Baku to pay tribute to Vugar Gashimov by holding int’l chess tournament
By Amina Nazarli
An international tournament devoted to Azerbaijan's late
grandmaster Vugar Gashimov is set to be held in Baku.
The Under -12 memorial tournament is to be held on the birthday of
the great son of Azerbaijan on July 24. If Vugar was alive, he
would celebrate his 28th birthday this year.
The event will bring together about 100 chess players from Russia,
France, Georgia, Turkey, Iran and other countries. The tournament
will run in nine rounds and the first round of the game is
scheduled for July 25.
The tournament will wrap up on August 2.
The winner will have the opportunity to participate in the European
Youth Chess Championship to be held in Batumi in October 18-29.
Meanwhile, the silver medalist will be invited to Baku Open
tournament and the holder of the third place would take part in
Nakhchivan Open tournament.
This will be the second tournament devoted to prominent Azerbaijani
grandmaster and European Champion of 2009 Vugar Gashimov, who was
known as a strong player in blitz.
The first memorial tournament was held in Shamkir on April 19-30.
The event that
brought together world's top chess players ended with the victory
of Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.
Vugar Gashimov, together with grandmasters Teymur Rajabov and
Shahriyar Mammadyarov, was considered one of Azerbaijan's top chess
players.
After his early successes, Gashimov had to put his activities on
hold for a while for a surgery. His disease re-surfaced in 2011,
causing him to suddenly lose 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.
Vugar Gashimov passed away on January 11, 2014.
The tragic death of the international grandmaster shocked the
majority of Azerbaijanis and almost the entire sports
community.