The Little Giants of the Chess Kingdom: Kasparov’s Azerbaijan

A Three-part Series on the Lesser Known ‘Power-nations’ of Chess

Keen followers of Chess tournaments and championship games must be familiar with the name Baku thanks to the much-talked-about Baku Chess Olympiad of 2016. The capital city of Azerbaijan received its fair share of the spotlight when it hosted the 42nd World Chess Olympiad for the first time.

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For ardent fans, Baku might be more familiar as the native land of the Chess Wizard Garry Kasparov. Though relatively a lesser-known name in the world map, this small port city of Azerbaijan is home to eight grandmasters and had inspired Narendra Modi, the then-CM of Gujarat, 2 decades back, to initiate chess education in his state.

What inspired Modi was how children in Baku were smarter than those of the other former Soviet Republics. The secret seemed to be the mass initiation of school kids into chess at a very young age that influenced their cognitive skills, concentration and diligence.

Rooted in Chess

Azerbaijan is one of the few countries in the world where Chess is a mandatory part of the school curriculum.  

In this small Caucasian nation on the fringes of Asia and Europe chess is one of the most popular sports. Leisure in Azerbaijan could translate as staring at the chessboard and planning a thousand moves on warm summer afternoons! Azerbaijan is No.7 in the world ranking when it comes to overall chess capabilities. 

Chess in Azerbaijan dates back to medieval times when the mention of the game is found in the works of great poets like Khaqani and Nizami of the 12th century. The great thinker-poet-writer of the nation, Mahammad bin Suleyman, or Fuzuli has also lavishly mentioned chess in his works.

In the 1864 poem "The Game of Shatranj", writer and philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundov explains the rules of the ancient game that crossed over from the East through Persia and Greece.

The History & Growth of Chess in Azerbaijan

Modern-day organized chess took roots in Azerbaijan in 1920 following the creation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The game soon spread far and wide, along with the winds of change, taking itself to greater heights in the history of the nation.

It was in 1920 that the first chess column appeared in the national newspaper Bakinsky Rabochy. Three years later, brothers Vladimir and Mikhail Makogonov won the first ever Baku championship. In 1924, the Young Communist League, a conference of Komsomol and trade unions, started promoting chess paving the path for wider awareness and participation in the game. Soon Fedor Duz-Khotimirsky and Nikolai Grigoriev took part in a tournament in Baku.

By the end of the 1920s, Azerbaijan saw the rise of an army of young players in the likes of Sarychev, K. Selimkhanov and A. Bilibin, the Danilov brothers, N. Doktorsky, and O. Rostovtsev.

The first Azerbaijani Championship was held in 1934 and won by Selimkhanov. He later went to become chairman of the Azerbaijan Chess Organization in 1935.

A Progressive Outlook 

Azerbaijan is one of the early nations that took to women’s chess championships. In 1936 the first Women's Championship was conducted, with Rozhdestvenskaya emerging as the winner. In 1936, A. Polisskaya from Baku won the women's champion of the South Caucasus. In 1938, the Baku Chess and Checkers Club initiated a women's chess school.

The 1950s witnessed an active growth and popularity of the game in Azerbaijan. Under the leadership of Suren Abramyan, Junior chess was popularised by the Baku Pioneer Palace Chess Club. Sports clubs like Spartak, Nauka, Neftchi, Iskra etc nourished chess and also contributed to one of the leading players of Azerbaijan Vladimir Makogonov.

Also, S.Khalilbeyli, the 1st Azerbaijani chess master,  A.Zeynalli, and V.Bagirov, the republic champion, became the leaders of the Republic chess-players. 

Since 1960 The Azerbaijan women's championships have been a regular sports event. The 1st Baku Children and Youth Chess School of Azerbaijan, now known as the Republic Sports School of Chess of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan was established in 1968.

During the late 1970s, there was more focus on chess among the youth and children with more than 50 sports schools opened in various districts of the nation. Annual chess festivals for the students have been a regular event since 1982.

In 1984, Gary Kasparov, who grew up playing chess in his home town Baku, became the World Chess Champion at the age of 22. 

Baku has been a regular choice of venue for several great international as well as All-union competitions like the 29th and 49th Men's championships of the country from 1961 to 1972, the 23rd Women's championship in 1963, 20th international tournament of the Central Chess Club of the USSR, etc.

The country has also hosted major tournaments like the Chess World Cup 2015 and the annual Shamkir Chess super-tournament which is held in the memory of Vugar Gashimov.

Contemporary Chess: Laurels for Azerbaijan

Since its independence, Azerbaijan has seen better and glorious years in the international game scenario with its teams bringing laurels to the nation in various World and European championships.

In 1992, the national women’s team from Azerbaijan came 7th among the 67 teams at the Manila World Chess Olympiad. The women team also brought the bronzes home in the 1993 European Championship at Debrecen, Hungary.

In 2007, when the Championship was held in Greece, Azerbaijan’s national men’s team won bronze. They also prestigiously won the title of “Europe’s strongest team” in 2009, in Serbia. The team followed it up with silver medals in Greece in 2011 and later in the championship at Poland in 2013.

In 2012 and 2014, the world saw Azerbaijan’s men's team “SOCAR-Azerbaijan” win the inter-club European Championships. Grandmasters from the land, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Vugar Hashimov, and Teymur Radjabov ranked 4th and 6th places in the world listings.

In 2019 grandmaster Teymur Radjabov brought the World Chess Cup to the soils of Azerbaijan in the October championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The National team of Azerbaijan also made history by becoming the third team to win a chess match against the Combined World Team. 

In 2009, Azerbaijan’s Men's Compound Chess Team won the Team Championship of Europe. Azerbaijan had outrun Russia with 1 point and won the world title with 15 points. Again in November 2013 the team repeated history by becoming the champion of the Team championship of Europe in Warsaw, Poland.