Chess in Azerbaijan facts for kids
Chess is a super popular sport in Azerbaijan! It's managed by the Azerbaijan Chess Federation (ACF). In 2009, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who also leads the National Olympic Committee, signed a special plan. This plan helped chess grow even more in the country from 2009 to 2014.
Chess History in Azerbaijan
Chess has a long history in Azerbaijan. You can find mentions of it in old poems from the 12th century by Khaqani and Nizami. Even in the 16th century, the writer Fuzuli wrote about it.
Later, in 1864, the Azerbaijani writer and thinker Mirza Fatali Akhundov wrote a poem called "The Game of Shatranj." In this poem, he explained how to play chess!
Chess in the USSR Era
Organized chess really took off in Azerbaijan after 1920, when it became part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Chess quickly became very popular everywhere.
The first chess news column appeared in a newspaper in the early 1920s. In 1923, the very first Baku chess championship was held.
In 1929, chess teams from Baku and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, played a big match. In 1934, the first Azerbaijani Championship took place, won by Selimkhanov.
The first Women's Championship was held in 1936. That same year, A. Polisskaya from Baku became the women's champion of the South Caucasus. A special chess school for girls opened in Baku in 1938.
However, the World War II stopped many chess tournaments and activities. But since 1947, chess championships have been held every single year!
Modern Chess Successes
After Azerbaijan became an independent country in 1991, its chess players started achieving amazing results. They won many awards in international competitions, including World and European championships.
In 1992, the women's national team played in the World Chess Olympiad in the Philippines. They were representing independent Azerbaijan for the first time and finished 7th out of 67 teams!
The women's team won bronze medals at the European Championship in Hungary in 1993. The men's team also won bronze medals in Greece in 2007.
The men's team became "Europe's strongest team" in Serbia in 2009. They then won silver medals in Greece in 2011 and in Poland in 2013.
The men's team called "SOCAR-Azerbaijan" won the European inter-club championships twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Some Azerbaijani Grandmasters like Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Radjabov, and Vugar Hashimov became some of the top players in the world.
On October 4, 2019, Grandmaster Teymur Radjabov made history. He became the first Azerbaijani player to win the World Chess Cup in Russia.
Images for kids
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Armenia vs Azerbaijan at the 2011 European Team Chess Championship. Levon Aronian (left) and Teimour Radjabov (right) pictured in the foreground.
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Men's team of Azerbaijan
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President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation Elman Rustamov (left) and President of the World Chess Federation FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
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The participants of the tournament on the stage of "Uns" theatre
