Numero Uno strikes. Again and again!
And yes, you can lose two games in a row, yet win a 10-rounder super-tournament with a whole point on the second. All you need is to be Magnus Carlsen.
The Gashimov Memorial has been a rollercoaster ride, with Magnus' winning the first two rounds, and all of us already head down, calculating how many wins he needed to break the 2900 barrier. Then, the unthinkable happens: Magnus, after a draw with Karjakin in round 3, loses two games in a row! Caruana and Radjabov score against the Norwegian genius, and Radjabov takes the sole lead. What is happening to Magnus? So, is he a human being, after all? Wrong! The World Champion, in the second part of the tournament, gives a master class in chess, winning 3 games out of 5. Entering the last round, Magnus and Fabiano lead with 5.5 points. The tiebreaks would favor Carlsen, who needs a draw to win the tournament. But one becomes a World Champion for a reason, right? Magnus chooses an unusual kingside fianchetto line, without the move c2-c4, against Fabiano's King's Indian Defense. To Caruana's 4...c5, Magnus replies with 5.c3. They're out of book, which is Magnus' favored territory, upon which he is able to demonstrate his remarkable talent for the game. Magnus wins in beautiful style, and here we are, celebrating once again the former wonderboy - today superman - who comes from the North.
ICC has followed the event with live broadcast, stream to the ICC TV, TRIVIA and Game Of the Day service.
Vugar Gashimov sadly passed away early this year. The Azeri Grandmaster was only 27. He's remembered by his friends and colleagues as a very dear person, who loved life and beauty. GM Teimour Radjabov said in an interview: "If I say that this is a big loss for us, I won't be saying anything. Vugar was a very dear person to all of us. We all hoped that he would recover and come back to chess. It's very difficult when you lose such a close friend." Vugar's long-time friend GM Mamedyarov said that he "stopped preparing for the Candidates' Tournament, as I can't think about anything else".
Vugar, during the final press conference at the 2009 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, after losing to Ponomariov, revealed with few incisive words his way to be: "I won't say I am a fatalist. I just think that nothing accidental happens in life. It seems to me that a person can change a few details of his fate, but can't change anything in the bigger picture. wins and losses are also written in our destiny. you can sometimes prolong this pleasure more, sometimes less, but in the final analysis nothing changes. Life goes on. It's wonderful. So we have to keep living." Moving and somewhat prophetic words, now that we know he's not with us anymore.
In order to honor the memory of Vugar Gashimov, Synergy Group has organized a super-tournament in Shamkir. It is a double round robin, starting April the 20th, which presents a rather impressive line-up: #1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway - 2881), #5 Fabiano Caruana (Italy - 2783), #7 Sergey Karjakin (Russia - 2772), #9 Hikaru Nakamura (USA - 2772), #10 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan - 2760), #33 Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan - 2713). The average rating is 2780, category XXII.
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Round | Date | Host | Play | PGN |
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1 | April 20 | GM Alex Yermolinsky Sweere |
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2 | April 21 | GM David Smerdon smurfo |
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3 | April 22 | GM Miguel Illescas Illescas |
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4 | April 23 | GM Gawain Jones VerdeNotte |
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5 | April 24 | GM Jonathan Speelman Speelman |
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6 | April 26 | GM Alex Yermolinsky Sweere |
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7 | April 27 | GM John Fedorowicz bronxbattler |
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8 | April 28 | GM Miguel Illescas Illescas |
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9 | April 29 | GM Larry Christiansen LarryC |
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10 | April 30 | GM Lars Bo Hansen DonCorleone |
Round | Date | 1 month | 3 months | GOTD |
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1 | Apr 20 | oldtimer | TheEye | Qui |
2 | Apr 21 | agent-n053 | Corocotta | kaku |
3 | Apr 22 | MikeAngelo | agent-n053 | Iml |
4 | Apr 23 | TheEye | KingHarvest | canpawn |
5 | Apr 24 | Ando | Leijona | Eccebombo |
6 | Apr 26 | MorningRunner | PantomimeHorse | aptchess |
7 | Apr 27 | bdubois | chesschallenged | Frankygolucky |
8 | Apr 28 | Abel | corocotta | STICK |
9 | Apr 29 | agent-n053 | Abel | bereolos |
10 | Apr 30 | TKnight16 | Alexei | JDTinNC |
Comments
It’s very sad when people die in such a young age ...
Especially when they seem to have so special capabilities like Vugar Gashimov.
Have a nice trip ...
A stellar line and fitting lineup for this first memorial tournament. A wonderful followup would be for Quality Chess Books to publish a book of the tournament with an annotated collection
of Gashimov,s 64 best games. hardcover of course. Is Mr. Aagard listening by chance?
I express my great sorrow for untimely death of Gashimov. May his heavenly abode soul be in peace.
so pitty about vugar
A stellar line and fitting lineup for this first memorial tournament. A wonderful followup would be for Quality Chess Books to publish a book of the tournament with an annotated collection
of Gashimov,s 64 best games. hardcover of course. Is Mr. Aagard listening by chance?
I clearly suggest that the biography of VUGAR should be included in the google scholars .
google scholar