{{short description|Azerbaijani chess player (born 2000)}} {{good article}} {{Infobox chess biography | name = Gunay Mammadzada | image = 2022-Gunay-Mammadzada (cropped).JPG | caption = Mammadzada in 2022 | birthname = | country = Azerbaijan | birth_date = {{birth date and age|2000|6|19}} | birth_place = Baku, Azerbaijan | death_date = | death_place = | title = {{ublist|International Master (2018)|Woman Grandmaster (2014)}} | worldchampion = | womensworldchampion = | ICCFworldchampion = | rating = | peakrating = 2483 (October 2022) | ranking = | peakranking = No. 18 woman (October 2022) | FideID = 13403729 }} '''Gunay Vugar qizi Mammadzada'''<ref name="full-name">{{cite web |last1=Doggers |first1=Peter |title=Winners and controversy at World Youth |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/winners-and-controversy-at-world-youth |website=Chess.com |access-date=25 July 2021 | date = 31 August 2011}}</ref> ({{langx|az|Günay Vüqar qızı Məmmədzadə}}; born June 19, 2000) is an Azerbaijani chess player who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) through the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She has been an under-10 girls' World Youth Champion, and both an under-8 and an under-14 girls' European Youth Champion. Mammadzada is a two-time Azerbaijani women's national champion, which she achieved in 2017 and 2019. She has represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiad, the World Team Chess Championship, and the European Team Chess Championship, winning both team and individual bronze medals at the latter in 2019. Mammadzada has a peak FIDE rating of 2483 and has been ranked as high as No. 18 in the world among women.
Mammadzada began playing chess at five years old. After winning several medals at both the European Youth and World Youth Championships, she became the youngest Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in Azerbaijan history at 14 years old in 2014. She earned all of her norms for the International Master (IM) title by 2016 and was awarded the title in 2018 when she reached the required rating threshold of 2400. Among the highest-rated players she has defeated are Abhijeet Gupta with a rating of 2614 and Koneru Humpy, one of the leading female players, with a rating of 2577.
==Early life and background== Gunay Mammadzada was born on 19 June 2000 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. She began playing chess at five years old, becoming interested in the game from watching her grandparents play recreationally.<ref name=gibraltar-interview>{{cite AV media| title = Meet Gunay Mammadzada | date = 2 June 2021 | publisher = FIDE | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGple-X4MM0 | access-date = 5 June 2021}}</ref> She joined the Olympic Reserve Youth Chess School No. 1 that same year. At the school, she began working with Rasul Ibrahimov, an Azerbaijani Grandmaster (GM) who has long since remained her coach.<ref name=sportpress>{{cite web |title=Qadın qrossmeysterimiz: “Kişilərdən ibarət yığmada oynamaq istəyirəm” | trans-title = Our female grandmaster: "I want to play in the men's team" |url=http://sportpress.az/?p=5080 |website=Sport Press |access-date=25 July 2021 | date = 17 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110193651/http://sportpress.az/?p=5080 |archive-date=10 January 2017 |language=az}}</ref><ref name=anl>{{cite web |last1=Ziyadov |first1=Rashad |title=Dünya və Avropa çempionatlarının mükafatçısı | trans-title = Winner of World and European Championships |url=http://www.anl.az/down/meqale/az_muellimi/2012/iyun/02.htm |website=Azerbaijan National Library | language = az |access-date=25 July 2021 | date = 1 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417161231/http://www.anl.az/down/meqale/az_muellimi/2012/iyun/02.htm |archive-date=17 April 2018}}</ref>
Mammadzada began to have national and international success at around the age of seven. Early in 2007, she finished in third place at the Azerbaijani national championships in the under-8 girls' division. Later that year, she made her debuts at the European Youth and World Youth Chess Championships in the same division. She medalled in both events, earning bronze at the European Championships and silver at the World Championships.<ref name=g14>{{cite web |title=14 yaşlı ilk qadın qrossmeyster | trans-title = The 14-year-old first female grandmaster |url=http://www.dsport.az/news/shahmat/196/?sphrase_id=4772483 |website=Dsport |access-date=26 July 2021 |language=az |date=3 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110194530/http://www.dsport.az/news/shahmat/196/?sphrase_id=4772483 |archive-date=10 January 2017}}</ref> She scored 8½/11 in the latter event,{{efn|8½ points in 11 games. (A win is 1 point, a draw is a ½ point, and a loss is 0 points.)}} losing games to the winner Ivana Maria Furtado and Zhansaya Abdumalik.