Ehsan Ghaem Maghami is an eminent Iranian chess player who was born on July 10, 1982, in Tehran. Earning the title of Grandmaster (GM) in 2000, Maghami is the first Iranian chess player to attain GM status. He has a large number of accomplishments in chess, including winning the Iranian championships nine times and the Asian chess championship once.
Maghami has represented Iran in various international tournaments, including the Chess Olympiads and the Asian Team Chess Championships. He also holds the Guinness World Record for playing 500 games of chess in 2011 over 25 hours, winning 90% of them.
Maghami encountered widespread media attention when he refused to play against an Israeli player at the Corsica Masters rapid chess tournament in France in 2011, as a protest against Israel's political actions. He was disqualified as a result of this protest.
Beyond his time on the chess board, Maghami attended law courses at university and is a member of chess departments at Iran's physical education university. Maghami is happily married to WGM Shayesteh Ghader Pour, an accomplished chess player herself, who plays internationally for Iran.