Ten grandmasters to compete at Shamkir Chess 2018
Baku, April 5, AZERTAC
Ten grandmasters will contest medals at the Shamkir Chess 2018 international tournament commemorating Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Hashimov organized by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Synergy Group in Shamkir from April 18-28.
The tournament is a 9/10-player round-robin with a total prize fund of €100,000 and €25,000 for first place.
The tournament’s participants include Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2843), Shahriyar Mammadyarov (Azerbaijan, 2814), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2792), Liren Ding (China, 2778), Sergey Karjakin (Russia, 2778), Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2777), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 2749), Teymur Rajabov (Azerbaijan, 2748), David Navara (Czech Republic, 2745) and Rauf Mammadov (Azerbaijan, 2704).
Players receive 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. A tie-break match will be played in case of a tie for first place.
The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir on April 18.
Born in Baku in 1986, Vugar Hashimov was taught to play chess by his father at the age of six. He became Azerbaijan's champion three times: in 1995, 1996, 1998, and was also the four- time silver medalist of the European youth championship (1996-2000).
Hashimov won a bronze medal in the European Team Championship in 2007, and became the European Champion with the national team in 2009, providing the team with a decisive point in the final round.
He was also the European vice-champion in the national team in 2011 and the winner of the Reggio Emilia tournament in 2010-2011.
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