Ian Nepomniachtchi tops 10th Gashimov Memorial 2024 Rapid
Ian Nepomniachtchi finished at the top of the standings at 10th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2024 Rapid. He started the day with a win over Richard Rapport (HUN), then suffered his sole loss of the event against Rauf Mamedov (AZE). He bounced back in the next round with a win against Aravindh Chithambaram. The former World Championship Challenger drew with Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) to finish with 10/14, a full point ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Aravindh Chithambaram had a better second day as he drew with Mamedyarov and defeated Suleymanli. He finished the Rapid event scoring 5/14. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) made a strong comeback by winning the last two games to finish with 8/14. A total of 14 rounds of Blitz will be played tomorrow, starting from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Only Rauf Mamedov manages to beat Nepomniachtchi
As many as eleven out of 16 games ended decisively on the second and final day of Rapid. Ian Nepomniachtchi has a full point lead heading into the Blitz event. However, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) would certainly like to change that. Rauf Mamedov (AZE) became the sole person to beat Nepomniachtchi and he won it clinically.
Round 4: Mamedyarov - Aravindh: 1-1
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2683) and GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2543) faced each other only once in a rated game at World Blitz 2023. Aravindh won that game. This time the game had a wild start arising out of Albin-Counter Gambit.
6.Nf3 gxf4 7.Bxf4 Nge7 8.Bg5 Rg8 9.Bf6 Bg7 10.c5 Bxf6 11.exf6 Ng6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.Qxd4 Qxd4 15.Nxd4 Black managed to equalize and eventually the game ended in a draw.
Nepomniachtchi - Rapport
It is rare to see 2...d5 in a Pirc Defense but that occured in this game when GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2752) went 2.f4 and GM Richard Rapport (HUN, 2704) replied 2...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qd6 almost a Scandinavian where White has an extra f4. Black could not get out of the gate and eventually lost the game.
A minute-long silence was observed before the start of Round 4 on the occasion of Azerbaijan Rememberance Day.
Round 5: Abdusattorov - Mamedyarov: 0-2
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2723) suffered for the better part of the game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Eventually in the endgame, he got one final opportunity to save the game.
49.Bxb2 Rxb2 50.Rf5 Rf6 51.Rxf6 gxf6 52.Ra7 is what White needed to play. Instead, 49.Rd3?? Rf6-+ completely turned things again in Black's favor who won the game.
Rauf - Nepomniachtchi: 2-0
The last time Rauf Mamedov (AZE) and Ian Nepomniachtchi played rated games was at FIDE World Cup 2023. Rauf got eliminated by Nepomniachtchi then.
22...Rbf8? allowed a nice tactic 23.Nd7! Kxd7 24.Rxf7+ Black lost a pawn Kc8 25.Rxg7 Rxf1+ 26.Bxf1 Rh5 and after a few moves Black made a bigger mistake.
32...Rh5? is the final mistake by Black. Find out why. Rauf spotted correctly again and went on to win the game without making any mistake.
Aravindh - Suleymanli
Despite getting a decisive advantage early in the opening, Aravindh seemed to stumble his way as he allowed his opponent Suleymanli to equalize, only to falter at the end 45...Bd3?? Try to figure out why it is a mistake. Aravindh figured it out and managed to win the game.
GM Peter Wells appreciated Aravindh's unique choice of openings which brought him some valuable points
Mamedyarov - Suleymanli, Round 6
The best square for the attacked knight is d1. The unbelievable 41...Nd1 is the correct move for Black. He could not find it and played 41...Nb5? 42.Ke3 Na3 43.Rxh6 Nc2+ 44.Ke2 and White eventually won the game.
Nepomniachtchi - Aravindh: 2-0
Aravindh Chithambaram played only once against Ian Nepomniachtchi at World Rapid 2022. It ended in a draw.
After 27.Ne2 Black needed to play 27...c6 to reinforce his d5-pawn and not allow it to be a weakness, which is what happened in the game. Black lost the d5-pawn and the full point.
Aravindh - Artemiev, Round 7
In time trouble, Aravindh blundered in a difficult rook endgame. 55.Ke3?? Ke5 56.Rc8 Rc3+ and Black went on to win the game. Computer says White stays in the game when he opts for 55.Kf3.
Ian Nepomniachtchi started his seventh round game earlier with Chief Arbiter's permission as he had a Champions Chess Tour Julius Baer Generations Cup Quarterfinal match against Magnus Carlsen.
Replay live stream
Replay Round 4-7 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 4-7 results
Standings in Rapid after Round 7 (1 results missing)
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | FID | 2752 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 16,25 |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2683 | 4,5 | 0 | 3 | 14,75 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2723 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 10,50 |
| 4 | 4 | GM | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2704 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7,50 |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | FID | 2740 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10,50 |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2565 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9,50 |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2543 | 2,5 | 0 | 2 | 7,25 |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | AZE | 2617 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8,75 |
Blitz Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2766 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2710 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2808 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2580 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2684 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2586 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2737 | GM | Rapport, Richard | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | 2638 | 5 |
Links
Gashimov Chess Memorial: fb page, twitter, instagram and youtube
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10th Gashimov Memorial 2024 Rapid R1-3: Aravindh Chithambaram bests Rauf Mamedov after a rough start
@ 26/09/2024 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) |