Azerbaijani grandmaster Nijat Abasov has taken the lead at the European Individual Chess Championship, currently being held in Katowice, Poland.
As reported by Idman.Biz, Abasov defeated Israel’s Benny Eisenberg in round nine of the tournament.
This victory marked his sixth win and third in a row, bringing his total to 7.5 points. He now shares first and second place with Spain’s David Guijarro, but leads the standings on tie-break criteria.
Prior to round nine, Guijarro had been the sole leader with seven points. However, he was held to a draw by another Azerbaijani grandmaster, Aydin Suleymanli, who remains unbeaten in Katowice, just like Abasov. Suleymanli now has seven points and sits in fifth place. In effect, Azerbaijani players demonstrated a form of “team play”, as Suleymanli took half a point off the Spaniard, allowing Abasov to move into the lead.
In the penultimate tenth round, Abasov will face Guijarro, while Suleymanli is set to play Lithuania’s Valerijus Kazakovskis.
Another Azerbaijani representative, Magomed Muradli, also has seven points and currently ranks 12th on tie-breaks. In round nine, he defeated Poland’s Jan Małek and will next face an opponent from Latvia.
Several other Azerbaijani players retain only theoretical chances of breaking into the top 20, which would secure qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
In particular, Riad Samadov, Khagan Ahmad and Khazar Babazade each have six points, placing 45th, 53rd and 84th respectively. Only by winning their remaining two games - most likely Samadov, who has better tie-breaks - can they hope to qualify under favourable circumstances.
