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Despite a successful start of the 43^rd Chess Olympiad for the Azerbaijani national team, it still failed to conquer the Olympus in Batumi.

The men's national team of Azerbaijan was the same as at the Baku Olympics two years ago: Shahriyar Mammadyarov (2820), Teymur Rajabov (2751), Arkady Naidich (2721), Rauf Mammadov (2699), and Eltaj Safarli (2676). The captain of the team was Gadir Huseynov. The women's national team headed by Fikret Sideifzade included Gunay Mammadzadeh (2438), Zeynab Mammadyarova (2358), Gulnar Mammadova (2355), Khanym Balajayeva (2326) and Ulviya Fataliyeva (2320).

There were no problems with the preparation for the tournament. All members of the women's team, Rauf Mammadov, and Eltaj Safarli, held weekly training sessions in Gakh, and Teymur Rajabov and Arkady Naidich completed the preparation stage in Batumi, where they had been before. Only the leader of the national team, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, had to prepare for the Olympic Games in Baku - family circumstances prevented him from going to the training camp in Gakh.

It is not the first time that Azerbaijani chess players are only a step away from success. Four years ago at the Olympiad held in the Norwegian city of Troms, the men's national team of Azerbaijan was the sole leader until the fourth round. After the "peaceful" outcome of the game with the national team of Romania, we became only the fifth. In 2010, in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia), our women's national team scored the same number of points as the third-place Georgian national team. However, according to additional indicators, we were only the seventh.

Although the men's national team of Azerbaijan joined the battle in Batumi, being in fourth place by rating, a draw with the Polish team in the seventh round was the beginning of a black line for our players. As a result, the team did not hold the lead, and the subsequent three defeats in a row cancelled all our hopes for success. As a result, the men's team of Azerbaijan became 15^th with 15 points.

The women's team of Azerbaijan, which eventually became the eleventh strongest team of the tournament, demonstrated a more stable performance, claiming medals right up to the very end of the tournament. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese national team, as well as the results of other meetings, prevented this intention by a draw at the eleventh round. Either way, Azerbaijani chess players managed to jump above their heads - 16 points and 10^th place!

At the same time, representatives of Azerbaijan distinguished themselves in performances on separate boards. Teymur Rajabov won the bronze medal on the second, and Rauf Mammadov - on the fourth board. Khanym Balajaeva was awarded the gold medal on the third board.

In general, the performance of the men's team, in contrast to the women's team, cannot be called satisfactory. Our chess players were quite successful for six rounds. But the following loss of points has thrown the team way back from the podium. Victories in the last three rounds, as a rule, bring medals. Our national team, on the contrary, suffered defeats in the 8-10^th rounds, thereby increasing the gap with the leaders.

The performance of the team leader Shahriyar Mammadyarov can be considered satisfactory. Playing at competitions of this level on the first board is extremely difficult. The fact that Mammadyarov made every effort for the success of the team was completely obvious. Undoubtedly, Teymur Rajabov demonstrated the best game in recent years and achieved important victories in meetings with strong rivals. Although Teymur also performed after a four-month break (the last time he played at the Vugar Hashimov Memorial in Shamkir in April), he showed his strength at the Olympiad. As a result, Rajabov was awarded a bronze medal in the individual competition.

The results of Rauf Mammadov and Elnur Safarli can also be considered satisfactory. Once again, Rauf won very important victories. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about another member of the team - Arcady Naidich. He was weaker than expected, and his points lost in important parties influenced the overall failure of the national team.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the FIDE General Assembly was a significant event for Azerbaijani sports in general, and in particular for chess. Vice-President of the Chess Federation of Azerbaijan, Mahir Mammadov, has been elected Vice-President of the organisation. Arkady Dvorkovich, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, has become a new FIDE President. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev also sent congratulatory letters to Arkady Dvorkovich and Mahir Mammadov due to their election.

In his interview with R+, Mahir Mammadov thanked the President of Azerbaijan for his congratulations. “This congratulation is a great honour for me and further increases my responsibility. My election to such a high post in the International Chess Federation is a result of high confidence in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani sports all over the world,” M. Mammadov said.

He underlined that by signing the first in the world State Program for the Development of Chess for 2009-2014, President Ilham Aliyev provided great support to the development of this sport in Azerbaijan. “Thanks to government's attention to chess and chess players, Azerbaijani grandmasters have achieved brilliant victories in prestigious competitions, and holding prestigious tournaments in our country has already become a tradition,” the FIDE Vice-president said.

In 2015 and 2016, Baku hosted the World Chess Cup and the World Chess Olympiad, respectively. Every year, Shamkir holds the Vugar Hashimov Memorial Tournament.

The new FIDE Vice President also commented on the performance of Azerbaijani chess players at the Batumi Olympiad. “The national men's team of Azerbaijan was very close to the medals. Unfortunately, after the sixth round, everything went wrong contrary to our expectation. Losing points in the last rounds threw our team back, the team that has been European champion for three times. We believe that in the future it will again delight our chess lovers. I am indeed surprised by Azerbaijani chess players. They demonstrated a real competition. Victory in the last round with the Vietnamese team could lead us to the podium. Either way, we are pleased with the performance of our chess players,” M. Mammadov said.

Azerbaijani chess players do not have time for rest. They will join the Odlar Yurdu Chess Club leaving for Greece to compete for the European Cup.