"I was looking at the game against Teymur as a final match." Sport24.az reports that international grandmaster Namig Guliyev said this while talking to the press service of the federation about his defeat to Teymur Rajabov in the 1/8 final stage of the Azerbaijan Chess Championship.

He stated that he lost because he made a gross mistake in the first game:

"I was able to pass the first stage. In the second stage, I faced Teymur Rajabov, one of the strongest chess players in the world. There was no problem in the first game. I just made a gross mistake near the end of the game due to lack of practice and lost. In the second game, I put pressure until the end. I even came close to winning. In the end, I lost and stopped fighting. I was looking at the game against Teymur as a final match. He has a lot of experience and knowledge."

The chess player did not rule out the possibility that the final of the Azerbaijan Championship may not be as expected:

"This is the first strongest championship in Azerbaijani history. Efforts have been made for years to organize such a competition. It was not possible to gather all the chess players together. It is gratifying that it finally happened. The Azerbaijan championship was organized in a manner worthy of the country's name. The final may not be as expected by everyone. That is, we may not see the Shahriyar Mammadyarov - Teymur Rajabov final."

It should be noted that although N.Guliyev drew with Teymur Rajabov in the second match of the 1/8 final, he lost in the overall score - 0.5:1.5.