BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 7. Azerbaijan has been among the world's leading chess powers for the past 20 years, Director General of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Emil Sutovsky told Trend on the sidelines of the Chess World Cup in Baku.
Chess World Cup 2023 is a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 30 July to 24 August 2023. The prize fund is $2.5 million. The event is being held at Marriott Boulevard Hotel in Baku. The Chess World Cup is being held in Azerbaijan for the second time.
"The names of Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov are well-known, also the girls have been performing very well in the last few years. Gunay Mammadzada did not perform very well at this tournament, but in general she is rightfully the leader among Azerbaijani chess players. Among the new generation, I want to mention Ulviyya Fataliyeva,” he said.
“It seems to me that there are quite a lot of talents in Azerbaijan, which indicates a great chess future in the country," he added.
According to Sutovsky, FIDE strongly supports the holding of tournaments in Azerbaijan.
"We are discussing various kinds of projects. President of the Chess Federation of Azerbaijan Mahir Mammadov wants to hold more high-level events in Azerbaijan. I am almost sure that we will hold another significant event in 2024-2025," Sutovsky added.
The World Cup in Baku is a great chess holiday, he noted.
The FIDE director general also shared his opinion on the format of the tournament, the duration of which is almost a month.
"The tournament is difficult and long, but, on the other hand, it is one of the most statuesque, and it would be wrong to determine the winner of the World Cup in just one week. We are constantly reviewing formats. We see that interest in the tournament is not decreasing. Therefore, there are positive aspects in the fact that the tournament is long. We are constantly trying to keep up with the times and believe that this format does not require changes yet," Sutovsky said.