Grandiose victories: Rajabov defeats Carlsen, Mammadyarov wins over Caruana
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijani grandmaster Teymur Rajabov defeated the reigning World Champion, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, held on April 24.
Rajabov played with blacks against Carlsen and won, checkmating his opponent on the 51st move of the game. Thus, Azerbaijani chess player topped the standings of the A tournament with 3 points, leaving behind Norwegian champion, who gained 2.5 points.
Azerbaijan's another representative - Shahriyar Mammadyarov, won over Italian Fabiano Caruana on the 84th move of the game, showing the excellent result.
U.S. Hikaru Nakamura played a draw with Russian Sergey Karjakin in this round, and now shares the second position with Carlsen.
Playing in the B tournament, Azerbaijan's Gadir Huseynov won over his compatriot Nijat Abasov, while French Etienne Bacrot defeated Azerbaijan's Rauf Mammadov. Sets between Chinese Wang Hao and Polish Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Russian Alexander Motylev with Azerbaijan's Vasif Durarbayli ended in a draw.
Azerbaijan's Eltaj Safarli also made a peace in the game with Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov.
B tournament's standings is as following: Bacrot - 4 points, Eljanov - 3,5, Wojtaszek, Huseynov - 3, Motylev - 2,5, Wang, Mammadov, Abasov - 2, Safarli, Durarbayli - 1,5.
Shamkir Chess 2014 opened in the Heydar Aliyev Center on April 19 and will run until April 30.
The grandiose event, organized by JSC Synergy Group, is being held within the framework of the "State Program on development of chess in Azerbaijan in 2009-2014" and is dedicated to world-famous Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov who passed away as a result of a serious disease in January.
Money prize of the A tournament, sponsored by "Synergy Group" is 100,000 euros, while the prize fund for this tournament will be 30,000 euros.