Azerbaijani chess players have kicked off the Chess Olympiad
with victories, Azernews reports.
In the first round, the men's team triumphed over Jordan with a
score of 3.5 to 0.5. Aydin Suleymanlı, Nijat Abasov, and Rauf
Mammadov each secured victories, while Shahriyar Mammadyarov played
to a draw.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani women's team outperformed the team
from Nicaragua, achieving maximum results in the opening round.
Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Govhar Beydullayeva, Khanim Balajayeva, and
Gulnar Mammadova forced their opponents to concede.
The 45th Chess Olympiad is an international team chess event
organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Budapest,
Hungary on September 10-23.
The competition has brought together record-breaking 197 teams
in the Open section and 184 squads in the women's competition. It
is the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Hungary after Budapest
hosted the 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad in 1926.
Azerbaijani men's squad is comprised of Shahriyar Mammadyarov,
Rauf Mammadov, Nijat Abasov, Aydin Suleymanli and Mahammad
Muradli.
The women's squad includes Gunay Mammadzade, Govhar
Beydullayeva, Khanim Balajayeva, Ulviyya Fataliyeva and Gulnar
Mammadova.
Recall that Azerbaijan hosted the 42nd Chess Olympiad in 2016. A
total of 1,587 chess players, with 894 in the Open and 693 in the
Women's event, took part in the Baku Chess Olympiad.
The FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 in Baku also managed to captivate
chess enthusiasts with its high-level competition and thrilling
encounters.
With a highly competitive field of players, the World Cup
offered an exciting platform for showcasing the immense talent and
strategic prowess of top chess players.
The tournament gathered around 206 players in the open section
and 103 in the women's competition.
For centuries, chess has been a popular game in Azerbaijan, with
ancient roots closely related to traditions. The country could
preserve these traditions, as chess remains a crucially popular
sport for now.
The national chess players have always taken high places at
top-ranked tournaments.
For centuries, chess has been a popular game in Azerbaijan, with
ancient roots closely related to traditions. The country could
preserve these traditions, as chess remains a crucially popular
sport for now.
The first references to chess in Azerbaijan can be found in the
works of 12th-century great poets such as Khaqani Shirvani and
Nizami Ganavi, as well as in the works of one of the nation's most
respected literary personalities, Muhammed Fuzuli.
To popularise this original game, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev, who is also the chairman of the National Olympic Committee,
signed in 2009 an executive order initiating a state-supported
chess development program, covering the years 2009-2014.
The Azerbaijan Chess Federation was founded in 1920. Elman
Rustamov has been president of the National Chess Federation since
2007.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr