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Laman Ismayilova

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Ulviyya Fataliyeva delivered a stellar performance at FIDE World Women's Team Championship in Linares, Spain, scoring 6 points from 10 games and earning the gold medal for the best individual result in her category, Azernews reports.

Her efforts helped Azerbaijani women's chess team make history by securing a silver medal in the prestigious tournament.

After the victory she shared her thoughts about the tournament and her performance. She noted that participating in the championship had been a long-held goal for the team and that being able to compete brought them great joy:

"We had long hoped to participate in this tournament as a team. When it was finally confirmed at the last moment that we would compete in the World Championship, we were overjoyed," she said.

The chess player added that their main goal before the tournament was to play well and achieve the best possible results:

"Before the tournament, we didn’t focus on our ranking. Time was short, so we concentrated on analyzing our opponents. Honestly, our position in the ranking wasn’t very important for us. Our primary goal was to advance from the group stage. In the playoffs, our determination grew even stronger. As a team, we tried to fight until the very end. I am grateful to all my teammates, our captain, and our coaches for the performance we showed in Linares."

Ulviyya Fataliyeva pointed out that the most difficult match was against the FIDE team:

"It was both the final and our opponent fielded their strongest lineup. Superstars ranked in the top ten and top twenty in FIDE competed on their team. To be honest, playing against them was challenging. I also consider the match against Kazakhstan one of the toughest encounters. All eight games ended in a draw. Winning in blitz was both difficult and a boost to our team spirit.

After defeating Spain, we believed we could advance to the very end. We mobilized all our strength for that. Fatigue was noticeable during the final stage. We spent 10–12 hours a day analyzing chess games. Imagine how difficult it is to play two matches a day under such a schedule. In the first days, we didn't feel it, but later in the games against Georgia, Kazakhstan, and FIDE, fatigue began to show. We hope that our silver medal will be a precursor to gold."

Fataliyeva also recalled that the team's participation in the World Championship was confirmed at the last moment. She concluded by saying that their achievement at the World Championship would inspire young people:

"The President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Mahir, told us about how the Danish team participated in the 1992 European Championship at the last minute and achieved success. This motivated us. Indeed, such situations often happen in sports: when participation is confirmed at the last moment, it is still possible to achieve good results both individually and as a team. While talking with my teammates, we thought about continuing this tradition, and we are very happy that we succeeded."

"We thank everyone who supported us, our captain Ilaha Gadimova, coaches Nijat Abasov and Gadir Huseynov, federation president Mahir Mammadov, our families, and friends. I hope our silver medal will be a great motivation for young people and children. We wish that our result will light a spark in their hearts and help them achieve even greater success in the future."

Twelve teams participated in the 2025 FIDE World Women's Team Championship. The competition featured a round-robin stage followed by a knockout phase, with standard classical time controls of 45 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move.

Each team match had four boards, and teams were divided into two groups for the initial stage.