FIRST LEGIONNAIRE

After the first European Games Baku-2015, Azerbaijan will host another major competition next year. It is the Chess Olympiad to be held in our capital. We can already say that the upcoming Olympiad will be quite different from the previous ones by the number of participants, as the Chess Olympiad 2016 will be attended by about 200 teams (male and female). Ambitious teams are going to vie for a place on the podium. It is no secret that one of these teams is the home team of the tournament - Azerbaijan.

The men's national chess team of Azerbaijan has pleased fans with bright victories in recent years. Our grandmasters are two-time Euro-pean champions and two-time winners of the European Cup. Now they dream of winning the Olympiad to be held at home. That is why the Azerbaijan Chess Federation (ASF) decided to reinforce the team. To succeed in such a prestigious competition, it is very important have in the team a grandmaster who stably plays behind any board. That is why the ASF noticed Arkadij Naiditsch, who became a European champion as a member of the German national team.

Negotiations with the German Chess Federation about the transfer of Naiditsch ended successfully. In accordance with the FIDE regulations, the ASF paid the German Federation 50,000 euros in compensation. Arriving in Baku after that, Naiditsch read the terms and signed the contract. According to international rules, the grandmaster can play for another country two years after playing his last game for the previous national team. Therefore, Naiditsch has the opportunity to play for Azerbaijan at the European Championships this autumn.

Arkadij Naiditsch has been known to chess fans long enough. He comes from Riga. He became the winner of a prestigious tournament in Dortmund. And in 2011, he played a decisive role in the German team winning gold medals at the European Championships. Having beaten Teymur Racabov in the final round on the first board, Naiditsch brought Germany to victory.

However, despite the success of the German national team, Arkadij Naiditsch had tense relations with officials of the local federation. The reason was that the German Chess Federation did not provide financial support to the strongest players. Therefore, accepting the invitation that came from Azerbaijan, Naiditsch immediately agreed to defend the honour of the Azerbaijani national team at the Olympic Games in 2016.

Naiditsch's presence in the national team of Azerbaijan will boost competition in it. As the host country, Azerbaijan will nominate six teams at the Olympics - three men's and three women's teams. The national team already includes Sahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Racabov and Arkadij Naiditsch. For the remaining two seats, the federation will have to choose among three candidates - Eltac Safarli, Rauf Mammadov and Qadir Huseynov. It is possible that the ASF will invite one more foreign chess player to the team.

Arkadij Naiditsch, who will go down in the history of chess in our country as the first foreign grandmaster playing for the national team of Azerbaijan, told R+ of his decision: "The ASF offer interested me. Azerbaijan has always had strong players. This team has become a champion of the continent many times. Playing in a strong team is a great honour. Besides that, I know chess players playing for Azerbaijan. I have a lot of respect for them. Playing together, we will aspire to more."

ASF Vice President Mahir Mammadov said the invitation of Arkadij Naiditsch to the national team of Azerbaijan is the right step. According to him, after the untimely loss of Vuqar Hasimov, the team needed another strong chess player: "As you know, the Azerbaijani national team has always fought for medals. Previously, the team had three grandmasters with a rating above 2,700 - Sahriyar Mammad-yarov, Teymur Racabov and Vuqar Hasimov. The untimely death of Vuqar somewhat weakened our team. Of course, Eltac Safarli, Rauf Mammadov and Qadir Huseynov are constantly working on themselves. However, we needed a grandmaster with a higher rating. In the world of chess, it is standard practice for sportsmen to play for the national team of another country. The teams of other states have many famous grandmasters. Naiditsch is familiar to our chess fans. He has achieved some success. We hope that with the arrival of Arkadij Naiditsch, our team will aspire to more. The team wants to be among the winners of the Chess Olympiad to be held in Baku. Therefore, we decided to reinforce the team. I have no information about the invitation of other players to the national team in the future. We take every decision after consultations not only with the leadership of the federation, but also with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Therefore, it is not possible to talk about it now. Our main focus is on preparing for the World Cup to be held in Baku in September."

It should be noted that the contract with Arkadij Naiditsch has been concluded until the end of next year. The debut of the foreign grandmaster in the national team can take place before the Chess Olympiad. In autumn, Iceland will host the European Championship. If the ASF leadership wishes, Naiditsch will fly the flag for Azerbaijan at this championship.