Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani men`s chess team has, for the first time, won the European Cup. Azerbaijan beat the Netherlands 2.5:1.5 in the last leg of the tournament played in Novi Sad, Serbia. Vugar Hashimov brought victory to the Azerbaijani team after sealing a win in a fiercely competed game with the Netherlands` Daniel Stellwagen.
The staunchest rival, Russia, tied a game with Spain. As a result, Azerbaijan, with 15 points, beat Russia by one point to become the winner.
Elman Rustamov, president of the national Chess Federation, admitted that he had a hard time believing that Azerbaijan might become the European champion.
``I had doubts till the end, as the opponent was not about to give up. Vugar Hashimov simply squeezed him out. Overall, our team showed that it knows no second place.``
Describing his impressions, Hashimov said: ``I am feeling super, I can`t even put my feelings into words. The main thing is that Azerbaijan has become the European champion, and I congratulate our people. I think Azerbaijan deserved the gold medal, and we got what we deserved. And this is just the beginning of our team`s great victories.``
Teymur Rajabov, the lead player of the Azerbaijani chess team, spoke of the team`s resolve.
``We proved since the very beginning of the championship that we came there to win. We have a strong team, and we proved that. Now we are the best in Europe, and I congratulate all Azerbaijani people on that.``
Azerbaijani chess masters Vugar Hashimov and Shahriyar Mammadyarov were among the players with the highest results in Novi Sad. They scored 6.5 points in the tournament, the same as Norway`s Ion Ludwig Hammer and Finland`s Tommy Niback.