Mamedov wins 2015 Azerbaijan Championship

With a total prizefund of 5000 Azerbaijani Monat, equivalent to just under US$ 6400, there was little chance of luring names such as Mamedyarov for example, while Radjabov has bigger fish to fry in the top group of Wijk aan Zee. Nevertheless, the federation had a few trumps to sweeten the pot, with a payoff at the end: the top three would earn qualification spots for the European Championship, while the top two would earn a place in the World Cup, where even an early knockout comes with a check.

The competition was held at the posh Central Park Hotel in Baku

At the top of the starting list were Rauf Mamedov (2642), Eltaj Safarli (2635), Vasif Durarbayli (2635), and Gadir Guseinov (2610), but while the field was fairly eclectic, it also included rising teens such as 14-year-old Parviz Gasimov (2517), who made waves when he leapt from a sub-2000 rating to grandmaster level in a few months.

22 players fought for the top prizes in a nine-round Swiss system event, played at 40 moves in 90 minutes with a 30-second increment followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game.

Gadir Guseinov was certainly right up there in the mix, but a last-round draw put him in fourth

Eltaj Safarli was one of the fortunate ones as he tied for 1st-3rd, but
earned a World Cup spot by virtue of his second best tiebreak

Vugar Rasulov (2491) may have missed the cut, but he had an excellent tournament and
finished with 6.0/9 and a 2623 performance, earning 17 Elo to boot

The young fellow in red is not Gasimov, but an even younger talent: 13-year-old Vugar Asadli,
who put in a 2313 performance, well more than his current 2127 rating

IM Logman Guliev was one of the veterans of the event and posted a solid 5.0/9

19-year-old GM Ulvi Bajarani came in eighth with 5.0/9

20-year-old IM Zaur Mammadov had an uneven event, and finished with 3.5/9

In third was GM Vasif Durarbayli, losing out to a World Cup spot on tiebreak,
but still earning a place in the forthcoming European Championship

The winner was top-seed Rauf Mamedov who put in an excellent result,
undefeated and a 2705 performance. For his efforts he will play in both
the World Cup and the European Championship.

Tournament tactics

Sevdimaliyev - Iskandarov

Black's attack is evident, but the White queen is still preventing instant
disaster. Black to play and win.

Mamedov - Abasov

The tournament winner spotted a weakness and pounced. White
to play and win.

Shabanov - Gasimov

Though 14-year-old Gasimov was not quite able to live up to his newly
minted 2500+ rating, he showed here some of the resources that led to
it. Black to play and win.

Final standings

Solutions to tactics:

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.