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Youth Championship 2007 (G8) |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr8905.aspx?lan=1&art=1&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=26 July 2021}}</ref> The following year, she medalled at both events again, winning gold at the European Championships and earning bronze at the World Championships.<ref name=g14/><ref>{{cite web |title=Azeri Chess Player Becomes European Champion |url=https://azertag.az/en/xeber/AZERI_CHESS_PLAYER_BECOMES_EUROPEAN_CHAMPION-575579 | website = Azerbaijan State News Agency |access-date=26 July 2021 | date = 17 June 2008}}</ref> She finished behind Abdumalik and Qiyu Zhou at the latter event, having lost against both of them. Her victory over Kelly Wang was instrumental in her winning the tiebreak over Wang for third place.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Youth Chess Championships 2008 - Girls 08 |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr15981.aspx?lan=1&art=4&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=26 July 2021}}</ref>
==Chess career== ===2009–14: Under-10 World Champion, WGM at 14=== thumb|upright=1.0|Mammadzada (right) in 2013 Mammadzada earned her first FIDE rating in January 2009, starting out at 1764 at age eight after participating in the under-10 girls' division at the 2008 European Youth Championship.<ref name="fide-rating">{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Rating Progress Chart |url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/13403729/chart |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> After not medalling at the 2009 European Youth Championship,<ref>{{cite web |title=European Youth Chess Championship 2009 Girls - 10 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr24966.aspx?lan=1&art=4&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> she recovered to win the under-10 girls' division at the 2009 World Youth Championship in Antalya. She won her first ten games at the latter event en route to a score of 10½/11, two points ahead of Furtado, who finished in second place and was one of the players she defeated.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Youth Chess Championships 2009 (U10G) |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr27461.aspx?lan=1&art=4&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ru.apa.az/print/147717 |title=10-летняя азербайджанская шахматистка стала чемпионкой мира! |date=November 23, 2009 | trans-title = 10-year-old Azerbaijani chess player became world champion! |website=APA Azeri Press Agency |access-date=7 September 2016 |quote= |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911112838/http://ru.apa.az/print/147717 |archive-date=11 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mammadzada first entered the Azerbaijani women's national championship in 2010 at nine years old, finishing in last place as the lowest-rated competitor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Championship of Azerbaijan, women, 2010 |url=https://ratings.fide.com/report.phtml?event=49278&t=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Standard Ratings March 2010 |url=https://ratings.fide.com/calculations.phtml?id_number=13403729&period=2010-03-01&rating=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She also was awarded the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title in 2010.<ref name="fide-profile">{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada |url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/13403729 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Mammadzada had another triumph in 2012, finishing in clear first at the under-13 girls' World School Individual Chess Championship, ahead of two higher-rated Russian players: Anna Vasenina and Irina Drogovoz.<ref>{{cite web |title=8th World School Individual Chess Championship Girls U13 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr69340.aspx?lan=1&art=1&turdet=YES |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She came close to medalling at European Youth Championship later that year, finishing in joint third in the under-12 girls' division with 7/9 along with two other players, but had a lesser tiebreak.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Youth Chess Championship G12 Prague 2012 - Girls Under 12 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr79019.aspx?lan=1&art=4 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref>
