Azerbaijani chess players advance in FIDE ranking

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has released its updated ratings for September, Azernews reports.

The ranking shows who are the best chess players in the world according to the Elo rating system. Through this system, the performances of chess players in tournaments are assigned a numeric value based on the ratings of their opponents.

Among the brightest stars of Azerbaijani chess players is Grandmaster Shahriyar Mammadyarov. The 39-year-old chess player holds a rating of 2, 733 points, which has allowed him to secure 17th place in the ranking.

Teymur Rajabov (2,700) advanced to the 31st place compared to the last ranking. With 2,637 Rauf Mammadov has re-entered the Top 100th position.

In the realm of women's chess, Azerbaijani players are making their mark as well.

Azerbaijani women's chess players Gunay Mammadzade (2433) 33, Govhar Beydullayeva (2395) 53, Khanim Balajayeva (2384) 62nd, Ulviyat Fataliyeva (2378) were ranked 68th.

For centuries, chess has been a popular game in Azerbaijan, with ancient roots closely related to traditions. The country could preserve these traditions, as chess remains a crucially popular sport for now.

The first references to chess in Azerbaijan can be found in the works of 12th-century great poets such as Khaqani Shirvani and Nizami Ganavi, as well as in the works of one of the nation's most respected literary personalities, Muhammed Fuzuli.

To popularise this original game, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is also the chairman of the National Olympic Committee, signed in 2009 an executive order initiating a state-supported chess development program, covering the years 2009-2014.

The Azerbaijan Chess Federation was founded in 1920. Elman Rustamov has been president of the National Chess Federation since 2007.

The first World Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan was arranged at the Baku Crystal Hall, a multipurpose sports and concert arena. The chess tournament gathered about 2,000 chess masters from 175 countries.

The FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 in Baku also managed to captivate chess enthusiasts with its high-level competition and thrilling encounters.

With a highly competitive field of players, the World Cup offered an exciting platform for showcasing the immense talent and strategic prowess of top chess players.

The tournament gathered around 206 players in the open section and 103 in the women's competition.

The Azerbaijani team included 17 chess players, including Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Rajabov, Gunay Mammadzade, Rauf Mammadov, Gadir Huseynov, Vasif Durarbayli, Nijat Abasov, Abdulla Gadimbayli, Misratdin Isgandarov, Muhammad Muradli, Vugar Asadli, Riad Samadov, Aydin Suleymanli, Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Gulnar Mammadova, Khanim Balajayeva, and Govhar Beydullayeva.

The top three players from both the open and women's sections qualified for the first time in the Men Candidates Tournament and the Women Candidates Tournament 2024.

The national chess players have always taken high places at top-ranked tournaments.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov is a three-fold European Team Champion (2009, 2013, and 2017) and gold medalist at the 2012 Chess Olympiad on the third board.

He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 2003 and repeated his victory in 2005, becoming the only two-time champion, achieving a 2,953 performance rating after eight rounds.

After winning the Essent Tournament in 2006, Shahriyar achieved world fame.

In June 2016, Mammadyarov won the 3rd Vugar Gashimov Memorial Shamkir Chess Tournament.

He defeated Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri in the last two rounds, which put him in a tie-break situation with Caruana. He defeated Caruana in the tiebreak, thus giving him a tournament victory.

In 2021, Mammadyarov defeated the 13-time world champion, Garry Kasparov, at the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb, Croatia.

Teymur Rajabov earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 14, making him the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time. He defeated Kasparov back in 2003.

He also won the European Team Chess Championship with Azerbaijan in 2009, 2013, and 2017.

His major individual achievements include joint first place at the 2008 Elista Grand Prix, the 2017 Geneva Grand Prix, and the 2019 FIDE World Cup.

Govhar Beydullayeva has gone down in history as the first woman grandmaster to become the world champion among 20-year-olds in the history of Azerbaijani chess.

Beydullayeva drew with Zala Urh (Slovenia) and Laman Hajiyeva with Livia Jarocka (Poland) at World Junior Chess Championship U20. She secured a gold medal in the world championship of under-20 chess players.

Govhar Beydullayeva repeatedly represented Azerbaijan at the European Youth Chess Championships and World Youth Chess Championships in different age groups, where she won three medals and two silver.

In 2021, she won a silver medal among women in Serbia Open Masters tournament held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Ulviyya Fataliyeva went down in history as the first female Azerbaijani chess player to win a gold medal at the European Open and Women's Individual Chess Championships.

She defeated the top-seeded player from Georgia, Nino Batsiashvili, to claim the championship title and scored 8.5/10 points.

Ulviyya Fataliyeva played for Azerbaijan in the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku (2016), the World Women's Team Chess Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk (2017) and two European Women's Team Chess Championships (2015, 2017).