1 Garry Kasparov in the Linares tournament, followed by victories over former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov the same year.

He has thrice competed at the Candidates Tournament, in 2011, 2013, and 2022 (where he obtained third place); he also qualified for the 2020 edition but withdrew due to the coronavirus pandemic.

[2][3][4][5] Radjabov started playing chess at age three and attended secondary school number 160 in Baku.

Despite being the youngest of the participants, Radjabov in 1999 won the European Under 18 Championship, with the six years older Evgeny Postny in second place.

In the FIDE Moscow Grand Prix rapid event in June, he won matches against Ivanchuk, Svidler, Beliavsky, and Akopian before losing the final to Kasparov ½–1½.

In an interview in 2005, Radjabov claimed that Kasparov used his influence to prevent him from being invited to top tournaments after he defeated him at Linares 2003.

[12] Radjabov participated in 2004 Linares, where he scored +2−2=8 and shared fourth place with Veselin Topalov, one point behind winner Vladimir Kramnik, after drawing both his games against Garry Kasparov.

[14] On February 22, 2006, Radjabov defeated FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov (2801) with the black pieces[15] and subsequently finished second in Linares/Morelia after scoring +4−2=8 in the tournament.

[18] In January 2007, Radjabov shared first place at the Category 19 Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee with Veselin Topalov and Levon Aronian, ahead of Kramnik and Anand.

[21] Later the same month he shared third in Wijk aan Zee together with World Champion Viswanathan Anand after beating him with white, finishing ½ from first (+3−1=9).

[27] In Wijk aan Zee Radjabov shared second place with Aronian and Sergei Movsesian, ½ behind winner Sergey Karjakin.

[28] He finished fifth on tiebreak in Linares after scoring his only win in the tournament against Aronian,[29] and was undefeated in Bazna in June, even if he only won once, against Gata Kamsky.

[33] In Bazna the following month Radjabov shared second place with Boris Gelfand after beating him in both their individual games (Carlsen won the tournament).

[35] In his 2011 Candidates quarterfinal in Kazan, Radjabov was eliminated by Vladimir Kramnik in the blitz tiebreak, after a controversial incident of chess clock malfunction.

In January, Radjabov competed in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee; the field included among others, world No.

[39] Radjabov scored +3−0=10 and tied for second place with Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, a point behind winner Levon Aronian.

In the same year, he won the bronze medal at the World Rapid Chess Championship behind Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

In the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Radjabov played for Azerbaijan and scored +6−0=4 with a notable victory over Wesley So.

In January 2019, Radjabov returned to Tata Steel Chess Tournament and placed seventh by earning 6.5 points (+1−1=11).

Citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and what he considered FIDE's inadequate attempts to deal with it, Radjabov withdrew from the 2020 Candidates tournament on March 6, 2020.

In an interview with Daniel Rensch and Robert Hess, he stated: "I think FIDE should take some action to include me back into the tournament, that's what I think.

[51] Members of the Azerbaijani national chess team signed an open letter in support of his reinstatement.

In the semifinals, Radjabov defeated Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who had upset then-world chess champion and tournament favorite Magnus Carlsen in the quarter-finals.

Radjabov has been called an excellent counter-attacker, adept at seizing control after an opponent makes a minor mistake.

Radjabov had a bad position (diagram), but played a courageous piece sacrifice that disconcerted Kasparov.

Radjabov's knight sacrifice, 21...Ngxe5, was praised by several strong players for its bravery, including English grandmaster Nigel Short: Radjabov plays very imaginatively... he just won't give up, he is extremely tenacious and will always find a way to muddy the waters to throw you off track.

Here he unbalances Kasparov completely, disturbing his rhythm of play... That was the point of Radjabov's sacrifice – it was not sound but it gave him these practical chances.

[59] However, the sacrifice was called "desperation" by GM Miguel Illescas, and according to Chessbase.com, "The Grandmasters we have talked to praised Radjabov's resilience in a bad position but criticized the game as unworthy of a prize because it was based on blunders.

They were confident that Radjabov would become an outspoken and active advocate for the cause, using his great talents to inspire young people.