7th Gashimov Memorial R1: Mamedov beats Anand in Armageddon
Vishy Anand got back to over-the-board action for the first time in five months. He won the last event he played, No Castling World Masters against Kramnik back in July. The maestro won the first Rapid game against Rauf Mamedov, however he lost the second one. Thus, Armageddon was enforced. With less than ten seconds left on the clock and without any increment, it was quite difficult for him to find and most importantly execute the win in so less time. Mamedov won the Armageddon and the match. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Richard Rapport and Fabiano Caruana defeated David Navara, Sergey Karjakin and Vugar Asadli each respectively. Round 2 and 3 will be played today, starting from 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Official site
Rapport beats Karjakin twice
Richard Rapport is the only player who won both of his Rapid games against Karjakin in the first round.
Anand - Mamedov 1-2
Vishy Anand won a pawn early in the middlegame against Rauf Mamedov (AZE) in the first Rapid game arising out of Sicilian Dragon.
Anand - Mamedov, Rapid 1
Black had to play 14...Re8 in the previous move. Even after 15.Qd2, Nc7 or Nf4 was playable. However, 15...e4 drops a pawn after 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5. The only compensation Black got is a protected center passed pawn 19...f4 20.Bc5 Rfb8 21.b3 e3. It was not enough.
White decided to grab some more pawns by giving up his bishop 33.Rf5 Bc3+ 34.Kc2 e1Q 35.Bxe1 Bxe1 36.Rxf4. White has five pawns for a bishop, which is a significant decisive advantage for White.
Mamedov struck back in the second Rapid game after Anand cornered his own knight.
Mamedov - Anand, Rapid 2
14...Ne5 is the natural active way to play. However, Black decided to keep his knight and opted for the dubious 14...Nh8 which completely sidelined the knight for the rest of the game. Black was virtually down by a piece, White utilized that fact to his advantage and won the game eventually. Thus, it was time for Armageddon.
Anand - Mamedov, Armageddon
Anand made things interesting with an exchange sacrifice 31.Rxe6. 31,,,fxe6 was the best way for Black to respond, instead he opted for 31...Nd8 which created a good opportunity. Find out what it was. With only less than ten seconds left on the clock without any increment, White went for 32.Rxg6+ which is also good but it wasn't enough to win in six seconds. Soon he ran out of time and lost the game.
Photo Gallery
Drawing of Lots and Inauguration Ceremony photos
Replay Round 1 games
Results
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - David Navara: 3-0
Sergey Karjakin - Richard Rapport: 0-3
Vishy Anand - Rauf Mamedov: 1-2
Fabiano Caruana - Vugar Asadli: 3-0
Scoring
Players will get the following points per round:
Victory in the best of two Rapid games: 3 points
Loss in the best of two Rapid games: 0 point
Tie in Rapid games and victory Armageddon: 2 points
Tie in Rapid games and loss Armageddon: 1 point
Armageddon Rules
• If the score after two Rapid games is 1-1, then the players will move on to Armageddon.
• Armageddon time control is 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black. Increment of 3 seconds each starts from move no.61. Black has draw odds.
Replay the Live Stream
Links
|
Caruana bests Rapport in Armageddon to win 7th Gashimov Memorial 2021
@ 24/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
7th Gashimov Memorial Blitz R1-7: Mamedyarov makes an impressive start
@ 23/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
7th Gashimov Memorial R6-7: Rapport and Karjakin top Rapid standings
@ 22/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
7th Gashimov Memorial R4-5: Rapport takes sole lead and now World no.6 in Rapid
@ 21/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
7th Gashimov Memorial R2-3: Caruana soars to the top
@ 20/12/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |