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.