Women’s team upbeat ahead of Olympiad

Azerbaijan women’s first and second teams expected to compete at the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku are continuing their training session in Gabala. Women’s teams are training in Gabala under the guidance of Fikret Sideifzade, Konstantin Landa, Anar Allahverdiyev, Sarkhan Guliyev and Farid Abbasov.

Coaches Fikret Sideifzade and Sarkhan Guliyev have shared their impressions of the training session with the press service of the Baku Chess Olympiad.

Fikret Sideifzade: “As we all know, Azerbaijan is preparing to host the World Chess Olympiad. About 180 countries will be represented, which means that teams from all over the world will come to Azerbaijan. As a host country, we will try to do well. We are now conducting the second training session in Gabala now. Our chess players are working hard to be fully prepared for the Olympiad. Practice sessions last six to seven hours each day. I am quite pleased with the way our women’s teams are preparing. The main focus is on openings and endgames. I do hope that Azerbaijani teams will do well in the Olympiad.”

Sarkhan Guliyev: “This is the second practice session of our team. Chess players are training with great enthusiasm. They fully understand what is at stake. During the practice sessions, we mainly focus on openings and the games of our opponents. There will be strong competition among women’s teams in the Olympiad. This is why the games of our opponents should be carefully analyzed. There will be two more training sessions in the time left for the Olympiad. First, we will play a friendly match with the Georgian team. The last practice session will start on 19 August. I am hopeful that our women’s teams will be fully prepared for the Olympiad.”

The second training session will be completed on 5 August.