Azerbaijani grandmaster Aydin Suleymanli has moved into the lead at the individual European Chess Championship taking place in Katowice, Poland, following another victory.
As reported by Idman.Biz, Suleymanli defeated Daniel Dardha in the seventh round. It marked his fifth win of the tournament, alongside two draws.
With this result, Suleymanli has collected six points and is tied for first to fourth place, but leads the standings on tie-break criteria. In the eighth round, he is set to face Nikoloz Kacharava.
Another Azerbaijani representative, Nijat Abasov, also remains in contention for a top finish. He defeated Sweden’s Erik Blomqvist in round seven and currently sits in 10th place with 5.5 points.
Magomed Muradli, Shiroglan Talibov, Shahin Valiyev and Suleyman Suleymanli have each scored five points and occupy 38th, 50th, 53rd and 56th places respectively among the Azerbaijani players in Katowice.
The European Championship will run over 11 rounds, with the top 20 finishers earning qualification for the 2027 Chess World Cup.
