Azerbaijan

As there has been comprehensively reported on the Olympiad so far, I'd like to highlight the national team which is in the lead after 7 rounds: Azerbaijan. With Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Naiditsch, Mamedov and Safarli, they are clearly one of the favorites.

It's most likely that they are establishing their supremacy in the Olympiad and European championships more and more the following years. Their 'frontman', Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 'plays more wisely  and is better than ever' as is covered in the latest issue of the New in Chess magazine. His current rating is 2825, including his +5 rating points he is winning this Olympiad. 

Let's have a look at his game against Michael Adams from round 3.

Another fine example is his win against Levon Aronian.

Azerbaidzjan has no 'weak' (relatively speaking) spots anymore in the team, as their board 4 player Rauf Mamedov has passed the 2700 barrier. His tournament performance rating is with a score of 5 out of 6 after round 7: 2817.

Arkadi Naiditsch changed federations from Germany to Azerbaidzjan in 2015. His current rating is 2721. He sets a devious trap for his opponent in the next example:

Radjabov is not anymore the active tournament player as he has been. He is always representing his country during the World and European team championships though. His game against Sargissian is one of my favorites of this tournament.

In case you would like to learn more about the techniques and tactics of the GM's, applying their methods in your own games, please contact me at: werlechessschool@hotmail.com or on chess.com. I give personal courses on internet on all levels on categorized themes, such as weak king, defending, strong square, open file/ ranks/ diagonals, dominance, fortresses etc.