10th Gashimov Memorial 2024 Rapid R1-3: Aravindh Chithambaram bests Rauf Mamedov after a rough start
Aravindh Chithambaram scored his first win at 10th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2024 against Rauf Mamedov (AZE). After losing two games in-a-row against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Richard Rapport (HUN), Aravindh won a sharp game in Round 3. He put up a good fight against the Hungary no.1. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Rapport are the two early leaders scoring 5/6 each. Last year's Rapid event winner, Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) also remained undefeated on the first day, scoring 1.5/3. The only player to have competed in all ten editions of this event, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) missed two wins in his first two games against Nepomniachtchi and Rauf. Round 4 starts tomorrow from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Nepomniachtchi, Rapport and Suleymanli make an unbeaten start
The tournament is very strong. Five out of eight players suffered at least one loss each in the first three rounds of the Rapid event. That definitely shows the competitiveness of this event. It is also part of the ongoing FIDE Circuit as announced by Mahir Mammedov, President, Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Vice President, FIDE.
Round 1: Mamedyarov - Nepomniachtchi: 1-1
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2683) got himself an early advantage out of the queenless middlegame against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2752).
White's pieces are poorly coordinated. The rook at a3 and the knight at b3 are miserable. 29...a5 is what Black needed to play 30.Nc1 a4 and Black would have been positionally winning. Instead, 29...Bxb3 30.Rxb3 alleviated the pressure slightly. However, White eventually blundered in a pawn race of a rook endgame.
White blundered 52.Rf8+?? it only helped Black to improve his king's position Ke4 53.Rg8 Kf3 54.Rf8+ Kg2 55.Kd3 e4+ 56.Ke3 g3 57.Rg8 now Black made a big mistake.
Black needed to improve his rook before moving the king 57...Rf5 was necessary. 57...Kh2?? 58.Kxe4 and White managed to save a half point.
Rapport - Rauf
Round 2: Mamedyarov- Mamedov: 1-1
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov once again managed to get a decisive advantage. However, he could not convert it against Rauf Mamedov.
38.d6 is what White needed to play to press on his advantage. White missed some more chances before his opponent managed to salvage a draw.
Aravindh - Rapport
Aravindh Chithambaram (2543) needed to play the bold 35.f6 Nxd2 36.Rxd2 Qc4 37.fxe7 Qg4 and White is still in the game. 35.Rc2 Bg5 36.Bd4 0-0-0 37.Nc3 Kb8 38.Qf3 Qc4 39.Nxe4?? White sacrificed the exchange at the wrong moment Qxc2-+ and Richard Rapport (HUN, 2704) converted his advantage into a win.
Suleymanli - Abdusattorov
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2723) decided to spice things up 37...Bxh3?! Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2565) accepted the sacrifice 38.gxh3 Qxh3 39.Rf7 Rb8 40.Rc2 instead Re3 is recommended by the computer to give decisive advantage. After a few moves, the game ended in a draw via repetition.
Nepomniachtchi - Artemiev
In an already difficult, Vladislav Artemiev (2710) made things difficult for himself by capturing the b2-pawn 30...Qxb2?? 31.Qg3 Rdd7 32.Rh5 Qc1 33.Qh4 R1e7 34.Rh8+ Kf7 35.Rxg7+ and Black resigned as checkmate is inevitable in the next move.
Abdusattorov - Nepomniachtchi: 0-2
Abdusattorov lost a winning game against Nepomniachtchi. He made a few strange decisions.
The simplest variation 38.Nxc2 Ba7 39.Nd4 would have maintained the decisive advantage for White. Instead, White opted for 38.Nxb5 Nh5 39.Ra3?! Rxa3 40.Nxa3 Rxc3? 41.Qxc3 Ba7+ 42.Kh1 Qh4 43.Qc8+?? was the final mistake by White Kh7 44.Qg4 Qf2 and Black won the game in the next few moves.
Rapport - Suleymanli: 1-1
Aydin Suleymanli had a huge decisive advantage against Richard Rapport in the endgame.
38...Re6 would have been the most definitive way for Black to win the game. He got a few more chances and White got too. Eventually the game ended in a draw.
Rauf - Aravindh
Should Black take the c3-knight? Is it safe? Find out all the lines. Aravindh calculated correctly and went on to win the game.
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Replay Round 1-3 games
Schedule
The Rapid tournament will be held in a Round-Robin system and the Blitz tournament will be played in a Double Round-Robin system with eight players. The Rapid event will take place on 26th and 27th September, the first round starts at 3:30 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. On the last day, Saturday 28th September, a total of 14 rounds of Blitz games will be played starting from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST.
Time Control
The Rapid tournament will be played in 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment. The Blitz event will have 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Scoring
Rapid: Win 2 points, Draw 1 point and Loss 0.
Blitz: Win 1 point, Draw 0.5 point and Loss 0.
Tie-break rules
The final standings will be determined according to sum of points of both Rapid and Blitz events.
Round 1-3 results
| Round 1 on 2024/09/26 at 15:30 | ||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2752 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | ½ - ½ | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2683 | 8 | |
| 2 | 2 | 2740 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | ½ - ½ | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2565 | 7 | |
| 3 | 3 | 2723 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1 - 0 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2543 | 6 | |
| 4 | 4 | 2704 | GM | Rapport, Richard | 1 - 0 | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | 2617 | 5 | |
| Round 2 on 2024/09/26 at 16:45 | ||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
| 1 | 8 | 2683 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | ½ - ½ | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | 2617 | 5 | |
| 2 | 6 | 2543 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 0 - 1 | GM | Rapport, Richard | 2704 | 4 | |
| 3 | 7 | 2565 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2723 | 3 | |
| 4 | 1 | 2752 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 1 - 0 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | 2740 | 2 | |
| Round 3 on 2024/09/26 at 18:00 | ||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
| 1 | 2 | 2740 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | 1 - 0 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2683 | 8 | |
| 2 | 3 | 2723 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 0 - 1 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2752 | 1 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2704 | GM | Rapport, Richard | ½ - ½ | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2565 | 7 | |
| 4 | 5 | 2617 | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | 0 - 1 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2543 | 6 | |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | FID | 2752 | 2,5 | 0 | 2 | 3,50 |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2704 | 2,5 | 0 | 2 | 2,25 |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | FID | 2740 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 1,75 |
| 3 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2723 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 1,75 | |
| 5 | 7 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2565 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 2,75 |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2543 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0,50 |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2683 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,50 |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | AZE | 2617 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 0,50 |
Round 4-7 pairings
Links
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Ian Nepomniachtchi tops 10th Gashimov Memorial 2024 Rapid
@ 27/09/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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Aravindh Chithambaram will make his super GM tournament debut at 10th Gashimov Memorial 2024
@ 25/09/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |