Idman.biz
The first 6 tournaments have concluded in the "Azerbaijan Chess Tour" (Chess Tour Azerbaijan) project, which was initiated by the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and held for the first time.
Idman.biz reports that the "open" tournaments planned for the spring-summer season have thus come to an end.
A total of 1553 participants (300 of whom were women) competed in the series. Among them were 26 GMs, 37 IMs, 2 WIMs, 35 FMs, 6 WFMs, 14 CMs, and 12 WCMs. This total represents 971 unique chess players from 20 different federations.
Undoubtedly, Khagan Ahmad was the main star based on the results of the completed tournaments of the "Chess Tour Azerbaijan" project. Khagan, who won 3 out of 5 tournaments he participated in, increased his rating by 56 points from Sheki to Guba, reaching 2449.
International Master (IM) Khazar Babazadeh confirmed that his successful performance at the "Baku Open" was not accidental by winning the "Shamakhi Open." It is gratifying that Khazar then managed to cross the 2500 rating threshold by performing successfully in the Turkish 1st League.
Ukrainian representative GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy became one of the memorable figures of the project, taking 2nd place in 3 out of the 5 tournaments he participated in, and 4th place in 1.
4 chess players participated in all 6 tournaments held in the series to date. These are IM Vugar Manafov, CM Tunar Davudov, Alakbar Ismayilov, and Sadagul Efendi. 9 chess players participated in 5 tournaments, 53 chess players in 4 tournaments, 102 chess players in 3 tournaments, and 167 chess players in 2 tournaments.
The courageous participation of GM Ahmad Ahmadzade and GM Mohammad Muradli, and Ahmad's victory in the "Vugar Hashimov Open," are also among the facts to be noted.
The number of participants in the tournaments is as follows:
• Baku Open - 576 chess players
• Sheki Open - 260 chess players
• Shamakhi Open - 102 chess players
• Lankaran Open - 176 chess players
• Guba Open - 234 chess players
• Gashimov Open - 205 chess players
The "Chess Tour Azerbaijan" project, covering almost the entire country, creates ample opportunities for regional development. A regional chess player has to travel a maximum of 100 km (often less) from their place of residence to participate in an "open" tournament.
The project helps to eliminate the lack of playing experience that most of our chess players have noticeably suffered from for many years. It is gratifying that our young chess players, who will represent the country at World and European championships, are performing successfully and gaining experience in the tournaments.
"Chess Tour Azerbaijan" continues. The next (final) 2 tournaments of the series will be held in Shirvan and Ganja in November. We invite our chess players to make the most of these tournaments as well.
Idman.biz
