FIDE asks Azerbaijan for financial assistance

Baku. 11 October. REPORT.AZ/ "No major chess tournaments are expected in Azerbaijan in near future. There is no such agreement”.

Vice President of Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Mahir Mammadov told Report. He noted that International Chess Federation (FIDE) is interested in holding chess tournaments in Azerbaijan and its financial assistance. According to official of the federation, while the federation does not intend to respond positively to FIDE: “FIDE wants us to participate in the tournament of applicants in Berlin, put forward our candidacy and provide financial assistance to the competitions. The amount of this financial assistance has already been determined, but so far we do not intend to provide it. Because German national team does not have a worthy representative, they do not pay these funds. There was Arkadij Naiditsch, but for 4 years he has been playing in the national team of Azerbaijan. Naiditsch is currently competing in the squad of "Odlar Yurdu" on the first board at the club championship of Europe in Antalya.

M. Mammadov noted that FİDE put up for auction one place in the Tournament of Pretenders: "One chess players with over 2700 rating points can take part in the competition and of course there is a certain financial burden. But before the end of the Grand Prix series we have no such intention".

According to him, the FIDE Grand Prix wants Azerbaijan to hold the Grand Prix among women. However, in this regard, we have no plans or agreements.

Vice-President noted that at present the Azerbaijani chess player Teymur Rajabov has a great chance for participation in the Candidates Tournament. To do this, it is enough to get into the first "three" in the Grand prix, held from 15 to 26 November in Palma de Mallorca. He also noted that another Azerbaijani grandmaster Shahriyar Mammadyarov has chances of reaching the Grand Prix.

Mammadov also touched upon the prospect of Latvian grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch in the national team of Azerbaijan. Naiditsch feels very well in Azerbaijan. He is a talented chess player, he has good relations with the members of the national team. We needed to strengthen the last boards and we did it. True, there are no such successes with him, but I believe that there will be achievements”. The vice-president of the club also commented on the release of Shahriyar Mammadyarov from the team "Odlar Yurdu" and joining the Russian team "Globus". M. Mamedov said that was his own choice: "No one left the team, Shahriyar said, noting that he wants to perform at the club "Globus". We didn't object, and Teymur Rajabov is preparing for the Grand Prix, which will be held in Spain”.