Azerbaijani grandmaster Nijat Abbasov tops the A tournament of the International Chess Festival Baku Open 2016.

Abbasov gained 4 points after 5 rounds to share the first place with Russian Vladislav Artemiev, Sanan Sjugirov, Ukraininan Stanislav Bogdanovich, and American Aleksandr Lenderman.

Azerbaijani players Ulvi Bajarani, Tabriz Idrisov, Vugar Rasulov, Zaur Mammadov and 4 other chess players are a half point behind the leaders.

The International Chess Festival Baku Open 2016 is dedicated to the Independence Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Festival was co-organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Azerbaijan Chess Federation.

The total prize fund of the tournament is 25.000 USD.

The A tournament brings together 56 players from 9 countries, while 128 players from Azerbaijan, Iran, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia are vying for medals in the B tournament.