In chess history, very few players can be legitimately called "Giant Slayer" — and Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch is one of them.
His peak rating of 2737 FIDE was enough to break through the world top 20. But while he's hardly an underdog nowadays, his way to the top was a spectacular David-versus-Goliath story.
Born in 1985, Naiditsch took his first steps in chess in Riga, Latvia. The birthplace of legendary attackers Mikhail Tal (8th World Champion) and Alexei Shirov (former world #2).
Immersing in Latvia's rich chess culture proved fruitful for the soon-to-be-grandmaster as he won the 1995 European Under-10 Championships. But in 2005, his family moved to Germany, which he would represent for the next 10 years.
The same year saw him make his first mark as a "Giant Slayer," and deliver his best tournament performance to date.
The 19-year-old Naiditsch entered the 2005 Dortmund Sparkassen as the lowest rated player in the event. So most fans didn't even consider him in their top 5 predictions. Yet when the dust settled, it was Naiditsch who sat atop the scoreboard — finishing clear first ahead of Veselin Topalov (2005 FIDE World Champion), Vladimir Kramnik (14th World Champion), and Peter Leko (2004 World Championship Challenger) among others.
He also finished equal first in the 2013 Tata Steel Tournament (Group B) and the 2013 International Neckar Open.
But while his list of tournament victories impresses, it was in the 2014 Chess Olympiad that Naiditsch caught his biggest fish. Not only did he defeat Magnus Carlsen (16th World Champion) in their individual encounter. He did so by outplaying Carlsen in the endgame — the phase of chess wherein the champ was thought to be invincible.
And when the two met again in the third round of the 2015 GRENKE Chess Classic, Naiditsch was more than happy to give Carlsen another beating, and prove that the first one was no fluke. This time, he precisely defended against the latter's speculative sacrifice and lingering initiative — until his a-pawn reached touchdown to force resignation.
They faced each other once more in the playoffs, and treated fans to a titanic tussle where both sides gave as good as they got. And while Carlsen won the Armageddon and, with it, the tournament, it was the "Giant Slayer" from Latvia who won the people's hearts.
Naiditsch is still an active tournament player. But the past decade saw him branch into chess instruction. He has authored many video courses and books. Mostly game collections which allowed fans to peer into the mind of a top 100 player.
Since joining Chessable as an author, however, he's shared his opening preparation and analysis. So that "giant slayers in training" like you can get the best start in their chess.
