National GM beats Dutch chess player

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani chess player Shahriyar Mammadyarov has won the seventh round at the Norway Chess 2022 tournament, Azernews reports.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov defeated his Dutch rival Anish Giri and ranked third in the top 10, scoring 11.5 points.

Meanwhile, Teymur Rajabov lost to Indian Viswanathan Ananda in an armageddon game within the Norway Chess 2022.

The Norway Chess 2022 will last until June 10. According to the rules, chess players are awarded three points for victory. In case of a draw, the participants determine the winner in the armageddon game.

The first edition took place in 2013 and had ten participants, including seven of the ten highest-rated players in the world per the May 2013 FIDE World Rankings.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov is a three-fold European Team Champion (2009, 2013, and 2017) and gold medalist at the 2012 Chess Olympiad on the third board.

He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 2003 and repeated his victory in 2005, becoming the only two-time champion, achieving a 2,953 performance rating after eight rounds. After winning the Essent Tournament in 2006, Shahriyar achieved world fame.

In June 2016, Mammadyarov won the 3rd Shamkir Chess Tournament, the Vugar Gashimov Memorial. He defeated Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri in the last two rounds, which put him in a tie-break situation with Caruana. He defeated Caruana in the tiebreak, thus giving him tournament victory.

In 2021, Mammadyarov defeated the 13-time world champion, Garry Kasparov, at the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb (Croatia).

Teymur Rajabov defeated Kasparov back in 2003. Teymur Rajabov earned the title of a grandmaster at the age of 14, making him the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time.

In 2003, Rajabov gained international attention after beating the then world No 1 Garry Kasparov in the Linares tournament, followed by victories over former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov all in the same year.

He also won the European Team Chess Championship with Azerbaijan in 2009, 2013, and 2017. His major individual achievements include joint first place at the 2008 Elista Grand Prix, the 2017 Geneva Grand Prix, and the 2019 FIDE World Cup.