Five Azerbaijani players have made a flawless start at the European Individual Chess Championship currently taking place in Katowice.
As reported by Idman.Biz, Aydin Suleymanli, Read Samadov, Khazar Babazada, Magomed Muradli and Nijat Abasov have all won their opening two games and are part of the leading group with maximum points.
While all five players have collected two points, Suleymanli leads the standings on tie-break criteria. Samadov is currently ranked 24th, Babazada 35th, Muradli 52nd and Abasov 53rd.
In the third round, Suleymanli will face Samadov, while Babazada is set to play Daniel Dardha of Belgium. Muradli will take on Lukasz Lizhen of Poland, and Abasov will meet Sviatoslav Bazakuts of Ukraine.
The remaining Azerbaijani players have scored fewer than two points and are currently outside the leading group. Notably, 10 out of 13 Azerbaijani participants won their opening games in the first round.
The top 20 finishers at the European Championship will qualify for the 2027 World Cup.
