Nurgyul Salimova wants to continue competing for Bulgaria

Bulgarian chess player Nurgyul Salimova, one of the country’s top young talents, told BNT that she had received official offers from other countries but turned them down. “I had official offers from other countries, which I declined. I wanted to compete for Bulgaria, and I still do”, Nurgyul Salimova said.

“If our rights are suspended, I won’t have another option. I know that some players are already in talks with other federations. I don’t have such talks at the moment, but it wouldn’t be difficult for that to happen”, Salimova added.

She also warned that if the issue of having two chess organizations in Bulgaria is not resolved—one recognized by the International Chess Federation FIDE and the European Chess Union (ECU), and the other recognized by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Sport—sanctions could be imposed, and Bulgarian players could lose the right to participate in international tournaments.

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“My message to the chess federations in our country is to resolve these disputes as quickly as possible, because we are preparing for the Olympics and we want to participate. We do not deserve what is happening”, Nurgyul Salimova said.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov