Shamkir Rd7: Caruana lets Giri escape

Third Shamkir Tournament in memory of Vugar Gashimov

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.

All games start at 3 p.m. local time = 1 p.m. in Europe (CEST), one hour earlier in Britain, and 2 p.m. in Moscow. You can find the starting time at your location here. Today's pairings:

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Round Seven

Everyone's eyes were clearly on the Caruana-Giri matchup, which would seemingly determine the fate of the tournament. The game was rather interesting, and all throughout the tactics were complicated and the battle fierce, but it was just at the end, with the clock ticking down, that Caruana was unable to find a really brilliant continuation to win the game. In other news, Eljanov escapes from last place by beating Hou Yifan, meanwhile Mamedyarov beat Safarli, but not without complications.

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Giri, Anish
Another player that essays the Open Spanish against Caruana. The fight in this game was very tactical, with pieces hanging consistently and many trades, which did not lead to a drawn position. White always kept an edge with his superior pieces and the queen and rook vs. queen and rook endgame was more pleasant for White. After some brilliant maneuvering, the following happened:

Caruana would've basically clinched the tournament had he found the brilliant Kh2 move

Dodging a bullet: Anish Giri

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1-0 Safarli, Eltaj
Mamedyarov's opening strategy was very successful, but when it came time to close he found himself with his king in a very weakened position, and he did not follow the best line of play. Safarli missed an amazing perpetual, and gave the game back to Mamedyarov.

Highlight of the day: an Azerbaijani duel that did not end in a draw

Karjakin, Sergey ½-½ Radjabov, Teimour
In these locked up French positions usually one side tries to break through on the kingside, either with f4-f5 by White or g6 or f6 by Black. If neither player does that, well, nothing ever happens.

Basically nothing happenered here today

Harikrishna, Pentala ½-½ Mamedov, Rauf
Harikrishna saw himself in danger of losing this game from very early on. Mamedov managed to win a pawn and get a comfortable endgame. The opposite colored bishops kept Harikrishna's chances to make a draw alive, and Mamedov simply did not have the best technique. The extra black pawn was able to reach e2, but it was clear it was going no further.

Putting on the pressure! Mamedov was close to a win today

Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 Hou Yifan
In another critical position, the Chinese player goes wrong and Eljanov cleans up with his extra piece:

No longer last, but still losing 12 points: Pavel Eljanov

A tough loss for Yifan who is now on -3

Round Seven Games

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Standings after seven rounds

Schedule and results

Live commentary on Playchess

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN (courtesy TWIC) 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.