SILVER CUP

The Macedonian capital greets tourists with monuments to military leader Alexander the Great. The city centre is full of interesting architecture and historical buildings. All of this could be seen thanks to the European Chess Club Cup, in which two Azerbaijani clubs, SOCAR-Azerbaijan and Odlar Yurdu, took part. 

This year saw strong teams at the European Chess Club Cup. First-time participants included Russian team Sibir and the Macedonian team Akoloid, who stood out for their strong players. 

After four victories, SOCAR-Azerbaijan lost to Sibir. The deciding factor was a match between Veselin Topalov, representing the Azerbaijani club, with Russian chess-player Vladimir Kramnik. It's worth noting that the chess-players did not welcome one another. Kramnik, playing white, won an easy victory and gave his club the advantage. Considering the crucial importance of this match between two ex-champions, maybe Topalov should have been given some rest in this round - especially since the advantage on the part of playing white is stronger in such games. 

But already in the sixth round SOCAR-Azerbaijan was again the winner, and a draw in the seventh round with Russian team Medny Vsadnik forced them to settle for second place. Sibir for the first time won the European Chess Club Cup. 

Second place, though prestigious, cannot be considered a success for SOCAR-Azerbaijan, since the team has already won the European Chess Club Cup twice and always aims for the greatest result. Weak playing on the part of some players, however, did not allow them to achieve victory at the tournament. Anish Giri and Fabiano Karuana performed worse than usual, which might be due to their fatigue. Sahriyar Mammadyarov was also not up to his usual standard. Nor did Rauf Mammadov and Eltac Safarli play brilliantly. Veselin Topalov, nevertheless, with the exception of his game with Kramnik, played excellently. Teymur Racabov gave a respectable performance. Michael Adams managed to win in seemingly lost games. The English chess-player was crucial in winning the silver for SOCAR-Azerbaijan at the European Club. It's no accident that Adams got the silver among chess-players who played on the fourth board. 

Another Azerbaijani team, Odlar Yurdu, finished the tournament in 13th place. However, formed from young chess-players, he showed his fighting spirit and turned into a headache for its opponents. An unlucky draw kept the club from entering the top ten. In chess tournaments opponents are usually assigned by a computer program. This time the tournament's chief arbiter, Ashot Vardapetyan, decided to do the draw manually. Of course, this dealt a heavy blow to the image and transparency of the European Chess Club Cup. As a result Odlar Yurdu's opponents were much stronger. 

Azerbaijani Chess Federation vice president and SOCAR-Azerbaijan club head Mahir Mammadov believes that the team performed somewhat below its capabilities. "SOCAR-Azerbaijan always aims high, as the command has strong chess-players from Azerbaijan and around the world. From that point of view, it's hard to call second place a success. We have participated in the European Chess Club Cup six times, winning first place twice, second place twice, and third place once," Mammadov told R+.

He praised the team's playing: "This is the team's third time at the European Cup. At every tournament it puts on an interesting game, last year it even came in fifth. We achieved our goal for this club. We've achieved our goal for this club - all of our players play well and in unison, like one family. When the moment came they were able to create problems for the opponents of our other team, SOCAR-Azerbaijan. They always fought to the very end."

At the same time, the federation's vice president noted problems with the drawing that worked against Odlar Yurdu. 

"We will speak about this with the president of the European Chess Union, Zurab Azmayparashvili. It is essential that we figure out all the details. If in the future, any judge, regardless of nationality, carries out the draw manually, we will not take part in those tournaments. We are strictly against such a practice, even if it is acceptable for the European Chess Union. The main victim of that draw was Odlar Yurdu. The club could have taken a place in the top five if its opponents were teams of equal strength. Captain Emil Sutovski. I hope those guilty will be punished," said Mammadov.

Sahriyar Mammadyarov, however, sees no problem in SOCAR-Azerbaijan taking second place at the European Cup. "Our club did all right. This year the fight was fierce, and new teams appeared. It's not that easy taking second place among fifty clubs, so I congratulate my clubmates on getting the silver medal. Naturally, we were aiming only for first place - the team has won the European Cup twice, after all. But this year the competition was stiff - ten teams were competing for the medals. This year's champion had a strong team, too. It can be said that quality-wise we had equal teams. So second place isn't a tragedy in any way," says Mammadyarov. 

For the Azerbaijani chess-players, the break in Baku will be brief. On November 12 they will take place in the European Team Chess Championship in Reykjavik. The Azerbaijani team will go as champions and attempt to defend their title.