During 2013, Mammadzada reached rating milestones of 2000 and 2100.<ref name=fide-rating/> She won her second European Youth Championship in Montenegro, finishing in clear first in the under-14 girls' division with 7½/9. In particular, she defeated Nela Pychova in the last round when Pychova had begun the round alone in first place.<ref>{{cite web |title=23rd European Youth Chess Championships 2013 - Girls U14 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr106049.aspx?lan=1&art=4&turdet=YES&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> In 2014, Mammadzada earned both the Woman International Master (WIM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) titles.<ref name=wim-application>{{cite web |title=3rd quarter Presidential Board Meeting August 2014 Woman International Master (WIM): Gunay Mammadzada |url=https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=13403729&title=WIM&pb=40&reff=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref name=wgm-application>{{cite web |title=4th quarter Presidential Board Meeting, 7-10 November 2014, Sochi, RUS Woman Grandmaster (WGM): Gunay Mammadzada |url=https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=13403729&title=WGM&pb=41&reff=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Having already earned her first WIM norm in July 2013 at the Nana Aleksandria Cup in Georgia,<ref>{{cite web |title=Nana Aleksandria Cup - 2013 Open A |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr103172.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=52 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> she earned both WIM and WGM norms at two tournaments in 2014, the David Bronstein Memorial in Belarus that February and the European Individual Women's Chess Championship in Bulgaria that July.<ref name=wim-application/><ref name=wgm-application/> She scored 5/9 at the former event, highlighted by a last-round win against Siniša Dražić, a Serbian GM.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Bronstein Memorial 2014 tournament A |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr123404.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&snr=139 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She scored 6/11 at the latter event and gained 134 rating points to cross the 2300 rating threshold needed for the WGM title.<ref name=eiwcc-2015>{{cite web |title=15th European Individual Women's Chess Championship |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr136442.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=79 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Standard Ratings August 2014 |url=https://ratings.fide.com/calculations.phtml?id_number=13403729&period=2014-08-01&rating=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Mammadzada had been in eighth place at the European Individual Championship after starting out with a score of 5/7 before finishing in 38th place.<ref name=g14/><ref name=eiwcc-2015/> She clinched the WGM title in September at the Baku Open by scoring 4/9 against much stronger opponents with an average rating of 2494, earning both her third and final WGM norm and her first International Master (IM) norm.<ref name=wgm-application/><ref name="im-application">{{cite web |title=87th FIDE Congress 2016, 1–14 September, Baku, Azerbaijan International Master (IM): Gunay Mammadzada |url=https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=13403729&title=IM&pb=46&reff=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Standard Ratings November 2014 |url=https://ratings.fide.com/calculations.phtml?id_number=13403729&period=2014-11-01&rating=0 |website=FIDE |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> At 14 years old, Mammadzada became Azerbaijan's youngest WGM in history, surpassing Turkan Mamedyarova's previous record of attaining the title at age 18.<ref name=g14/><ref name=16-profile/>
===2015–present: International Master title=== thumb|upright=1.2|Mammadzada in 2017 Mammadzada earned her last two IM norms in 2015 and 2016, but did not reach the rating threshold of 2400 needed for the title until 2018.<ref name=fide-rating/><ref name=im-application/> Her second IM norm came at the Czech Open in July 2015, where she scored 5½/9.<ref>{{cite web |title=Czech Open 2015 Pardubice Open - turnaj A open grand master tournament with rating for FIDE, part of ACP world series |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr180752.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=116 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Her third and final IM norm came at the Nakhchivan Open in Azerbaijan, where she scored 5/9 and won her last-round game against Zaur Mammadov, an Azerbaijani GM.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nakhchivan Open 2016, group A, 09-18 May 2016, Nakhchivan |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr219951.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&snr=27 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Mammadzada's last two major youth championships were the under-20 girls' World Junior Chess Championships in 2015 and 2017. She finished in seventh place in 2015,<ref>{{cite web |title=FIDE World Junior U20 Championship (Girls) |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr185842.