Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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Azerbaijani chess player Eltaj Safarli is currently holding fifth place at the International Whitsun tournament in Munich, Germany, Azernews reports.

He secured a victory against Indian player Savit Sri in the sixth round.

This is Eltaj Safarli's fourth win of the tournament. He has accumulated five points and is half a point behind the leader, Norwegian player Elham Amadan.

Earlier, the chess player drew with Bulgarian Momchil Petkov in the fifth round and brought his total score to four points.

A total of 152 chess players are competing in the International Whitsun chess tournament.

Eltaj Safarli is a chess grandmaster from Azerbaijan. In October 2016, he achieved his highest rating of 2694, ranking him No. 3 in Azerbaijan and No. 46 in the world.

He began participating in tournaments at the age of 6, experiencing modest success initially. Safarli secured victories in the Azerbaijan Championships in both 2010 and 2016. Additionally, he won the World Youth Chess Championship for under-10s in Heraklion in 2002.

Safarli was a member of the Azerbaijani team that won a silver medal at the European Team Chess Championship held in Porto Carras in 2011. He competed alongside notable players Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Rajabov, Vugar Hashimov, and Gadir Huseynov.

Note that the Azerbaijan Chess Federation was founded in 1920. Elman Rustamov has been president of the National Chess Federation since 2007.

The first World Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan was held at the Baku Crystal Hall, a multipurpose sports and concert arena. The chess tournament gathered about 2,000 chess masters from 175 countries.

The FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 in Baku also managed to captivate chess enthusiasts with its high-level competition and thrilling encounters.

With a highly competitive field of players, the World Cup offered an exciting platform for showcasing the immense talent and strategic prowess of top chess players.

The tournament gathered around 206 players in the open section and 103 in the women's competition.

The Azerbaijani team included 17 chess players, including Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Rajabov, Gunay Mammadzade, Rauf Mammadov, Gadir Huseynov, Vasif Durarbayli, Nijat Abasov, Abdulla Gadimbayli, Misratdin Isgandarov, Muhammad Muradli, Vugar Asadli, Riad Samadov, Aydin Suleymanli, Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Gulnar Mammadova, Khanim Balajayeva, and Govhar Beydullayeva.

The top three players from both the open and women's sections qualified for the first time in the Men Candidates Tournament and the Women Candidates Tournament 2024.