Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan’s female chess team is currently in Gabala and getting ready for the 42nd World Chess Olympiad. Recently, the national team had a test match with the Georgian team.

National chess player Aydan Hojjatova said that the female team has finished two trainings and already had a test match with the Georgian team.

“We hope that we can meet the expectations. As for chances, then as usually, men’s team has more chances. Our goal is to reach Top 10. However, this is chess and everything can change. I think that if everything goes well, then we can achieve good results,” she emphasized.

Captain of the women’s team, Fikret Sideifzade stated that they have been preparing for this competition for four months.

“Since Baku hosts this prestigious competition, we are preparing for the Olympiad more seriously. Every chess player wants to win in homeland. I hope that Azerbaijan will be in the Top 10 among 140 women teams, which will take part in the Olympiad,” he noted.

The 42nd World Chess Olympiad scheduled for September 1-14 will be held in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku with participation of 2,000 chess masters from 180 counties.

FIDE’s biennial chess tournament, will gather teams from all over the world to compete for the best title.

The opening ceremony of the Olympiad will be held in the National Gymnastics Arena, while charming Crystal Hall, once hosting Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, will host the games.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz