"Chess has great state support in Azerbaijan."
Idman.biz reports that the President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Mahir Mammadov, said this in his statement to journalists after the awarding ceremony of the winners of the national championship.
He said that the national teams of female chess players are preparing for the World Chess Olympiad: "For the purpose of preparation, we will soon hold a friendly match with the Georgian team. This match will be counted according to the official chess rankings. Our main goal is the participation of all strong chess players in the Azerbaijan championship. We will definitely achieve it. A special program and calendar will be prepared for this."
Emphasizing that the Azerbaijan championship was tense, the head of the institution said that the number of participants was known at the last minute: "Ayan Allahverdiyeva also decided to participate in the competition at the last minute. We are happy that she won. It seems that Ayan's current success is no accident. The great success will be in the future. We see that Ayan will join our Olympic team in the near future. As a federation, we prefer national championships."
Referring to Nijat Abbasov's preparation for the Candidates Tournament, according to Mammadov, he is in training in Baku together with world-famous chess coaches: "We cannot reveal who is in his team. Preparations are underway on a large scale. All the support from the federation and the state is given to Nijat. Nijat Abbasov's participation in the tournament among the Claimants proves that Azerbaijani chess is the leader in the whole world. This is considered the tournament of the year."
Banuchichek Huseynli
Idman.biz
