AN HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY

For the second time in a row Azerbaijan's leading chess player Teymur Racabov will be taking part in the World Championship candidates' tournament. Although the Azerbaijani grandmaster failed to win his ticket to the tournament based on the results of personal matches, the competition organizers invited him, taking into account his excellent play in recent months.

Racabov currently lies fifth in the world rankings. The silver medal he won recently in the super tournament at Wijk aan Zee was further confirmation that it is not by chance that the Azerbaijani grandmaster is currently among the leaders.

It will be recalled that last year Teymur lost to Vladimir Kramnik at the world candidates' tournament after a fairly dramatic struggle. Four classical moves by the grandmasters ended in a draw. But during a fast game, when the advantage was with Teymur, the clock suddenly broke down and the match was stopped. It was only after a 12-minute break that the game resumed and Kramnik was able to triumph.

Teymur's progress in the world rankings this season has enabled the Azerbaijani Chess Federation to "switch to the offensive". Baku has nominated its candidate for the tournament. But the refusal of the Armenian chess player, Levon Aronyan, to come to Azerbaijan has forced FIDE to reject this proposal. However groundless Aronyan's refusal to travel to Baku may have been, one can understand the world chess structure's decision. Holding a tournament without the participation of one of its strongest players would have been illogical. Taking this into account the right to organize the competition was allocated to London. Azerbaijan had undertaken the financing of the tournament, thereby ensuring Teymur Racabov's inclusion among the nominees.

The candidates' tournament will be organized in October by the AQON company, which was founded by the American businessman, Andrew Paulson. It was this company that invited Teymur to take part in the tournament.

It should be mentioned that the competition will be quite high. Suffice to say that the right to wage the struggle for the chess crown will be disputed by Magnus Carlsen, who leads the world rankings, Levon Aronyan, who is in second place, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, winner and World Cup medal winners Peter Svidler, Alexander Grishchuk, Vasiliy Ivanchuk and Teymur Racabov. Apart from them, depending on who wins the fight for the title of current world champion, there is also Viswanathan Anand or Boris Gelfand. The prize fund for this tournament stands at 510,000 euros.

"Our main aim was to ensure the participation of one of our chess players in the candidates' tournament and we have achieved that. We will be represented by Teymur Racabov who has given solid performances and is worthy of his high ranking. But the reason for holding the tournament in London is the refusal of Levon Aronyan and Magnus Carlsen to travel to Azerbaijan. As far as Aronyan is concerned, the question is clear, but as for Carlsen, he often opposes FIDE. For that reason we did not want to spoil our relations with the supreme chess organization and so we withdrew Baku's candidature. On the other hand, the summer Olympic Games will be held in London in 2012. It would not be a bad thing, alongside physical strength, to demonstrate high intellect in the British capital two months later. And, finally, 2012 has been declared a Year of Sport in Azerbaijan. In this connection, an advertising campaign will be carried out not only within the country but also abroad. The sponsoring by Azerbaijan of the candidates' tournament will be an excellent opportunity to advertise the country," Mair Mammadov, the president of the Azerbaijani Chess Federation, said.

According to Mammadov, should Azerbaijan's player win the chess candidates' tournament, Baku will put forward its nomination to organize the meeting for the chess crown. Otherwise, the question of candidature will be considered by the National Chess Federation.

Now the main topic of discussion must be the programme to prepare Teymur Racabov for the competition. In the opinion of experts, a special team should work with Racabov. The tournament begins on 23 October, enough time for reflection.