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The Vugar Gashimov Memorial is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from the 17th to the 26th of April, in memory of the great Vugar Gashimov, who passed away on the 10th of January 2014. The tournament consists of some of the strongest players in the World: reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, former World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Michael Adams, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov will compete in this prominent event.
| Name | Fed | Rating |
| Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2863 |
| Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2802 |
| Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2791 |
| Giri, Anish | NED | 2790 |
| So, Wesley | USA | 2788 |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2783 |
| Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2762 |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2754 |
| Adams, Michael | ENG | 2746 |
| Mamedov, Rauf | AZE | 2651 |
The Shamkir Super-Tournament, in memory of Vugar Gashimov, is one of the strongest tournaments of the year. Despite some last minute substitutions the tournament still remains extremely strong. Teimour Radjabov, one of Azerbaijan's strongest players, had to be substituted for health reasons; Michael Adams from England will be playing in his stead.
There is one player that is about 100 points lower rated than everyone else, and that is Rauf Mamedov. He earned his spot by being the reigning Azerbaijani Champion, a title he won in an open tournament held a couple of months ago. He scored -1 in last year's Shamkir Group B, so he will definitely have to show that he has improved.
Shamkir (also Anino, Annenfel’d, Annino, Shamkir and Shamkhor) - the 8th largest city in Azerbaijan and the center of the Shamkir district is situated in the northern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus, on the coast of the Chagirchay River on Tbilisi-Yevlakh highway.
It is considered that Shamkir city was founded in the 5th century. In regard to the etymology of the name the Wikipedia entry on Shamkir refers to Azerbaijani historian Jahangir Zeynaloglu, who claims that "the name derives from Persian 'shams' (meaning "sun") and 'kur' ("relaying"), implying that the city was relying on the sun".
The Heydar Aliyev Center (Shamkir branch, there is another one in Baku) which is the playing hall
The opening ceremony lasted about an hour, and more than half of it was speeches from important political figures in Chess.
A full auditorium for the opening
He is everywhere: FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Mr. Hassanov, Vice-President of the Azerbaijani Chess Federation
The most important part of the ceremony was the drawing of lots. Carlsen got number seven.
Giri with his number nine
The press conference was also rather short, asking the players mostly how they were handling their trip to distant Shamkir (Anand has been there for a couple of days already, mostly resting).
| SNo. | Name | Rtg |
Res. |
Name | Rtg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
- |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
| 2 | So Wesley | 2788 |
- |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
| 3 | Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
- |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
| 4 | Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
- |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
| 5 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
- |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
The first round and commentary begins at 12.00 CEST
One of the major tournaments of the year, you can count on www.playchess.com to deliver quality commentary every round!
| Day | Date | Round | English | German |
| Friday | April 17 | Round 1 | GM Daniel King | GMs Oliver Reeh/Dorian Rogozenco |
| Saturday | April 18 | Round 2 | GM Simon Williams | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Sunday | April 19 | Round 3 | GM Simon Williams | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Monday | April 20 | Round 4 | GM Daniel King | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Tuesday | April 21 | Round 5 | GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Wednesday | April 22 | Free | ||
| Thursday | April 23 | Round 6 | GM Daniel King | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Friday | April 24 | Round 7 | GM Simon Williams | GM Klaus Bischoff |
| Saturday | April 25 | Round 8 | GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov | GMs Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller |
| Sunday | April 26 | Round 9 | GM Simon Williams | GM Klaus Bischoff |
English Commentators
LinksThe 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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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