Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

World's top grandmasters will come together for a tournament commemorating Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov in the Azerbaijani city of Shamkir in April 2014.

The tournament will bring together Azerbaijani chess players Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Teymur Rajabov, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, Italian Fabiano Caruana, Russian Sergey Karjakin, as well as Hikaru Nakamura from the U.S.

The total prize fund of the tournament, which is sponsored by the Synergy Group, amounts to 100,000 euros.

Vugar Gashimov passed away as a result of serious disease on January 11, 2014. The tragic news about the death of the international grandmaster has shocked the majority of Azerbaijanis and almost the entire sports community.

Prominent Azerbaijani grandmaster, European Champion of 2009, Gashimov, was known as a strong player in blitz. Together with Teymur Rajabov and Shahriyar Mammadyarov, he was considered one of the elite chess players of Azerbaijan.

Vugar Gashimov became Azerbaijan's champion for three times: in 1995, 1996, and 1998. He was also the silver medalist of the European youth championship for four times (1996-2000).

National leader Heydar Aliyev, who received him twice in January and December, 1998, praised his achievements. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also received the young Gashimov who was part of the Azerbaijani national team, which had won the European Championship in Serbia in 2009. But a severe illness forced him to quit the competitions.

After his early successes, Gashimov had to put his activities on hold for a while and have surgery. The disease surfaced again in 2011, when he suddenly lost consciousness during a match against the French national team in the European Championship. Then a long-term treatment in Switzerland and Germany began, but he failed to beat the disease.