Compared to any other big countries like India or China, Azerbaijan seemed to be quite left behind in terms of chess development. However, that was the opinion of those people who didn't really follow the news here. In fact, the country had already produced two very strong super GMs in Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimur Radjabov.
Those two players had already been in the highest level of chess for so many years, and while they had already passed their prime ages, the two of them could still compete against the youngsters and rising stars in the chess world quite fiercely.
