SILVER THAT'S AS GOOD AS GOLD

The European Team Chess Championships in the Greek resort of Porto Carras have ended well for Azerbaijan's chess players. Vladimir Tukmakov's team, who became tournament favourites from the very first round, came second. The Azerbaijani men's team captured everyone's attention after important wins against Russia and Armenia.

Ranked third in Europe, Azerbaijan had a difficult victory over Italy in the opening round of the continental championship. Then fate led the Azerbaijani chess players to face Armenia. The duel was the central match of the second round. Everyone was talking about it, but no one dared to predict the outcome of the match between two strong contenders.

Two years ago, Azerbaijan won the European title in Serbia, while the Armenian national team won the World Team Championship in China.

When the European and world champions met head to head, Azerbaijan's chess players savoured the taste of victory. The world's two strongest players - Teymur Racabov and Levon Aronyan -

tied at the first board. Sahriyar Mammadyarov and Vladimir Akopyan also drew. Now everything depended on Vuqar Hasimov and Qadir Huseynov. The Azerbaijani chess players demonstrated a true desire to win. Although after Qadir Huseynov's victory over Gabriel Sargsyan even a draw at the 20th board would have been enough to bring victory to the Azerbaijani national team, Vuqar Hasimov fought to the end and made Sergey Movsesyan surrender: 3-1. Armenia had been one of the favourites for the championship, so the convincing victory came as a surprise to many.

The Azerbaijani chess players won the third round with the same score. This time Vladimir Tukmakov's team beat the hosts - Greece. Teymur Racabov and Vuqar Hasimov ended their matches in a draw, while Sahriyar Mammadyarov and Eltac Safarli beat the Greek grandmasters.

After three consecutive victories, in the fourth round our chess team failed to beat Spain. At the end, we even came close to defeat. However, Sahriyar Mammadyarov did not give up and  snatched victory from Ivan Salgado, ending the match in a draw.

The European press focussed on the fifth round, when Vuqar Hasimov's health problems showed that the Azerbaijani national team is a single cohesive unit in the truest sense of the word. After the 19th move in the match with France, Vuqar Hasimov suddenly felt unwell and left the game room. Sahriyar Mammadyarov interrupted his game and followed him. Teymur and Eltac also rushed to help. Of course, Vuqar could not continue the game in this state, but the referee could have declared him defeated. The French grandmasters didn't allow this to happen. They opted for fair play and offered a draw on all boards. Our team accepted the offer, ending the match ahead of time. An examination showed that Vuqar's blood pressure had soared.

However, it was Vuqar who rescued the team in the sixth round when Azerbaijan beat the great chess power, Russia. Vuqar Hasimov tied with Aleksandr Grishchuk, Sahriyar Mammadyarov with Sergey Karyakin and Qadir Huseynov with Yan Nepomnyashchiy. The national team leader, Teymur Racabov, also distinguished himself with a resounding victory over Peter Svidler. The final score was 2.5:1.5 in favour of the Azerbaijani team.

In the seventh round, our players met the national team of Bulgaria, which was regarded as a "middling team" in the competition. Led by the world champion Veselin Topalov, the team was simply defeated - 3.5:0.5.

The Azerbaijani team's triumphal progress was interrupted in the eighth round, when we lost to Germany because of a small error. Despite this, the team pulled themselves together and showed what they could to in the final round, beating Romania 3-1. Azerbaijan had accomplished the minimum programme.

Unfortunately, nothing depended on our guys any more. The fate of the tournament was decided in the match between Germany and Armenia. Even a draw in this match could have made us two-time European champions, but the German players, who beat us the day before, also beat the Armenian team. As a result, Germany gained 15 points and became European champions for the first time. The Azerbaijani chess players, who had scored one point less, became silver medallists, while the Hungarian national team, which had 13 points, won the bronze medal with the help of additional indicators.

Azerbaijan's chess players showed true teamwork in Greece to become vice-champions of Europe. Teymur Racabov, who played at the first board, confirmed that he is the leader of the team. Despite health problems, Vuqar Hasimov also supported the team and gained a crucial victory. Scoring 7 points out of 9, Sahriyar Mammadyarov became the most productive grandmaster of the tournament in individual performances. The new member of the national team, Eltac Safarli, also lived up to Vladimir Tukmakov's expectations. Thus, despite the silver medal, the Azerbaijani national team put in a true champion's performance.

Unfortunately, the fairer sex failed to do so well. Fikrat Sideifzada's team gained only 8 points, ending up in 20th place. The women's tournament was won by Russia, who scored 17 points. Second and third places were taken by Poland and Georgia respectively.

FIRSTHAND

"The Azerbaijani chess players added another bright page to the history of our chess. Until recently, we were bronze medallists; two years ago, we became champions of the continent, and now we have been awarded the silver medal of the European Championship. Every member of the team put in top class performances. They proved that Azerbaijan is a chess country, and our team is one of the strongest."

Mahir Mammadov, vice-president of the Chess Federation of Azerbaijan