TREMENDOUS SUCCESS

The World Youth Chess Championship held on Sardinia, Italy ended with a historic victory for the Azerbaijani sport, when both girls and boys from the national chess team won gold medals in the prestigious competition spanning more than 70 years.

After 14 years

Azerbaijani player Govhar Beydullayeva secured the championship in the U-20 women's competition in the tenth round. She demonstrated great perseverance and skills during the tournament and left an indelible mark in the history of the Azerbaijani chess as the first young chess player to become a world champion. Laman Hajiyeva finished the championship the tenth with 7 points.

Champion among the men players was also a player from Azerbaijan. The 11th decisive round of the championship was between the two representatives of Azerbaijan, Abdulla Gadimbayli and Muhammed Muradli. They played to a draw. As a result, Gadimbeyli and Muradli scored 8 and 7.5 points, respectively. As Adam Kozak (Hungary) leading the competition with 8 points lost to Luuk Laon Mendonca (India), Gadimbeyli could become the world champion thanks to extra coefficients.

Govhar Beydullayeva was fourth in the rankings, but she showed the right opening choice and fought to the end in all her bouts. With a solid performance against most of her opponents, Beydullayeva strengthened her position in the national team and made it to the final stage of the world championship.

As for Abdulla Gadimbeyli, his championship will be a good motivation for his next competitions. Successful performance in Italy made Gadimbeyli the 29th Grandmaster of Azerbaijan.

In fact, in recent years our U-20 chess players have returned home from the world championships without medals. Eltaj Safarli won a bronze medal at the 2008 World Championship. Before him, Shahriyar Mammadyarov won two gold medals and Zeynab Mammadyarova had a bronze medal. Now, fourteen years later, the Azerbaijani chess players achieved a brilliant victory in the world championship. Two gold medals in such a prestigious competition is a very worthy result.

To the memory of the shehid

Newly crowned world champion Abdulla Gadimbeyli shared his impressions with us. He said he was very excited in the last round of the competition: "I played well against everyone. But my last bout was very tough. I was observing my opponents with a lot of excitement after the draw. I knew before the competition that it wasn't going to be easy. I think I demonstrated a decent performance. I thank the federation's management for their trust in us. My next goal is to take part in the World Cup, where I want to do my best. Thanks to all my fans, who shared both my sad and successful moments," Gadimbeyli said, adding that his victory was a tribute to the memory of the fallen soldiers and officers of Azerbaijan.

Govhar Beydullayeva, Azerbaijan’s first-ever 20-year-old world champion, said she would work even harder after her achievement: "I feel proud and happy to bring championship to Azerbaijan. I am also happy for my teammate Abdulla Gadimbeyli who won the U-20 World Championship. It is an unbelievable feeling to listen to our national anthem twice in Italy. I had a successful start. I love all the games I played there. Throughout the whole game in the tenth round against Zala Urh (Slovenia), I had the advantage on my side. I felt I would win and become champion that day. At the same time I was watching the victory of Asel Serikbay (Kazakhstan) over Nurgul Salimova (Bulgaria) and realised that I could win even with a draw. Although I had the advantage on my side, victory seemed quite difficult. Of course, I could win had I decided to continue the game. But I could not use the advantage I had at the beginning of the match. My opponent, on the other hand, had a good chance to continue. With all this in mind, I settled for a draw and became a championship.”

Vice President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Faig Hasanov, described the success of Abdulla Gadimbeyli and Govhar Beydullayeva as a historical result. He said the World U-20 Championship was one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. "Future world champions usually start in this tournament, which has been held since 1951. Chess players like Boris Spassky, Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov are known for their performances in the world youth championships".

Faig Hasanov said that regardless of titles, the winner of this competition is awarded the title of international grandmaster and has the right to participate in the World Cup: "I am very pleased that Abdulla Gadimbeyli could meet the standard of international grandmaster even before the competition and thanks to his performance in the 2021 European championship is qualified for the World Cup.”

As to the tactics of the Azerbaijani chess players, Hasanov said: "Abdulla's performance showed that he remained calm and composed throughout the tournament. He did not lose even once. In the last round his tense struggle ended in a draw. However, he managed to win the championship. After the victory, First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva congratulated our players. We are very pleased, of course. This once again demonstrates that chess has always received necessary care and attention from our state. Chess players also know that the state, the whole nation supports them".