Shamkir Chess 2015 leaves three days behind

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Devoted to Azerbaijan's late grandmaster Vugar Gashimov, the grandiose Shamkir 2015 International Chess Tournament, held in Azerbaijan’s region of Shamkir gave the people three exciting days of competition.

The first round started on April 17 with a duel in between Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Viswanathan Anand from India, where Vugar’s niece Narmin made the first move in the game.

The two grandmasters fought to a draw.

The match in between Azerbaijani Shakhriyar Mammadyarov and Italian Fabiano Caruana also fizzled out in a draw.

The next match was remembered with a flashy and brutal attack-knockout from GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) over Michael Adams (UK).

Although the Grand Master joked the time difference made things difficult for him he nevertheless successfully claimed victory over his opponent.

“I am happy that I had a victory. It is an excellent opportunity to start with a victory at this respectable super-tournament. Now, there is a need to have sustainable victory,” he said.

On the first day of the tournament the chess players saw another victory thanks to a grinding win from Wesley So (USA) over Anish Giri (Netherlands).

Wesley So linked his victory with a proper game, "It is very nice to start such a high level tournament with a victory. I’d better prepared for the next rounds. Continued success would come. It was the third consecutive victory, prior to the last two rounds to win the championship came to the United States. A victory over Giri delights me."

The second round of the tournament was held in between Fabiano and Adams. The result of the second round was a quick-ish draw from Italian Fabiano and GM Adams (UK).

On the same round Azerbaijani chess player Shahriyar lost to world champion Magnus. The Norwegian chess player said on his victory: "It was a good play today. I did not give my opponent a chance. I gained the advantage from the beginning and kept it until the end. As a result, I got my first win. It was important for me."

Mammadyarov said Magnus gained the advantage from the very beginning: "It is always hard to play against the world champion. There cannot be any psychological pressure. Just like today, Magnus did not make moves I expected. If this hadn't happened, the match would have gone in a different direction. He played differently. You can lose in chess, but it's not good to lose in such a way."

The second tour was the most eventful, with Azerbaijani Rauf and Anish Giri (Netherlands) drawing on an extremely lively game. The two GMs fought to a 2-2 draw.

Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik also had a draw with US representative Wesley So in the 2nd round.

The third tour of the tournament was also remembered with a flow of draws, starting with a standoff in between Russian Karmnik and Azerbaijani Rauf.

However, Scandinavian GM interrupted the chain of draws after a victory over Italian GM Fabiano.

“Last year I lost to Fabiano in Shamkir. But, this time I thought only of victory. I did not think about a rematch, I just wanted to win. The rival had a problem with time,” said Magnus about his victory.

The game in between Azerbaijani Mammadyarov and French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also finished with a draw.

The results after the three rounds are as follow:

Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So - 2.5 points

Vladimir Kramnik - 2 points

Viswanathan Anand, Rauf Mammadov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave - 1.5 points

Anish Giri, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Fabiano Caruana - 1.5 points

Michael Adams - 0.5 points.

The fourth round of the tournament will be held on April 21.

Michael Adams (UK) - Magnus Carlsen (Norway)

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) - Fabiano Caruana (Italy)

Anish Giri (Netherlands) - Shahriyar Mammadyarov (AZE)

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) - Viswanathan Anand (India)

Wesley So (USA) - Rauf Mammadov (AZE)

The fund price of the tournament which will last till April 26 is €100,000. A day of rest is set for April 22.