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> but underperformed in 2017 and lost 64 rating points.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Girls under 20 Championship 2017 (150310) |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr306061.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=4 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Nonetheless, she had better results earlier in 2017. She won her first Azerbaijani Women's Championship in February, scoring 7/9 to finish a full point ahead of second place. During the tournament, she defeated Gulnar Mammadova, an IM who was the only player with a higher rating.<ref>{{cite web |title=Azerbaijan Women's Championship |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr262423.aspx?lan=1&art=1 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She also performed well at the European Individual Women's Championship, scoring 7/11 and finishing with four wins in a row.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Individual Women Chess Championship 2017 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr269716.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&flag=30&turdet=YES |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> Mammadzada quickly regained most of the rating points she lost at the World Junior Championship in early 2018 between her performance at the Moscow Open and finishing runner-up to Khanim Balajayeva at the women's national championship on the tiebreak criteria.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moscow Open 2018 A |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr328740.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&snr=94 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She then crossed a rating of 2400 to earn the IM title at the European Individual Women's Championship in Slovakia, scoring 7½/11 to finish in tenth place overall and gain 50 rating points to increase her rating to 2442.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Individual Women Chess Championship 2018 Slovakia |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr338143.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=36 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Houska |first1=Jovanka |title=Gunina Wins European Women's Championship |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/hat-trick-for-gunina-19th-european-womens-champion |website=Chess.com |access-date=29 July 2021 | date = 20 April 2018}}</ref> Later in 2018 at the Abu Dhabi Masters, she also won a game against Abhijeet Gupta, an Indian GM who with a rating of 2614 is the highest-rated player she has defeated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Chess Games: Sort by Rating (White) |url=https://www.chess.com/games/search?p1=gunay-mammadzada&sort=3 |website=Chess.com |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada Chess Games: Sort by Rating (Black) |url=https://www.chess.com/games/search?p1=gunay-mammadzada&sort=4 |website=Chess.com |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref>
Mammadzada won her second Azerbaijan Women's Championship in 2019 with a dominant score of 8½/9, corresponding to a performance rating of 2622.<ref>{{cite web |title=Azerbaijan Chess Championship 2019-Women |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr411870.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&snr=1 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> She also fared well at the European Women Club Cup later in the year, scoring 4/6 while representing Odlar Yurdu for a performance rating of 2597. During the tournament, she defeated two Grandmasters: Valentina Gunina, who was rated 2509, and Koneru Humpy, who was rated 2577.<ref>{{cite web |title=24th European Women Club Cup |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr462795.aspx?lan=1&art=9&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=33 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=European Club Cup 2019 Concluded In Ulcinj, Montenegro |url=https://www.europechess.org/european-club-cup-2019-concluded-in-ulcinj-montenegro/ |website=European Chess Union |access-date=29 July 2021 |date=17 November 2019}}</ref> After over a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mammadzada was named a replacement player for the last leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2019–2021 in Gibraltar in May 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGourty |first1=Colin |title=Gibraltar hosts final Women's FIDE Grand Prix |url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/gibraltar-hosts-final-women-s-fide-grand-prix |website=chess24 |access-date=27 July 2021 | date = 22 May 2021}}</ref> Despite being the third-lowest rated player out of the twelve in the field, she had an excellent result in the round-robin tournament, finishing in third place with a score of 6½/11 behind fellow replacement player Abdumalik and Mariya Muzychuk. She had an opportunity to earn a GM norm had she won or drawn against Anna Muzychuk in the ninth round, but lost that game.