Chess players pay tribute to Vugar Hashimov

Participants of the Vugar Hashimov Memorial 2023 have visited the grave of the prominent chess player on the Second Alley of Honor.

President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Vice-President of the International Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov shared his memories of the grandmaster and spoke about his achievements.

He noted that Vugar Hashimov`s achievements in world chess are always remembered with great pride.

"Every Azerbaijani must be proud of Vugar Hashimov. His games today are a textbook for young chess players. As long as there is chess, Vugar will always be remembered," he said.

Member of the Azerbaijani national team Shakhriyar Mammadyarov emphasized that participants in this tournament in the future will be those who study at the Vugar Hashimov Chess Academy.

Israeli chess player Boris Gelfand said that Vugar Hashimov occupies a special place in world chess. Boris Gelfand stressed that he gladly accepted the offer to participate in the Vugar Hashimov Memorial 202

For the first time, Gabala city will host the Vugar Hashimov Memorial on December 7-1.

The chess tournament will bring together ten chess players, Azernews reports.

The event is co-organized by the Vugar Hashimov Chess Foundation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Azerbaijan Chess Federation.

Despite his short life, Vugar Hashimov made a remarkable contribution to the chess history of Azerbaijan.

He played for Azerbaijan's national team in the Chess Olympiads in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Gashimov won a bronze medal in the European Team Championship in 2007 and became the European Champion with the national team in 2009.

He was the European vice champion of the national team in 2011 and the winner of the Reggio Emilia tournament in 2010–2011.

The tournament was first held in Shamkir in 2014.

The current world champion Magnus Carlsen won the tournament four times (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019), the national chess player Shakhriyar Mamammadyarov won the tournament twice (2016, 2017).