Interview with Narmin Khalafova from Azerbaijan

Narmin Khalafova is a member of the second women’s team of Azerbaijan but was not playing today. We took up the opportunity to have a chat with her!
In: How do you feel here today, on the first day of the Olympiad?

R: I am so excited that the Olympiad has started, we were anticipating this event so much! Today we are playing with Japan and we are favorites, but of course we have to be careful. At this moment we have some advantage on the second and third boards, so I believe that it is going to be fine.

In: What are your impressions in general? How do you like the exhibition area, where we are right now?

R: It is very nice, particularly the grandmasters who are commenting on the games; they are very interesting! The whole atmosphere is very enjoyable.

In: I have noticed that all teams of Azerbaijan are wearing a special outfit and they look very nice. Can you tell us more about it?

R: It’s made by an Azerbaijani brand called Emiland; blue for the men’s teams, red for us.

In: Is this the first time you have the honor of representing Azerbaijan in an international team competition?

R: Yeah, it’s the first time for me. I hope I will play very well, because we have been training very hard for the last three months. We had three training sessions in Gabala, working with grandmasters such as Sarkhan Guliyev, Anar Allahverdiyev and Farid Abbasov. I hope that we will finish in the top ten.

In: Has your team (the second team) set a goal of finishing above the first team?

R: No, not really, but we just want to play as good as we can. Of course, we are also supporting both the first and the third team!

In: We wish you good luck in this event and all the best for your team. Thank you.

R: Thank you.