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gibraltar FIDE Womens Grand Prix |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr561909.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=1 |website=Chess Results |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Saunders |first1=John |title=FIDE WGP Rd9 - Zhansaya's Marathon Victory |url=https://www.gibchess.com/fidewgp-2021-round-9 |website=Gibraltar International Chess Festival |access-date=27 July 2021 | date= 31 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McGourty |first1=Colin |title=Newly-minted GM Abdumalik crushes in Gibraltar |url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/newly-minted-gm-abdumalik-crushes-in-gibraltar |website=chess24 |access-date=13 June 2021 | date = 3 June 2021}}</ref>
On July 4, 2022, Mammadzada won the women's tournament at the 7th International Chess Festival dedicated to the memory of the country's late president Lech Kaczyński in Poland.<ref>{{cite web |title=IM Gunay Mammadzada wins Bydgoszcz Fundacja Orlen WGM 2022 |url=https://www.chessdom.com/im-gunay-mammadzada-wins-bydgoszcz-fundacja-orlen-wgm-2022/ |website=Chessdom.com |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=VII Międzynarodowy Festiwal Szachowy im. Lecha Kaczyńskiego w Bydgoszczy - Fundacja Orlen Arcymistrzowski Turniej Kołowy |url=https://www.chessmanager.com/pl/tournaments/5515548826796032/ |website=Chessmanager.com |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref> In August 2022, she won a silver medal at the European Individual Women's Championship with a score of 8/11, a ½ point behind Monika Soćko.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Women Chess Championship 2022 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr652617.aspx?lan=8&art=1&rd=11&turdet=YES&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref>
==National representation== thumb|upright=1.5|Mammadzada (seventh from the right) with the Azerbaijan women's teams at the 2016 Baku Olympiad Mammadzada began representing Azerbaijan at the under-16 Chess Olympiad in 2016 in Slovakia. She played on the second board behind Nail Bashirli and had a good individual performance, scoring 5½/8 to finish in fifth place on the second board behind only male players.<ref>{{cite web |title=FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad Slovakia 2016 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr229224.aspx?lan=1&art=20&snr=4&turdet=YES&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref> She has since played on two Azerbaijan Women's Chess Olympiad teams. Azerbaijan fared similarly in both of them, finishing in joint fourth place with 16 points in both 2016 when they scored +7–2=2{{efn|7 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws}} and 2018 when they scored +6–1=4. With the tiebreak criteria, they came in eighth place in 2016 and tenth place in 2018. At the 2016 Baku Olympiad, Azerbaijan was permitted to enter three teams as the host country. Mammadzada played on the first team's second board behind Zeinab Mamedjarova in 2016 and had a good performance, scoring 5½/10 and gaining rating points.<ref>{{cite web |title=42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Women |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr232876.aspx?lan=1&art=20&fed=AZE&flag=30&turdet=YES |website=Chess Results |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Silver |first1=Albert |title=2016 Baku Rd11: US wins historic gold! China wins Women's |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/2016-baku-rd11-us-wins-historic-gold-china-wins-women-s |website=ChessBase |access-date=29 July 2021 |date=14 September 2016}}</ref> At the 2018 Batumi Olympiad, Mammadzada played on the top board, but only managed an even score and lost rating points.<ref>{{cite web |title=43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Women |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr368909.aspx?lan=1&art=20&fed=AZE&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chess Olympiad Live: Double-gold for China |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-olympiad-2018-live |website=ChessBase |access-date=29 July 2021 |date=5 October 2018}}</ref>
