A SUCCESS STORY

In recent years the Azerbaijani female chess players are as good as male grandmasters. It is no coincidence that in 2022 most of the achievements of Azerbaijan on the chessboard were due to the female athletes. At the recent World Chess Olympiad in India members of the Azerbaijani team, who were left without medals due to a disappointing last round, won the continental championship.

Gunay Mammadzade and Ulviyya Fataliyeva of the Azerbaijani national team opened a new page in Azerbaijani chess by winning silver and bronze medals at the European Women's Championship in the Czech Republic. For the first time in the history of Azerbaijan, the athletes were among the medallists of the continental championship.

Progress during month

In the last, 11th round of the competition based on the Swiss system Gunay Mammadzade (22) played against Alexandra Maltsevska (Poland). Young player played with white pieces and in the 43rd move agreed to a draw. Ulviyya Fataliyeva defeated another representative of our team Gulnar Mammadova in the last round with white pieces. Thus, both players gained 8 points each. As a result, by additional indicators Gunay was ranked second, while Ulviyya took the third place. The winner of the competition attended by a total of 123 athletes was Monika Socko from Poland (8.5 points).

Gunay Mammadzade, who has long been a leader of continental championship, was very close to the gold medal. Mammadzade and Fataliyeva, half a point behind the winner, could have won higher medals had they played more accurately in the previous rounds. At the same time, the performance of both players show that they can play against the world's leading female chess players.

The achievements of Gunay Mammadzade and Ulviyya Fataliyeva, who became the medalists of the European championship, proved that the previous victories of Azerbaijani masters are not accidental. So, at the World Chess Olympiad, which ended on August 10, Khanim Balajayeva (2nd board) was awarded a bronze medal, while Ulviyya Fataliyeva (5^th board) received a silver medal. The success of the national team shows that the level of women's chess in Azerbaijan is improving every year.

Mammadzade and Fataliyeva were among the winners of the last European championship and gained the right to play in the world cup final. Earlier, Gulnar Mammadova also got qualified for this prestigious tournament.

As for the other five players who joined the tournament in Czechia, Gulnar Mammadova became the 15th with 7 points, Govhar Beydullayeva and Khanim Balajayeva took the 19th and 20th places with the same result, Laman Hajiyeva was 23rd and Sabina Ibrahimova was 52nd.

Gunay Mammadzade: "I hope and believe"

The second medalist of the European championship, Gunay Mammadzade, told us that she was very close to get a gold medal: "I expected to win a medal. I fought for the first place. I was only 0.5 points behind the winner. I had a chance to take first place. I hope and believe that I will win the championship in future competitions".

The most difficult encounter, according to Gunay, was against Monika Socko, who is 22 years older than her: "The game with Monika was difficult. I lost the match. After that I had to recover as I had two consecutive games against Armenian chess players Maria Gevorgyan and Elina Danielyan. The victory over Maria helped me win the silver medal".

The chess player said that thanks to this success, she qualified for the 2023 World Cup: "Every success brings with it great motivation. My result at the European championship also gave me a licence for the World Cup. My main goal is to get a good place there and qualify for the Candidates' Tournament and then for the world championships.”

Grandmaster Ulviyya Fataliyeva said she was happy: "Our objective is always to be the best. Making history is always an honour. And I especially enjoyed being at the award ceremony with my teammate Gunay. My most difficult match was against Monika too, who won the gold medal. I tried to use my advantage by playing white pieces but it didn't work. I got a good lead but because of the lack of time I made some mistakes. Nevertheless, I am happy with a draw.”

Our woman chess players on podium

Mahir Mammadov, president of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and vice-president of FIDE, said players can still achieve great success in the future. "The competition in the Czech Republic was prestigious and was attended by the strongest players. The award for successful performance in such competition is very high. All our girls performed well - they increased their rating points. For example, Laman Hajiyeva raised her score to a record level of 95.6 points.”

It is encouraging, Mammadov said, that the players returned from the European championship with medals for the first time. "The encouraging fact is that we have two medals. In fact, our chess players took the podium. Of course, we had a chance to be on the top. Gunay Mammadzade, Gulnar Mammadova and Ulviya Fataliyeva had significant advantage in their matches with the European champion Monika Socko. But at some point they were unlucky.

“Nevertheless, the success of the women's chess team is yet to come, for which they receive all the necessary assistance from the state. There are strong specialists invited from abroad, who work under contract with the chess federation. Our women chess players are preparing for tournaments with great enthusiasm. Our best wishes to all chess lovers out there. The success of our chess players makes us optimistic about the future," Mahir Mammadov said.

There are now two prestigious tournaments ahead of the Azerbaijani chess players. Initially they will compete in the 1st international tournament in Shusha on September 21-24 and then in the European Club Cup in Austria.