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The Vugar Gashimov Memorial, is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from the 20th to 30th of April, in memory of the great Vugar Gashimov, who passed away on the 10th of January 2014. The tournament is divided into two groups. The A Group features six players: World Champion Magnus Carlsen (2881), Fabiano Caruana (2783), Sergey Karjakin (2772), Hikaru Nakamura (2772), and the two Azeri players Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760) and Teimour Radjabov (2713). The B group consists of ten players, the top five seeds from various countries and the bottom five are all from Azerbaijan.
The grand playing venue
Vugar Gashimov would be proud to have such a magnificent event held in his honor. There can be no doubt that this tribute to him as both a player and a remarkable human being was of the highest quality possible, and went beyond the qualities and conditions one would expect of a ‘mere’ elite tournament.
Anatoly Karpov sent his personal best wishes and congratulations
True, Azerbaijan is a nation in which chess holds a prominent position, yet nevertheless, the organizers went that extra distance in nearly every aspect. Consider just how extensively the tournament was promoted throughout the city of Baku, Garry Kasparov’s hometown.
All over Baku one could find billboards of all sizes...
... as well as numerous electronic signs advertising the tournament.
Nevertheless, it went deeper as their online presence was second to none, and an example for many. Of course it had the expected official website, with video coverage and grandmaster commentary, and while important, is nothing new. However, they also made peerless use of the major social networks, including Twitter, a superbly well-worked Facebook page dedicated to the tournament, and even an exclusive Instagram account, a first as far as we know.
The Facebook page was very well taken care of, with many
updates, and a plethora of pictures
They even had a dedicated Instagram account for the competition
The magnificent battles that took place in the A tournament have been well-documented, but it would be remiss to ignore the equally exciting B tournament, split between five top foreigners, and five strong Azerbaijan players, giving them a chance at top level competition they might not get very often.
At the midway point, after five rounds, French player Etienne Bacrot was on top of the world with 4.0/5 and a 2863 performance that rivaled any by the players in the A tournament. This was compounded by a fifth round win over Rauf Mamedov in a mere 26 moves, after a tactical oversight cost the game.
In the meantime, Alexander Motylev, who had just been crowned the European Champion with the most dominating score in history, was having trouble breaking away from the pack, and stood at a sedate 50%. Solid, considering the company he was in, but certainly not what he had come for.
The next rounds completely turned the tournament on its head, and the turning point was unquestionably the decisive round seven game between Etienne Bacrot and Pavel Eljanov.
Etienne Bacrot wonders what happened to a tournament that seemed under control
Bacrot was unable to recover from this in the next day in round eight, and ran
into a belligerent Motylev who outfoxed him on the white side of a Berlin to
transition into a won endgame.
In round nine, Motylev completed his comeback with a victory over Gadir Guseinov, leaving him in clear second with 5.5/9 and a 2738 performance, while Pavel Eljanov, the most consistent player throughout the event, took a deserved first with 6.0/9.
The prize ceremony was also broadcast live
Everyone was there, and it included simultaneous translation to and from English
A proud Pavel Eljanov receives his award for first prize
The media was there in mass as the photgraphers jostled to get the best shots
The final group photo with the organizers, sponsors, and players
Tiebreak: Number of Wins
Images from the official web site
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