The success at the recent European Individual Chess Championship in Katowice, Poland, could become a new starting point for newly crowned vice-champion of the continent Nijat Abasov.
The 2024 Candidates Tournament participant led the standings until the final round, but was overtaken at the very end by young Ukrainian Dekhtyarev, who won his last game. In addition, Aydin Suleymanli claimed bronze, while another Azerbaijani representative, Magomed Muradli, finished fourth.
This is the first time Azerbaijani grandmasters have won two medals at a senior European Championship, and under certain circumstances they could even have occupied the entire podium.
In an interview with Idman.Biz, Nijat Abasov spoke about the key moment of the tournament for him, commented on the performances of other Azerbaijani players, and addressed the social media discussion around the final-round game between Suleymanli and Muradli, which ended in a draw. Some users suggested that Muradli should have deliberately lost to help Suleymanli become champion.
- What was the key moment for you at the European Championship after which you believed you could fight for the title?
- Probably the key moment was the eighth-round game against Turkish player Atilla Kuru, where I won with the black pieces after a five-hour battle. Although I was aiming for a medal before the championship, it was an extremely tough competition with around 500 players. You cannot win such a tournament on motivation alone — many things have to come together. Overall, everything went well, and after that game I reached a +5 score and believed I could fight for a medal.
- If you had won in the final round, you would have become European champion, but your game ended in a draw. Was it disappointing to miss out on first place like that?
- Unfortunately, I had no real chances to win in the final game. I slightly misjudged the opening, which left me in an uncomfortable position, and a draw was the best possible outcome for me in that game. I think I lost my chance at the title in the tenth round, where I had an opportunity to beat Spain’s Guijarro with the black pieces. Being in time trouble, I missed an important move in my calculations, and the game ended in a draw.
- In the second half of the tournament, it was interesting to watch your competition with Aydin Suleymanli, who led the standings for some time before you overtook him…
- It was not really competition, but rather mutual motivation. We saw each other’s victories and tried to play even better. It was healthy competition, which is always beneficial, and we saw that reflected in the final standings.
- There was discussion on social media suggesting that Muradli should have lost to Suleymanli in the final round to help him become champion. What do you think about that?
- I believe that for a professional athlete, that would be at the very least inappropriate and unacceptable. They are young players, with everything ahead of them, and such a stain on their careers would be unacceptable. This applies not only to them, but to Azerbaijani chess as a whole, where such things have never happened.
- So you believe their approach in that game was the right one?
- Absolutely. With their play, they proved that professionalism and honesty must come first, and only then come any rewards. I think this is a very important point worth highlighting.
- Overall, how would you assess the performance of Azerbaijani players in Katowice?
- Many of our players performed very well. For example, Muradli played at a medal level, especially in the second half of the championship. He had many impressive wins but was unlucky, losing out to us on tie-breaks. Others also performed well — Shahin Veliyev and Suleyman Suleymanli achieved their international master norms. So overall, it was a successful championship for our players.
- You, along with Aydin Suleymanli and Magomed Muradli, qualified for the World Cup. Can we expect at least a repeat of your result from three years ago, when you finished fourth in Baku?
- The World Cup is only next year, and a lot can happen before then. We have the Baku Open ahead, and then we will travel with the Azerbaijan women’s team to Astana for the Turkic Games. Later this year, we will also compete at the Chess Olympiad. So for now, I am not thinking about the World Cup, although of course I want to achieve the best possible results in every tournament I play.
- Watching the European Championship in Katowice, I noticed your rating dropped below 2600. Can this recent success become a turning point for returning to your previous level?
- Yes, that is true (smiles). Nevertheless, I try not to focus too much on rating and instead enjoy chess. From a tournament perspective, 2024 was very difficult for me. Everything was quite intense, and the drive I had in 2023 faded. That is why I took a short break. Now I feel the desire again to participate in as many tournaments as possible and play interesting games.
