BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 23. Azerbaijani grandmaster Aydin Suleymanli has won a resounding victory over Magnus Carlsen, the 16th world chess champion and world ranking leader, in the games of the World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship held in Hong Kong.
In the end, the Azerbaijani team "Odlar Yurdu" won 3.5:2.5 over WR Chess, one of the main favorites of the tournament, where Carlsen played.
Trend met the Azerbaijani chess player Aydin Suleymanli, who defeated the world ranking leader Magnus Carlsen, and the "Odlar Yurdu" team at the airport upon their return home, and learned about their impressions of the victory.
At that moment I knew I will win
Suleymanli, who defeated one of the greatest names in world chess, Magnus Carlsen, said that Carlsen is considered one of the best chess players and defeating him in such an important match is a good result.
"It was a team competition, and the score was 2.5 - 2.5 when our game was going on. At that moment, I knew that if I won, it could be a very big, unforgettable moment because the team would have already won thanks to me. That's why I was motivated. As a result, we defeated the WR Chess team with a score of 3.5 - 2.5," he explained.
When asked whether he had made any special preparations against Carlsen before the game and which of his weaknesses or vulnerabilities were he tried to exploit, the chess player answered "no". According to him, Carlsen has no weaknesses.
He wanted to take a risk and confuse the situation, but it didn't work
"Although I felt the victory near the end, I already knew that I was in a good position in the middle of the game. I felt that Carlsen made incorrect moves. Most likely, he wanted to take a risk and confuse the situation. In this case, his chances of winning could have increased, but it didn't work. This is a team competition. You can choose to play or not. If he didn't take it seriously, he wouldn't have entered the game," said Suleymanli.
The young chess player noted that this victory can be called not the greatest success of his career, but an unforgettable one. He attributed the reason why young grandmasters have been more courageous in world chess in recent years to online chess games.
"In the past, young people did not often face strong chess players. And when they did, they were nervous because they had little practice. Now, in online chess, you can play with a strong chess player at any time. This has become commonplace. In this way, you can gain experience and achieve better results," he noted.
They played for money, we played with team spirit
According to Suleymanli, the secret to victory against a star-studded team like WR Chess that included Carlsen, Caruana, Wesley So, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was team spirit:
"Our opponents were the strongest chess players in the world, but the only reason that brought them together was money. As a team, we are close to each other, we are friends, and the team spirit is high. I think we won thanks to that," he pointed out.
Suleymanli emphasized that they received an overwhelmingly positive response from the world chess community, colleagues, and fans after the victory. He noted that he didn't expect such a positive response.
"I didn't think it would be shared so much. Everyone shared this news and success. This is very pleasing for me. I would like to thank all chess fans and those who supported me," he said.
As a chess player representing the new generation of the Azerbaijani chess school, Suleymanli noted that this victory sends a message to the country's youth and future chess players that it is not impossible to defeat even the best chess player in the world by playing well and having confidence in yourself.
The team's captain, famous chess player Rauf Mammadov, also shared his emotions about the victory.
The captain described Suleymanli's victory over Carlsen as "fantastic" for Azerbaijani chess.
Key factor that ensured victory was friendship and team spirit
"Carlsen's team is the number one team in the world. You know, Carlsen has been the number one chess player in the world for more than 15 years. This victory is very important for us. I didn't play in this match myself so that the children could play with the world elite. This was motivation for the children, and we achieved an incredible result," he said.
Mammadov also noted that the most important factor that ensured the victory was friendship and team spirit:
"Recently, Aydin's self-confidence has been growing significantly. This plays a big role in both sports and chess. I think this victory will increase his confidence for his future career. A victory over such an elite chess player should play a serious positive role in his career. The new goal for him is the Chess Olympiad. This year, the Chess Olympiad will be held in Uzbekistan, in Samarkand," he mentioned.
According to Mammadov, financial issues must be resolved in order for the country to produce new world-class chess players.
"Uzbek and Indian chess players have recently attracted attention from a new generation in Kazakhstan. I think that Azerbaijani chess should return to its previous state. I believe that our chess will be more confident after this victory, and as I said, our main goal is the Olympics," he announced.
Team member and young chess player Vugar Manafov also noted that playing against the WR Chess team is a great experience. According to him, the opposing team includes world-famous players such as Carlsen, Caruana, and Wesley So, who are ranked in the top 20.
"It was very difficult to play against this team. But we not only played, but also won, and we are proud of that. We had a meeting before each game and encouraged each other as a team. We believed that it was possible to beat everyone. We just believed in ourselves and achieved such a victory. First of all, we must always maintain the team spirit and work seriously and intensively on ourselves," he said.
Manafov also shared his advice for young chess players.
"I have been playing chess since I was five years old. I would like to tell children who are interested in chess and are starting to play chess that they shouldn't be afraid of anything, trust themselves, just play and enjoy chess," he noted.
