Idman.biz
Azerbaijani grandmaster Teymur Rajabov has avoided being removed from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) rating.
Idman.Biz reports that today FIDE announced the new rating of chess players on the planet as of March 1. There, Rajabov could have moved to the status of an inactive grandmaster, in which case his rating would not be reflected in the general list.
This happens when a chess player does not hold any rating games for a year. It was exactly one year in February 2026 since Rajabov played his last game with classical time control. Last February, he played in the Azerbaijan Championship.
Thus, in order not to lose his active player status and for his indicator to be visible in both the general list and the Azerbaijani rating, Rajabov recently played four classic games in Moscow with Indian chess player Raunak Sadhvani (2638). All of these games ended in a draw, and as a result, Teymur lost three points, after which his ELO score is 2689. It seems that this mini-match in Moscow was played precisely to maintain the status of an active player and to ensure that Rajabov's rating is taken into account in our country's indicators.
Nevertheless, this did not help Azerbaijan maintain its previous positions in the list of chess states, where the average rating of the top ten chess players is taken into account. As a result, Azerbaijan dropped from seventh to 11th place in the March rating with 2612 points. The decline was caused by the decline in the ratings of Shahriyar Mammadyarov (2713), Rauf Mammadov (2636) and Nijat Abasov (2583). Aydin Suleymanli's (2653) 25-point advance did not save the situation.
It should also be noted that Azerbaijani chess player Vasif Durarbayli was removed from the rating in January of this year for not holding any official games for a year. His transition to inactive status also negatively affected Azerbaijan's performance. If Durarbayli holds a rating game, he will regain his active chess player status.
