The Third President's Cup is took place from May 11th to 21st 2008 in Baku, Azerbaijan. There were 180 participants in the Open Tournament, and the prize fund is US $85,000. There was also a Children's U-14 and a Seniors Tournament.
The winner, with 7.5/9 (six wins): GM Evgeniy Najer or Russia
| Rnk | Seed | Title | Player | Elo | Nat. | Pts | BH1 | BH2 | BH3 | wins |
| 1 | 9 | GM | Najer Evgeniy | 2627 | RUS | 7.5 | 53.0 | 50.0 | 45.5 | 6 |
| 2 | 28 | GM | Abbasov Farid | 2528 | AZE | 7.0 | 54.5 | 51.0 | 46.0 | 5 |
| 3 | 10 | GM | Guseinov Gadir | 2625 | AZE | 7.0 | 54.5 | 50.0 | 45.0 | 6 |
| 4 | 13 | GM | Lastin Alexander | 2622 | RUS | 7.0 | 54.5 | 50.0 | 45.0 | 5 |
| 5 | 1 | GM | Milov Vadim | 2690 | SUI | 7.0 | 53.0 | 49.0 | 43.5 | 6 |
| 6 | 19 | GM | Aleksandrov Aleksej | 2582 | BLR | 7.0 | 53.0 | 48.5 | 44.0 | 5 |
| 7 | 12 | GM | Gelashvili Tamaz | 2622 | GEO | 7.0 | 52.5 | 48.5 | 43.5 | 5 |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Jobava Baadur | 2658 | GEO | 7.0 | 52.5 | 47.5 | 42.5 | 5 |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Short Nigel D | 2660 | ENG | 7.0 | 51.5 | 46.5 | 41.5 | 5 |
| 10 | 23 | GM | Dzhumaev Marat | 2557 | UZB | 6.5 | 54.5 | 50.0 | 44.5 | 6 |
| 11 | 7 | GM | Fridman Daniel | 2640 | GER | 6.5 | 51.5 | 47.5 | 42.5 | 5 |
| 12 | 2 | GM | Sokolov Ivan | 2690 | NED | 6.5 | 51.5 | 47.0 | 42.0 | 5 |
| 13 | 11 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2624 | GER | 6.5 | 51.0 | 47.0 | 41.5 | 6 |
| 14 | 21 | GM | Timman Jan H | 2565 | NED | 6.5 | 48.5 | 45.0 | 41.5 | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | GM | Kazhgaleyev Murtas | 2617 | KAZ | 6.5 | 48.5 | 45.0 | 40.0 | 4 |
| 16 | 24 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2538 | BUL | 6.5 | 48.0 | 45.0 | 40.5 | 6 |
| 17 | 51 | FM | Agaragimov Djakhangir | 2343 | AZE | 6.5 | 42.0 | 39.5 | 36.0 | 5 |
| 18 | 18 | GM | Korchnoi Viktor | 2598 | SUI | 6.0 | 53.0 | 49.0 | 44.0 | 5 |
| 19 | 14 | GM | Malakhatko Vadim | 2621 | BEL | 6.0 | 53.0 | 49.0 | 44.0 | 4 |
| 20 | 29 | GM | Safarli Eltaj | 2524 | AZE | 6.0 | 52.0 | 48.0 | 43.0 | 4 |
| 21 | 8 | GM | Mchedlishvili Mikheil | 2635 | GEO | 6.0 | 51.5 | 47.5 | 42.5 | 3 |
| 22 | 47 | IM | Durarbeyli Vasif | 2384 | AZE | 6.0 | 51.0 | 47.0 | 43.0 | 5 |
| 23 | 16 | GM | Mamedov Rauf | 2617 | AZE | 6.0 | 51.0 | 46.5 | 42.0 | 4 |
| 24 | 6 | GM | Beliavsky Alexander | 2641 | SLO | 6.0 | 50.5 | 46.0 | 41.5 | 5 |
| 25 | 32 | GM | Guliev Sarhan | 2487 | AZE | 6.0 | 49.0 | 45.5 | 41.5 | 5 |
| 26 | 31 | IM | Sulashvili Malkhaz | 2491 | GEO | 6.0 | 49.0 | 45.5 | 41.5 | 4 |
| 27 | 35 | IM | Sanikidze Tornike | 2458 | GEO | 6.0 | 49.0 | 45.5 | 41.0 | 5 |
| 28 | 37 | IM | Esen Baris | 2451 | TUR | 6.0 | 49.0 | 45.0 | 40.5 | 5 |
| 29 | 36 | Nigalidze Gaioz | 2455 | GEO | 6.0 | 48.0 | 45.0 | 41.0 | 5 |
|
| 30 | 33 | GM | Babaev Rashad | 2482 | AZE | 6.0 | 48.0 | 43.5 | 39.0 | 5 |
| 31 | 25 | GM | Ibrahimov Rasul | 2535 | AZE | 6.0 | 46.5 | 43.0 | 38.5 | 5 |
| 32 | 72 | Rzayev Bahruz | 2225 | AZE | 6.0 | 45.5 | 43.0 | 38.5 | 5 |
|
| 33 | 22 | GM | Savchenko Stanislav | 2560 | UKR | 6.0 | 45.5 | 42.0 | 38.0 | 4 |
