The traditional Baku Open chess tournament gets under way today at Baku Crystal Hall.
According to İdman.Biz, around one thousand players from ten countries are taking part in the festival.
Notably, the field includes players from the United States and Iran — countries that, despite a ceasefire, can hardly be described as friendly since the outbreak of hostilities on 28 February.
It is worth noting that since the escalation in Iran after 28 February 2026, there have been only a few instances where American and Iranian athletes have competed at the same international event.
The first such case was at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series wrestling tournament in Tirana, Albania, where both US and Iranian athletes were present. It is important to note that the competition began before the conflict — on 25 February — and concluded after 28 February. It was at this tournament that, on 1 March, Iran’s Amin Hosseini defeated American Kamal Bey in the Greco-Roman wrestling semi-final in the 82 kg category.
The second case occurred at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships, held in Tashkent from 12 to 17 April 2026. Athletes from both the United States and Iran also competed there, although no direct bouts between them were recorded.
As a result, the Baku Open will be one of the first competitions to feature representatives from both countries following the escalation in the Middle East. As noted by İdman.Biz, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation has received no requests regarding potential matchups between US and Iranian players.
The total prize fund of the Baku festival stands at $50,000 (85,000 manats), and the tournament is part of the Azerbaijan Chess Tour series held throughout the year.
The main star of the Baku Open is former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine. The tournament also features a number of leading Azerbaijani players, including Nijat Abasov, who recently finished runner-up at the European Championship.
