Unsuccessful Performance of Azerbaijani Women Chess Players at the World Cup

The performance of Azerbaijani women chess players at the World Cup held in Batumi was very short-lived. Unable to break the resistance of highly rated opponents, they said goodbye to the tournament in the second round. Although our chess players perform successfully in team tournaments, it has not been possible to show the same success in individual competitions recently.

Idman.biz reports that the World Cup is traditionally distinguished by its strong lineup and participants are expected to have a month-long competition schedule.

Of course, this mainly applies to chess players who will advance to the semi-finals. The prizes in Batumi are also quite serious - the top three winners will gain the right to participate in the Candidates Tournament.

Such a chance is still available for Azerbaijani chess players - for this, it is necessary to perform successfully at the "Grand Swiss" tournament to be held in Samarkand in September. Govhar Beydullayeva, Ulviyya Fataliyeva and Khanim Balajayeva will participate in this competition. But that is still ahead. The fact is that the World Cup was disappointing for our chess players.

In the first stage, Gulnar Mammadova won the tie-break after two draws in classic games with Canadian representative Yunshan Li. But in the 1/32 finals, she lost both games to Russian chess player Polina Shuvalova.

Ulviyya Fataliyeva also qualified for the second round. The start of the tournament was quite successful for her - she defeated Zhang Jilin from Australia in the first game, and a draw was recorded in the second game. However, her opponent in the next stage was Georgian chess player Lela Javakhishvili. Javakhishvili took the lead in the first game, and Fataliyeva could only draw in the second game, which meant she said goodbye to the tournament.

The tournament was dramatic for Govhar Beydullayeva. After two draws in classic games with Iranian chess player Anahita Zahedifar, Govhar took the lead twice in the tie-break. But in both cases, the Iranian chess player equalized the score, and as a result, our chess player could not maintain her advantage and lost with a score of 2.5:3.5.

The most unsuccessful performance belonged to Khanim Balajayeva. She lost the first game of the first stage to the representative of Kazakhstan, Elnaz Kaliakhmet. The return match ended in a draw.

In short, none of the Azerbaijani women chess players were able to pass the 1/32 finals stage. The World Cup continues without them.

Zaki Feyzullayev

Idman.biz