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Laman Ismayilova

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The Tata Steel Chess 2025 tournament has concluded in the Dutch city of Wijk aan Zee, Azernews reports.

The 19-year-old Azerbaijani chess player Aydin Suleymanli, who participated in the Challengers tournament, won against the representative of Romania, Irina Bulmaga, in the 13th round.

He scored a total of 9.5 points, sharing the 1st-2nd places in the final standings with Tai Dai Van Nguyen from the Czech Republic. Despite having the same score, Suleymanli placed second based on tiebreak criteria.

The Azerbaijani grandmaster achieved seven victories at Tata Steel Chess 2025 agreed to draws in five games, and suffered a loss only once.

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is a 14-player round-robin. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves followed by 50 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move one.

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 was the 87th edition of the "Wimbledon of Chess," a classical tournament previously won by World Champions Euwe, Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, and Carlsen.

Chess for centuries has been a popular game in Azerbaijan with ancient roots closely related to traditions.

The country could preserve these traditions as chess remains to be a crucially popular sport for now.

To popularise this original game, Azerbaijan 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 42nd Chess Olympiad, held in Baku, is indeed an excellent example of great attention paid to the development of chess games in the country.

The large-scale event attracted a total of 1,587 participants, including 894 in the Open category and 693 in the Women's event, making the Baku Chess Olympiad a significant event.

Similarly, the FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 in Baku captivated chess fans with its high-calibre competition and exhilarating matches.

Featuring a highly competitive lineup, the World Cup provided an exciting venue to display the remarkable skill and strategic finesse of elite chess players.

Approximately 206 competitors participated in the open section, along with 103 players in the women's competition.

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