| 34 | 57 | Bayramov Vugar | 2306 | AZE | 6.0 | 45.0 | 42.5 | 38.5 | 6 |
|
| 35 | 3 | GM | Van Wely Loek | 2677 | NED | 6.0 | 44.0 | 40.5 | 37.0 | 5 |
| 36 | 53 | Mammadov Ayaz | 2333 | AZE | 6.0 | 43.5 | 40.0 | 36.0 | 6 |
The President's Cup in Baku was extraordinarily well photographed, this year as in every year, by Farid Khayrulin of "FGF Digital STUDIO". You will find hundreds of great shots here. The pages are well worth a visit, especially if you are fond of children and inspired by the sight of them brooding over a chessboard.
Unfortunately none of Farid's photos are captioned, so that you either know the players or just enjoy the anonymous images. We have selected some we could identify and a series of lovely portraits we couldn't. The latter at at the end of the gallery and we ask our readers to supply the names of these unidentified players. Please use the feedback link on the left of this page, and give "Unidentified players" as the subject line.
GM Antoaneta Stefanova, 2538, BUL, 6.0 points, gets $600 for her 16th place
Viktor Korchnoi finished 18th with 6.0 points and got a nice carpet as a
special prize
Korchnoi's wife Petra, one of our favourite people, got roses
A Bulgarian rose with an Azeri rose, one is tempted to say (Antoaneta Stefanova)
Top seed Milov Vadim, 2690, SUI, finished 5th with 7.0
Eighth: GM Jobava Baadur, 2658, GEO, with 7.0 points
Alexander Beliavsky, 2641, SLO, finished 24th with 6.0 points
Third seed Loek van Wely, 2677, NED, came 35th with 6.0 points
Viktor Lvovich, still going strong at 77
Little sister: WGM Turkan Mamedjarova, 2271, AZE, 5.0 points
The rest of the pictures are of currently unidentified players. We rely on our readers to supply the correct names (using the feedback button on the left). How long will it take to fill in all the names? We will keep updating the captions as the information trickles in.
Six hours after publication all but one player, no. 11, had been identified. One day later we have him as well. Special thanks to Rustam Najafov of Baku, Azerbaijan, who identified the most difficult ones, and to Nigel Short, who provided the name of the sister of the deputy arbiter.
1: WIM Ana Gavasheli, 2191, GEO, 5.0/9, 74th place
2: Ulkar Umudova, a deputy arbiter at the chess festival.
Her younger sister, Nargiz, was playing in the tournament.
3: IM Anna Zozulia, 2332, BEL, 5.0/9, 57th
4: GM Alexander Lastin, 2622, RUS, 7.0/9 came 4th
(Memo: find out if praying is legal during a game)
Unidentified player – no, no, hang on, it's what's-his-face! Nigel
Short.
5: WGM Bela Khotenashvili, 2333, GEO, 5.0/9, 56th
6: GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev, 2617, KAZ, 6.5/9, 15th place
7: GM Vadim Malakhatko, 2621, BEL, 6.0/9, 19th place
8: GM Rauf Mamedov, 2617, AZE, 6.0, 23rd place
9: Mushfig Askerov, 2154, AZE, 5.5/9, 45th. Mushfig? Yep, Mushfig.
10: Aytaj Ismailova, 2129, AZE, 5.0 points, 75th
11: Gulamhuseyn Abdulov, 1986, AZE 4.0 points, 110th
12: GM Sarhan Guliev, 2487, AZE, 6./90, 25th place
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