co/JTgWnmF3Qy#MOHAMMADFAHADRAHMAN #MOHAMMAD #FAHAD #RAHMAN #CHESS #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHCHESS #BCF #FAHADRAHMAN
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) May 3, 2019
Now 36 years old, Jobava met a then 15-year old Carlsen for the first time 14 years ago, and won the first duel.
“I met him first time in 2005 but he was just a kid of 14 or something like that. It was easy but it was very hard game when we faced in Olympiad,” said Jobava.
Jobava and Carlsen faced off against each other again during the Chess Olympiad in Russia five years later.
“It was team competition of the Chess Olympiad. He was world No 1 at that time. He was out of shape but still played well, and it was good game. Overall, I won twice and he won twice against me, so it’s equal. He is real champion,” said Jobava.
