SOCAR-AZERBAIJAN - SECOND IN EUROPE

If you are suddenly planning a trip to Slovenia, then Rogaska Slatina, a unique thermal resort with 400 years of history, should be at the top of your list of places to visit. Its many thermal springs, historical sites and modern tourist infrastructure make this spa town very attractive for foreigners.

But on this occasion Rogaska Slatina found itself at the centre of attention for quite a different reason. At the beginning of October the European Club Chess Championships were held in this small Slovenian town and the SOCAR-Azerbaijan team came back with the silver medal.

Azerbaijan made its debut in this prestigious competition last year. And now, in its second year, SOCAR-Azerbaijan has achieved second place among 64 clubs on the continent. During the seven-round marathon the Azerbaijani players showed true fighting spirit. After defeat to Bosnia in the third round there was scepticism about SOCAR-Azerbaijan's chances of a medal. But the Azerbaijani grandmasters achieved the impossible by winning four matches in a row. And in the final rounds our team beat such strong opponents as Russia's Tomsk-400 and Germany's Baden-Baden. The team of the Azerbaijani state oil company was only one point away from a gold medal.

In analysing SOCAR-Azerbaijan's performance one could see that after its victories in the first two rounds, the leader in the ratings table took its foot off the pedal and was sensationally beaten in the third round by the Bosnian club Bosna. But some inspired play in the last two stages saw the Azerbaijani team finish second.

Teymur Racabov has to take credit for SOCAR-Azerbaijan's victory. Playing on the first board, Racabov was up against the competition's strongest grandmasters. Despite this, he was able to win 4.5 out of a possible 5 points, thus outstripping his team mates. Concluding his matches with Ruslan Ponomarev and Michael Adams with checkmate, Teymur was awarded the gold medal for most points. Naturally, his victories in the European Club Cup will also affect his ratings. Racabov, who has played confidently in the past few months, won a record number of ratings points in Azerbaijani chess history - 2,781 - and moved up to fifth in the world ratings table. Teymur thus beat Shahriyar Mammadyarov's record of 2,776 points.

Shahriyar himself, unfortunately, was unable to shake off his losing streak. The senior member of the Mammadyarov chess family must take a serious look at the reasons for his two defeats in the European Cup and draw the appropriate conclusions. Shahriyar must recover his best form before the World Cup. Otherwise he can say goodbye to his current position in the national team.

The same can be said of Rauf Mammadov. He must also get back his old form and rating. It was because of his poor form in recent months that Mammadov was dropped from the national team.

Meanwhile, another Azerbaijani chess player - Aleksandr Grischuk - was fairly successful. Despite nursing a cold, he managed to defeat Aleksey Shirov in the final round. This was one of his best matches.

Emil Sutovsky, Andrey Volokitin and Rustam Kasimjanov also justified the hopes placed in them.

The reserve, Eltac Safarli, also did well. Awarded the bronze medal for most points on the sixth board, Eltac got the chance to be invited to the national side and to pursue more ambitious goals.

And so, the results which SOCAR-Azerbaijan brought back from Slovenia, in particular their victory over the chess giants of the continent, give optimism for this young club's future.

Next year the Azerbaijani Chess Federation plans to hold the Candidates Tournament in Baku, according to the FIDE management. Levon Aronyan's possible refusal to take part in it may prevent this prestigious tournament from being held in the Azerbaijani capital. Serzh Sargsyan, the head of the Armenian Chess Federation, is cleverly manipulating this in order to prevent Azerbaijan staging prestigious chess competitions. It was because of Aronyan's refusal to go to Baku that last season FIDE granted Kazan the right to stage the tournament. However, Azerbaijan is again prepared to grant Levon Aronyan guarantees of security in the same way as it provides security for Armenian participants in other international events held in Baku.