National GM remains in Top 3 of Tata Steel Chess

22 January 2018 12:34 (UTC+04:00)

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By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani GM Shahriyar Mammadyarov lost against Anish Giri of Netherlands in the eighth round of Tata Steel Masters underway, in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on January 21.

Mammadyarov placed third with 5.5 points. The first two places are shared by Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen respectively.

Within the framework of the 9th round Shahriyar Mammadyarov will meet with Russian Vladimir Kramnik on January 23. The Russian GM is on the 4th line of the tournament table with 5 points.

Earlier, National GM defeated the Chinese Hou Yifan.

The 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament is held in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands on January 12-28.

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is one of the most prestigious events in the international chess calendar. The "Wimbledon of Chess" attracts the very best chess grandmasters in the world, along with thousands of amateur players.

The tournament has two main player groups, each with 14 players. They are known as the Tata Steel Masters and the Tata Steel Challengers. Both the Masters and the Challengers played their first round on January 13. In addition to Grandmaster events, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament also organises amateur events that are open to players of all levels.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov is a two-time World Junior Champion and gold-medalist at European Team Championships. After winning Essent Tournament in 2006, Mammadyarov achieved the world fame. He was the best player at the World Team Chess Championships 2009.

The national GM won the team gold medal for Azerbaijan at the European Team Chess Championship in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Shahriyar represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiads in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2016.

Azerbaijani GM ended the year at the third place of the FIDE rating list for 2017.

The national chess player managed to do this with a high rating of 2,804 after scoring 3.5/4 in the classical segment of the 2017 Nutcracker tournament in Moscow.

In 2017, Azerbaijani men's chess team, including Shahriyar Mammadyarov,Teymur Rajabov, Arkady Naidich, Rauf Mammadov and Gadir Huseynov claimed a glorious victory in the history of national chess, becoming the third-time European champion during the last eight years.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova