Report.az
The Azerbaijani national men's chess team winning the silver medal at the European Championship in Batumi, Georgia, is an absolute success.
"Report" reports that the team's captain, Teymur Rajabov, said this in an interview with the press service of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation.
He shared his impressions of the competition:
"According to the rating, Azerbaijan was the fourth team in the tournament. During the championship, we fought for the gold medal and finally won the silver medal. I think the result is an absolute success for our national team. On the eve of the last round, the Azerbaijani and Ukrainian teams had collected 13 points each. We were optimistic and aimed to win against Serbia. If the Ukrainian team had won, we would have needed a big win in our match to take first place based on tie-breaks. The chess players were in a fighting mood and took more risks than in other matches to compete for the gold medal. At the beginning of the match, the situation seemed quite even, there were some opening problems in certain games, and pressure was also visible on other boards. The Ukrainian team played their game confidently and won, so even if we had won the last round by a small margin, we would have won the silver medal. Everyone fought to the end, and I think that luck was not on our side in the last round."
T.Rajabov also touched upon winning his first award as captain:
"I think that my support as a captain for the national team chess players fully justified itself in this championship. We tried to compete at the highest level, and we managed to create the right environment as a friendly team. I have known most of the chess players for many years, and therefore it was very pleasant to work together in the interests of our national team."
Speaking about the performances of Aydin Suleymanli and Muhammad Muradli, the captain emphasized that they are strong chess players:
"They are combative and eager to prove themselves; they showed that they are ready to play in every match, no matter how difficult it is. It's easy to communicate with them. Both of them should continue training. By continuing intensive training and working hard, they have a chance to raise their ratings to 2700. But this intensive training should start from today, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I believe in them and I am watching them very closely. They have a great future ahead of them, and their determination will directly affect the results of the national team in the future."
