Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 Round 8: Carlsen Keeps 1/2-Point Lead Over Caruana
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen not too happy to draw with Sergey Karjakin, but keeps the lead after 8 rounds at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014. (official website)
There has not been a dull moment at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 in Shamkir. The eighth round witnessed sharp chess with very few games left now.
Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura won their respective games to keep Magnus Carlsen - the leader - within catching distance. Caruana is half a point behind Carlsen and three players are only one point away!
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tried aggressive experimental chess and went down fighting to Hikaru Nakamura. Carlsen could not break Sergey Karjakin's solid defence leading to a dead draw with Bishops and pawns locked. Caruana continued to press and Caruana held his nerve, went for a pawn sac and broke Radjabov's game in time pressure.
Standings after Round 8 have Carlsen at 5 points, Caruana at 4.5 points, Karjakin, Radjabov, Nakamura at 4 points each and Mamedyarov with 2 points.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, shamkir chess, vugar gashimov chess memorial 2014
Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 Round 7: Magnus Carlsen back in Sole Lead
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen is back in the lead at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 after seven rounds in Shamkir.
Carlsen, playing Black, beat Hikaru Nakamura taking their personal score to 10-0. Basically, White did have an advantage, but passive play did him in. Carlsen now jumps into sole lead again at the tournament.
Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov easily drew a Catalan game as did Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana in a Gruenfeld struggle.
Standings after Round 7: Magnus Carlsen 4.5, Teimour Radjabov 4.0, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin 3.5, Hikaru Nakamura 3.0, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2.5.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Magnus Carlsen, shamkir chess, teimour radjabov, vugar gashimov chess memorial 2014
Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 Round 6: Radjabov, Carlsen in Joint Lead
Hello everyone,
Photo: Official website shamkirchess.az
Round 6 at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 brought good tiding for World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen on Saturday. The Norwegian Grandmaster picked up a win over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - after two successive losses before the rest day on Friday - to get back into the lead, albeit jointly, with Teimour Radjabov. Both now have 3.5 points. The other two games of the round were draws.
To begin with, Mamedyarov's pawn sac for control of the centre only had Carlsen get back into his elements and grind out a win. Caruana lost out on positional control and suffered a structural collapse in efforts to go up material, but the American Grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, knew how to force a draw. In the Radjabov - Karjakin game, the Russian steered the game to a theoretical draw and earned half a point.
Standings Round 6
Teimour Radjabov, Magnus Carlsen 3.5
Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura 3.0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2.0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: shamkir chess, vugar gashimov chess memorial 2014
Vugar Gashimov 'Lives Again' as Shamkir Memorial Chess 2014 begins with World's Top Chess Stars
Hello everyone,
The Shamkir Chess 2014 tournament was officially opened on Saturday at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir, Azerbaijan. A touching opening ceremony included a short movie about Vugar Gashimov, for whom this tournament is a memorial. The drawing of lots resulted in the following pairings for the first round on Sunday: Carlsen-Mamedyarov, Nakamura-Caruana, Karjakin-Radjabov (A group), Wojtaszek-Durarbayli, Eljanov-Mamedov, Motylev-Abasov, Safarli-Huseinov and Wang-Bacrot (B group).
The opening ceremony, which was attended by about 150 people, started with a one-minute of silence for Vugar. A number of honorable guests paid due respect to Vugar's memory giving speeches, including the mayor of Shamkir, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport and the Vice President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation.
A touching moment followed when the father of Vugar appeared on stage. Starting with “Dear good friends of Vugar, because that is what you are since you have come here”, he spoke proudly about how much his son had achieved in the short life he was given. There were hardly spectators who kept dry eyes.
He expressed his appreciation for the support he had received from the government and said: “he's not just my son, but the son of the motherland.”
Chairman of Supervisory Board at Synergy Group, Riyad Huseynov greeted all the participants. Emphasizing the importance of this tournament for whole chess community, Mr. Huseynov stated to be honored organizing Shamkir Chess 2014: "I assure all of you that the Organizing Committee of the tournament will do their best to make sure everything is on high level. I declare the tournament open. Let the strongest win."
One of Vugar's friends and former coach, Viorel Iordachescu, also gave a personal and emotional speech. “My collaboration and friendship with Vugar was the happiest period of my life. With the loss of Vugar I lost a part of me.” Iordachescu also introduced special stamps to the audience.
The drawing of lots was a rather simple affair, performed by Chief Arbiter Faik Gasanov. First the players of the B group came on stage, and then the players of the A group. They all had to choose a small trophy, and at the bottom they found their lot number. For the A group Magnus Carlsen appeared first on stage, and he picked number 1 which means he starts with two whites.
The ceremony finished with a dance performance, and after that there was a reception. (official website)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Hikaru nakamura, Magnus Carlsen, shamkir chess, vugar gashimov
Shamkir April 19 Vugar Gashimov Memorial - World's Top Chess GMs Gather to Salute a Chess Star
Hello dear Chess Blog friends,
Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014
Shamkir - the city that lies quietly on the banks of River Chagirchay in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus - is named after the brightest of stars, the Sun.
Come April 19 and some of the world's best chess stars will gather in the Azerbaijan city to pay homage to another star - Vugar Gashimov. Gashimov is no more, but his beautiful chess remains with us forever. A chess memorial attended by the world's best could alone be a befitting tribute to Vugar Gashimov.
There will be two groups - A and B.
The official website of the event will transmit live all the games along with commentary, in English, Russian, and Azerbaijani, by some of the best in the chess world.
The Azeri comments will come from Grandmasters, honored coach of Azerbaijan, FIDE trainer Anar Allahverdiyev and coach of the national team of teenagers Farid Abbasov.
Two-time Wijk-aan-Zee champion, Olympiad and European Championship participant, honored FIDE coach Gennady Sosonko will also be part of the commentary team.
Along with Sosonko, coach of Vugar Gashimov Viorel Iordakescu will comment the games in English. Sergey Shipov, one of the world's most famous commentators will comment in Russian.
The tournament is hosted and organised by "Synergy Group" which works "For a sustainable future". The opening ceremony will be held on April 19 at Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir. Established in 2010, Synergy Group is one of the largest private investment holdings in Azerbaijan. The Group invests in a number of strategic industry areas with high growth potential. Synergy Group successfully operates a dynamic portfolio of 28 diverse and growth-oriented businesses and with all its companies employs more than 1500 people.
Vugar Gashimov
Born on July 24th, 1986 in Baku, Vugar Gashimov achieved his peak ranking-world#6 in November, 2009. He has been the winner of Baku Grand Prix. Representing Azerbaijani team, he became the European champion in 2009. He played a crucial role in the historical victory of the national team at the European Championship held in Serbia. In 2011 he became the winner of Reggio Emilia chess tournament held in Italy since 1958. Playing on behalf of several chess clubs, he became the champion of Croatia, Turkey, Romania, Iran, Spain and Moldova. A silver-medalist, Gashimov was known as a particularly strong blitz chess player. Owner of more than 72 titles, Vugar Gashimov is the winner of Kasparov Cup. For his individual indicators, he became silver medalist of the Chess Olympiad held in 2008. He is also a silver and bronze-medalist of the World Intellectual Games.
Vugar Gashimov passed away on January 10th, 2014 in Heidelberg, Germany at the age of 27. The grandmaster from Baku had been ill for a long time and was under treatment for the last 1.5 years.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: azerbaijan chess, shamkir chess, vugar gashimov
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