Chess in Azerbaijan
After Azerbaijan gained its independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijani chess players have achieved high results in various international competitions, World and European championships. In 1992, the national team of women for the first time at the World Chess Olympiad in Manila, Philippines represented independent Azerbaijan and ranked 7th among 67 teams. The women team won bronze medals at the European Championship held in Debrecen, Hungary in 1993. The national team of men won bronze medals in 2007 in European Championship held in Greece. Men's team won the title of “Europe’s strongest team” in Serbia in 2009, then won silver medals in 2011 in Greece and in 2013 in Poland. In 2012 and 2014, the men's team “SOCAR-Azerbaijan” won the inter-club European Championships twice. Azerbaijani Grandmasters Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Radjabov and Vugar Hashimov managed to rise to the 4th and 6th places in the world rankings.