Born in Tbilisi, Georgia on 16th March 1960.
Accomplishments as a chess player:
- Champion of Georgia among students ( schoolboys) – 1973;
- Member of the USSR youth games’ champion Georgian team – 1976;
- USSR Champion among juniors – 1978;
- Vice Champion of Europe among juniors – 1980;
- Champion of Georgia – 1980;
- Many-time Champion and prize-winner of the all-union sports society “Dinamo”;
- Team Championship of USSR – bronze medal winner (1981) and two times silver medal winner (1983; 1985), member of the Georgian team;
- Winner of the USSR Championship semi-final – 1982;
- Member of the silver-winning Georgian team at the USSR Spartakiad – 1983;
- Participant of the USSR top league – 1983, 1986;
- Two-time World Champion of the junior team games – 1983, 1985;
- Participant of charity match – World Team VS. USSR Team – 1988;
- Winner of the GMA World Cup qualification championship – 1990;
- Participant of the final stage at both Stars of Kremlin championships (PCA) – 1993, 1994;
- Winner of the European Club Chess Championship – chess club “Bosna” – Sarajevo – 1994;
- Winner of the Zonal tournament of the World Championship – 1995;
- Participant of every world championship held in knockout system style – 1997 – Groningen, 1996 – Las Vegas, 2000 – Delhi, 2001 – Moscow, 2004 – Tripoli;
- Unchanged leader of the National Team of Georgia at the Chess Olympiads – 1992 – Manila, Board 1 + 4; 1994 – Moscow + 4; 1996 – Yerevan + 2; 1998 – Elista + 6, 2000 – Istanbul + 1; 2002 – Bled + 3; 2004 – Calvia + 2;
- Best Performance Winner of the World Chess Olympiad 1998 in Elista;
- Bronze medal winner of the World Chess Olympiad by the results of Board 1 – 1998;
- First Georgian bronze medal winner of the European Championship in the history of Georgian men chess players – 2001;
- Participant and winner of the first Intercontinental match “Europe-Asia” – 2001;
- Participant of the FIDE Grand Prix – 2002 – Dubai, Moscow;
- Member of the participant and winner Rest of the World team of the New Century match “Russia-Rest of the World” – 2002;
- Bronze medal winner of the European Club Cup – 1999, 2003, club “Kiseljak”;
- Member of the bronze medal winner Georgian team at the European Team Chess Championship – 2003 – Plovdiv;
- Winner and prize winner of Tbilisi, Berlin, Albena, Harare, Havana, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Leon, Toledo, San Sebastian, San Roque, Sydney, Nova Gorica, Singapore, Reggio Emilia, Dos Hermanas, Antwerp, Vung Tau and under-twenty more international tournaments.
- Many-times winner and cup holder of Greece club cups;
- First Champion of Europe in the Georgian chess history – 2003 – Istanbul;
- In 2003, Zurab Azmaiparashvili’s rating exceeded the record 2700 rating in Georgian chess;
- Captain of the European Team Chess Champion winner Azerbaijani chess team – 2009;
- Champion of the ASEAN Chess Confederation – 2010.
Trainer and Organizer career:
- Trainer/secundant of the world’s strongest chess player – Garry Kasparov (1987-1994);
- Trainer of legendary Judit Polgar (1995-1997);
- Trainer of the youngest Grandmaster Étienne Bacrot (1998-1999);
- Trainer of Teimour Radjabov (2000-2002);
- Manager of the Singapore Chess Academy’s training programs (2007-2010);
- Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia (2012-2015);
- Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad (2014-2018);
- Establisher of the Tbilisi International Chess Academy (which holds the status of academy of FIDE) (2010-2019).
Awards, titles and state awards and prizes:
- 1978 – USSR Master of Sport;
- 1980 – Champion of Georgia;
- 1984 – International Master of Sport;
- 1988 – International Grandmaster;
- 1996 – Medal of Honor;
- 2001 – FIDE International Organizer,
- 2002 – Vakhtang Gorgasali’s Order – III rank;
- 2003 – Knight of Sport;
- 2010 – Highest trainers’ award of FIDE – Botvinnik Award
Occupation throughout years:
- 1999-2004 – President of the Black Sea Chess Association;
- 1998-2000 – President of the Georgian Chess Federation;
- 2000-2004 – Co-President of the Georgian Chess Federation;
- 2004-2010 – FIDE Vice President;
- 2007-2010 – Manager of the training programs of the Singapore Chess Academy;
- 2012-2015 – First Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia;
- 2014 – Today – President of the European Chess Union;