Mammadzada has also represented Azerbaijan at the European Women Team Chess Championships. She played on the top board in both 2017 and 2019. After finishing in eighth place with 11 points (+4–2=3) in 2017 in Greece,<ref>{{cite web |title=21th European Women's Team Chess Championship 2017 Women Section |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr304485.aspx?lan=1&art=20&flag=30&turdet=YES |website=Chess Results |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Azerbaijan wins European Team Championship |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/european-team-championship-2017-live |website=ChessBase |access-date=29 July 2021 | date = 7 November 2017}}</ref> Azerbaijan won the team bronze medal in 2019 behind gold medallists Russia and silver medallists Georgia, the host country. With Khanim Balajayeva, Ulviyya Fataliyeva, and Gulnar Mammadova on the lower boards and Turkan Mamedjarova on the reserve board, they scored 14 points (+6–1=2), only losing to Spain while drawing both Russia and Georgia.<ref>{{cite web |title=22nd European Team Chess Championship 2019 Women Section |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr455226.aspx?lan=1&art=20&fed=AZE&turdet=YES&flag=30 |website=Chess Results |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref> Individually, Mammadzada also won a bronze medal on the top board with a score of 5½/8 corresponding to a performance rating of 2565, which was behind only Grandmasters Nana Dzagnidze and Pia Cramling.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russia Wins Double Gold at European Team Championships |url=https://www.europechess.org/russia-wins-double-gold-at-european-team-chess-championship-2019/ |website=European Chess Union |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref>
==Playing style== {{AN chess|pos=secright}} Mammadzada primarily plays 1.e4 (the King's Pawn Game) compared to 1.d4 (the Queen's Pawn Game) or other first moves.<ref name=g14/><ref>{{cite web |title=Gunay Mammadzada with the white pieces |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer?pid=113679&side=white |website=Chess Games |access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref> Her favourite chess pieces are the knight and the queen, which she considers her "main weapons".<ref name=16-profile/> Nonetheless, she generally intends to adapt her playing style as needed in any given game.<ref name=sportpress/> Fikret Sideifzade, an International Master who has coached the Azerbaijan women's team, described Mammadzada's strengths as "[having] a nice opening knowledge and strong nerves."<ref>{{cite AV media| title = Round 5. Press conference with Fikret Sideifzade, head coach and captain of Azerbaijan women team | date = 21 June 2017 | publisher = Chess Cast | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-hj52o0nMg&ab_channel=ChessCast | access-date = 30 July 2021}}</ref>
==Personal life== Mammadzada has a brother who is four years younger.<ref name=gibraltar-interview/> She attended university at the Azerbaijan State Physical Culture and Sports Academy,<ref>{{cite web |title=An event dedicated to the International Children's Day was held in the Azerbaijani Parliament |url=https://azertag.az/xeber/Milli_Meclisde_Usaqlarin_Beynelxalq_Mudafiesi_Gunune_hesr_edilen_tedbir_kechirilib-1168621 | website = Azerbaijan State News Agency |access-date=30 July 2021 | date = 1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105023412/https://azertag.az/xeber/Milli_Meclisde_Usaqlarin_Beynelxalq_Mudafiesi_Gunune_hesr_edilen_tedbir_kechirilib-1168621 |archive-date=5 November 2018|language=az}}</ref> and previously attended secondary school at Intelligence School Lyceum No. 6 in Baku.<ref name=anl/>
Mammadzada's chess idol is Magnus Carlsen. She had idolized Judit Polgár more at a younger age.<ref name=sportpress/> Outside of chess, Mammadzada's hobbies include horseback riding, running, reading, and studying languages. In addition to Azerbaijani, she can speak English, French and Russian. Growing up, she also liked swimming and shooting.<ref name=gibraltar-interview/><ref name=16-profile>{{cite web |title=Kişilərə meydan oxuyan 16 yaşlı xanım | trans-title = 16-year-old woman challenging men |url=http://www.kaspi.az/az/kisilere-meydan-oxuyan-16-yasli-xanim-portret/ |website=Kaspi | language = az |access-date=25 July 2021 | date = 29 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509235034/http://www.kaspi.az/az/kisilere-meydan-oxuyan-16-yasli-xanim-portret/ |archive-date=9 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Təhsil TV: Əslində mən - Günay Məmmədzadə | trans-title = Education TV: In fact, I am Gunay Mammadzada |url=https://muallim.edu.az/news.php?id=8739 |website=Body of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan | language = az |access-date=29 July 2021 | date = 4 December 2019}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Gunay Mammadzada}} * {{FIDE}} * {{Chessgames.com player|113679}} * {{Chess.com player|gunay-mammadzada}}
{{Azerbaijani WGMs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mammadzada, Gunay}} Category:Azerbaijani female chess players Category:Azerbaijani chess players Category:Chess International Masters Category:Chess Woman Grandmasters Category:2000 births Category:Living people Category:World Youth Chess Champions Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:Chess players from Baku Category:21st-century chess players