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Azerbaijani chess players have kicked off the Chess Olympiad with victories, Azernews reports.

In the first round, the men's team triumphed over Jordan with a score of 3.5 to 0.5. Aydin Suleymanlı, Nijat Abasov, and Rauf Mammadov each secured victories, while Shahriyar Mammadyarov played to a draw.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani women's team outperformed the team from Nicaragua, achieving maximum results in the opening round. Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Govhar Beydullayeva, Khanim Balajayeva, and Gulnar Mammadova forced their opponents to concede.

The 45th Chess Olympiad is an international team chess event organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Budapest, Hungary on September 10-23.

The competition has brought together record-breaking 197 teams in the Open section and 184 squads in the women's competition. It is the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Hungary after Budapest hosted the 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad in 1926.

Azerbaijani men's squad is comprised of Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Rauf Mammadov, Nijat Abasov, Aydin Suleymanli and Mahammad Muradli.

The women's squad includes Gunay Mammadzade, Govhar Beydullayeva, Khanim Balajayeva, Ulviyya Fataliyeva and Gulnar Mammadova.

Recall that Azerbaijan hosted the 42nd Chess Olympiad in 2016. A total of 1,587 chess players, with 894 in the Open and 693 in the Women's event, took part in the Baku Chess Olympiad.

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.

For centuries, chess has been a popular game in Azerbaijan, with ancient roots closely related to traditions. The country could preserve these traditions, as chess remains a crucially popular sport for now.

The national chess players have always taken high places at top-ranked tournaments.

For centuries, chess has been a popular game in Azerbaijan, with ancient roots closely related to traditions. The country could preserve these traditions, as chess remains a crucially popular sport for now.

The first references to chess in Azerbaijan can be found in the works of 12th-century great poets such as Khaqani Shirvani and Nizami Ganavi, as well as in the works of one of the nation's most respected literary personalities, Muhammed Fuzuli.

To popularise this original game, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is also the chairman of the National Olympic Committee, signed in 2009 an executive order initiating a state-supported chess development program, covering the years 2009-2014.

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

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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