Caruana bests Rapport in Armageddon to win 7th Gashimov Memorial 2021
Fabiano Caruana scored 5.5/7 on the final day of Blitz, while Richard Rapport managed to score only 3.5/7. Thus, the American caught up with the Hungary no.1 and Armageddon had to decide the winner of the event. Caruana once again beat Rapport in Armageddon for the second time in this event and this time the win meant the triumph of 7th Gashimov Memorial 2021. Caruana also became world no.4 in Blitz live ratings, Mamedyarov finished third overall and he is now world no.12. Vishy Anand losing 66 Elo rating points allowed Arjun Erigaisi to become India no.1 in Blitz live ratings. Photo: Gashimov chess
Arjun Erigaisi is now India no.1 in Blitz
Arjun Erigaisi did not play in this event, still he became India no.1 in Blitz in the live ratings as Anand lost 66 Elo rating points which dropped him from World no.4 to 16 and brought Arjun from World no.14 to 13 in the Blitz live ratings. Since he is playing at World Rapid and Blitz starting on this Saturday 26th December, it is very much possible that Arjun finishes this year by securing his place in World top 10 in Blitz.
Round 8: Rapport - Karjakin: 0.5-0.5
The game reached an interesting minor piece endgame, although draw was the obvious result.
40...Bxe6 41.fxe6 Nxe6 is perhaps a safer way to draw. However, Karjakin wanted to go for a win. So he continued 40...Nc6 41.Bc1 Kb3 and hung a mate in one in time trouble.
If Rapport played 52.Bg7#, the final standings could have looked slightly different.
Round 10: Navara - Anand: 0-1
Vishy Anand scored his lone victory in the Blitz event against David Navara in Round 10 after the latter made an inaccuracy in the endgame.
32.Ne1 is a mistake. Try to find out why.
Round 14: Mamedyarov - Caruana: 0-1
In a twist of fate, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov blundered in a completely winning position against Fabiano Caruana.
35.Qf4 would have maintained White's decisive advantage. Instead, 35.Nf6 allowed Black to completely turn things in his favor 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Qxe5+ and the knight fell, resulting in White's resignation in three more moves.
Armageddon: Caruana - Rapport: 1-0
Rapport lost another Armageddon against Caruana in this event, the first one was in Rapid.
27...Rc8 would have kept Black afloat as 28.Nb6 Nxb6 29.cxb6 and now Black has c2 due to the support of the rook at c8 which is not possible after 27...Rd8. After 28.Nb6 Black made a bigger mistake 28...Qa5. 29.Nxd5 Rxd5 30.c6 and it's all over for Black. Caruana won the Armageddon and the tournament too.
Caruana tweeted his thoughts on winning the event
Arjun made a very nice tweet about becoming India no.1 in Blitz live ratings
Replay Blitz Round 8-14 and Tie-break games
Final standings after Round 14 Blitz
Replay the Live Stream
Links
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7th Gashimov Memorial Blitz R1-7: Mamedyarov makes an impressive start
@ 23/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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7th Gashimov Memorial R6-7: Rapport and Karjakin top Rapid standings
@ 22/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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7th Gashimov Memorial R4-5: Rapport takes sole lead and now World no.6 in Rapid
@ 21/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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7th Gashimov Memorial R2-3: Caruana soars to the top
@ 20/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
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7th Gashimov Memorial R1: Mamedov beats Anand in Armageddon
@ 19/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |