If the phrase "been there, done that" was a chess person, it would have to be Rustam Kasimdzhanov. That's because he has gone through the entire "lifecycle" of a pro chess player — and excelled in every phase!
Born in 1979 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Kasimdhzanov wasted no time climbing the rating ladder, and bagged the grandmaster title at 18 years of age.
An impressive feat on its own. But the Uzbek chess superstar outdid himself just a year later, when he finished clear first at the 1998 Asian Chess Championship with a full point over second place.
After this milestone, every year in Kasimdzhanov's career had a stellar tournament performance as its highlight.
Second place in the 1999 World Junior Championship... clear first and undefeated at the 3rd Julian Borowski Tournament in Essen, Germany... first at the 2002 Pamplona Tournament despite a terrible start... and clear first in the 7th Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament ahead of many 2600-super grandmasters.
However, Kasimdzhanov's biggest success in the international competitive stage came in 2004, when he won the FIDE World Chess Championship in Tripoli, Libya.
Ranked 54 in the world at the time, and after a shaky first round against the then-16-year-old Alejandro Ramirez, Kasimdzhanov was clearly not among the favorites.
One of the top four seeds — Veselin Topalov, Michael Adams, Alexander Grischuk, and Vasyl Ivanchuk — was expected to win the tournament. Yet after six rounds of mini-matches, it was Kasimdzhanov who defeated all of them and raised the trophy. Thanks in no small part to his razor-sharp tactical play and nerves of steel.
He failed to win the 2005 edition of FIDE's championship tour, and he could've retired right there in good conscience.
But he didn't!
Kasimdzhanov remained active in the tournament circuit, and won a number of notable events.
Then in 2008, he joined the team of the 15th World Champion Vishy Anand, and helped the latter successfully defend his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008... Veselin Topalov in 2012... and Boris Gelfand in 2012.
Kasimdzhanov also coached the German national team which 2011 European Team Championship. And most recently, he trained title contenders Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana.
Kasimdzhanov has been a chess professional, in every sense of the word, for over 30 years now. And now that he's a Chessable author, you're only a few clicks away from reaping the benefits of hard-won experience and analysis.
