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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 | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
½-½ |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
½-½ |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
1-0 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
½-½ |
So Wesley | 2788 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
½-½ |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
Everyone ready for the final round
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Adams, Michael
Adams had no problems getting equality. White's advantage was reduced to nothing when the opposite colored bishops appeared on the board and neither Black's nor White's king was remotely weak.
A solid final game for both players
Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Anand, Viswanathan
The double Fianchetto set-up in this Queen's Indian style Reti gave White very little. Due to his central pawns White's position was a little better, but it was not sufficient to put Anand in any real danger. The resulting endgame was easily held by the Indian player. Anand finishes with a great performance, a clear second place and his re-entry into the 2800 club.
Vishy Anand: 2804 in the next rating list
Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Mamedov, Rauf
Mamedov was doing a good job of holding on to his position after his opening left him a little bit worse. White's pressure on the open b-file and the bishop against the knight gave him good chances to press, but the Azerbaijani was doing an excellent job defending. That is, until a blunder:
No questions asked: the clear winner, Magnus Carlsen, just shy of a 3000 performance
[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Mamedov, Rau"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2658"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/1p2q1pk/p1p4p/P1P2p2/4r3/1Q2P2P/5PP1/3R2K1 w - - 0 34"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 34. Rd6 Qe5 $4 {inexplicably weakening the seventh rank.} (34... Re5 35. Qc2 Re4 {and White is still doing a little better, but proving it would require Carlsen-like technique... and a lot of patience and mistakes by the opponent.}) 35. Qf7 {Now Black is getting mated, for example:} (35. Qxb7 Rc4 36. Rd1 Rxc5 37. Qxa6 Qc3 $14 {should be holdable, and what Mamedov expected.}) (35. Qf7 Qxc5 (35... Qe8 {is relatively the best move, but after} 36. Qxf5+ {is hopeless. Black's king is too weak and he is down a pawn for no reason.}) 36. Qg6+ Kg8 37. Rd8+ $18) 1-0
Mamedov was holding on, but he eventually cracked
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ So, Wesley
So's position was a little uncomfortable from this Caro-Kann. In the endgame the passed a-pawn caused Black some serious issues, and he had to deactivate his rook to stop it. However, his bishop came into the defense in time, and after swapping off the defender of the a-pawn (the light square bishop) So hold the endgame with accurate defense.
So's spectacular start allowed him to tie for third despite not winning a game in the last five rounds
Giri, Anish ½-½ Kramnik, Vladimir
What a marathon. A game that took several time controls, in which Giri was pushing the entire game. He actually missed a win:
[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Kramnik, V."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6N1/R2K4/4P2p/6k1/1n6/3r2P1/8/8 w - - 0 76"] [PlyCount "10"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 76. Ke8 Kg6 77. Ra4 $2 (77. Rd7 $1 Ra3 (77... Rxd7 78. exd7 Nc6 79. Ne7+ { loses instantly.}) 78. e7 Kg7 {otherwise Kf8 and e8=Q.} (78... Nc6 79. Rd6+ Kg7 80. Rxc6 $1 Kxg8 81. Kd7 {wins.}) 79. Rd4 $1 {Hitting the knight and threatening Rg4+.} Ra8+ (79... Kxg8 80. Rg4+ Kh7 81. Rxb4 $18) 80. Kd7 Kxg8 81. e8=Q+ $1 (81. Rxb4 Ra7+ $11 {is a draw due to checking on the "long side" - Lucena position theory.}) 81... Rxe8 82. Kxe8 Nc6 83. Re4 {and the knight is cut off from the king. The win is not too difficult.}) 77... Nd5 78. Rg4+ Kf5 79. Nxh6+ Kxe6 80. Re4+ Kf6 {There is not enough material to win.} 1/2-1/2
Did he try, oh god, did he try! But Giri missed the coup de grace.
Tomorrow we will bring you a recap of the tournament, including pictures from the closing ceremony.
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
Photos taken from the official website
Round 1
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
1-0 |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
1-0 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
½-½ |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
½-½ |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
Round 2
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams Michael | 2746 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
1-0 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
½-½ |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
½-½ |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
½-½ |
So Wesley | 2788 |
Round 3
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
So Wesley | 2788 |
1-0 |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
½-½ |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
½-½ |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
½-½ |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
0-1 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
Round 4
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams Michael | 2746 |
½-½ |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
½-½ |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
½-½ |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
1-0 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
Round 5
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
½-½ |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
1-0 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
1-0 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
½-½ |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
1-0 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
Round 6
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams Michael | 2746 |
½-½ |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
½-½ |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
0-1 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
½-½ |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
½-½ |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
Round 7
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
1-0 |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
½-½ |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
1-0 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
1-0 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
½-½ |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
Round 8
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adams Michael | 2746 |
1-0 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
1-0 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
So Wesley | 2788 |
½-½ |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
1-0 |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
Round 9
Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2754 |
½-½ |
Adams Michael | 2746 |
Caruana Fabiano | 2802 |
½-½ |
Anand Viswanathan | 2791 |
Carlsen Magnus | 2863 |
1-0 |
Mamedov Rauf | 2651 |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2762 |
½-½ |
So Wesley | 2788 |
Giri Anish | 2790 |
½-½ |
Kramnik Vladimir | 2783 |
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 Daniel King | 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. |