Shamkir: Gashimov Memorial starts on Thursday

The Vugar Gashimov Memorial, is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from the May 26 to June 4, 2016, in memory of the great Vugar Gashimov, who passed away on the 10th of January 2014. The tournament features ten world-class players: Fabiano Caruana (2795), Anish Giri (2790), Sergey Karjakin (2779), Pavel Eljanov (2750), Pentala Harikrishna (2763), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2750), Teimour Radjabov (2726), Eltaj Safarli (2664), Hou Yifan (2663) and Rauf Mamedov (2650). The time control is 120/40 moves + 60/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move at 61st move.

The player list at the official website. Of course, Caruana now plays for USA, not Italy

The tournament is in celebration and memory of Vugar Gashimov, one of the greatest stars of Azerbaijani chess. His passing was a big blow not only for chess in Azerbaijan, but around the World.

The setup in Shamkir, during round five two years ago: the three Group A games are on the stage,
the five Group B games in the area in front of it. The A-Group was a double round robin
(ten rounds), the second a simple round robin with nine rounds and ended a day earlier.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony took place a couple of hours ago. Many important dignitaries from FIDE as well as from the Azerbaijani government were present. For the players the main purpose of the night was to draw their pairing numbers, and with that be able to appropriately prepare against their opponents.

If you didn't get the memo, blue suits are in

Fabiano Caruana got number four, at more whites than blacks

Mr. Hassanov, Vice-President of the Azerbaijani Chess Federation

The ever contentious FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was present in Baku. Kirsan recently announced that he will file a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department in response to sanctions imposed on him. We will have a full article on this later.

Pentala Harikrishna from India starts with number seven

Plenty of important "behind the scenes" people in the front row of this picture. Amon others, Karjakin's manager Kirillos Zangali (white shirt), Hou Yifan's mother, Wang Qian, Giri's wife, Sopiko Guramashvili, etc!

Preview

The tournament is certainly not as strong as last year's edition. Two-time winner of Shamkir, Magnus Carlsen, will not be back to defend his title. One can only speculate on the reason for Carlsen not returning, but among other things the myriad of top level tournaments that are being held this year is mind-boggling. Between the traditional tournaments, such as Wijk aan Zee, Zurich and Shamkir, there are many other events just around the corner. The Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz events start in less than two weeks, there is an Olympiad this year as well as a World Championship match.

But even without the presence of the World Champion this is a top-class event. Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri come in as the top dogs in the tournament, with the highest two ratings. However, many eyes will be on the performance of Sergey Karjakin. This is the Russian's first event since his victory in Moscow at the Candidate's, and many accused him of running away from a confrontation over the board against Carlsen in Norway. His performance here in Shamkir might be an important gauge for the upcoming match in November.

It's rare to describe a player as "upcoming" if they were born before 1990, but this seems to be the case for both Pavel Eljanov and Pentala Harikrishna. Both have been established 2700s for years, but its only in the past year or so that both of these players have catapulted themselves to a position where they can threaten to be part of the top-10. Eljanov is currently sixteenth after an atrocious performance in Norway, where he lost the last three rounds, while Harikrishna is currently twelfth and seeks to finally take the #1 rating spot in India for himself. He will need to win seven rating points to pass Anand.

The Azerbaijanis are a dangerous bunch, with wildly different styles. Teimour Radjabov is an extremely solid player who has brushed the 2800 rating at his prime, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is one of the most combative and unpredictable players in the circuit. Rauf Mamedov and Eltaj Safarli, the two younger Azerbaijanis, will have much to prove in this tournament. Mamedov had a very solid showing last year with many draws, but he will probably go for more points this year.

Last, but certainly not least, is Hou Yifan. With her withdrawal from the Women's Championship Cycle, it is time for Yifan to make her way towards 2700.

Schedule and results

Live commentary on Playchess

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.