8th Gashimov Memorial 2022 Rapid R1-3: Gukesh beats Rapport

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/12/2022

D Gukesh won his first round game against Richard Rapport (ROU) at 8th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2022 Rapid. It was exciting batttle against the creative genius Rapport whose king was vulnerable when he made the final mistake.Then he lost his next two games against Rauf Mamedov (AZE) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP). Rauf outplayed Gukesh positionally. In the game against the Spain no.1, Gukesh got a couple of opportunities to save the game in the rook endgame. However, he missed them all. Gukesh will face three Azeris today - Aydin Suleymanli. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Abdulla Gadimbayli. Round 4 starts from 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Gashimov Chess Memorial live stream

Abdusattorov starts with a hat-trick

The reigning World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) seems to be getting back in his form, just days before his World title defence. After a forgettable performance at the Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Rapid, Abdusattorov started his Rapid event with three wins against Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP), Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE). The 44th Chess Olympiad Gold medalist would certainly like to gain as much momentum as he can before he heads towards the most exciting event of the year in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

GM D Gukesh scored a very nice victory over the artist - GM Richard Rapport | Photo: Gashimov Chess Memorial live stream

Rapport - Gukesh, Round 1

Position after 21...Ng5

Gukesh got a pleasant position out of the Caro-Kann opening after his aggressive h-pawn push to 8...h5 and then 10...h4. The above position displays the prowess of the black knights. 21...Ng5 22.b4 Bxc1 23.Rfxc1 Nf4 24.Kf1 f6 25.Na5 Qf7 and the White king landed in a precarious position with the threat of f-file opening up and h3-pawn dropping in the near future looming large. Although it seemed like Rapport almost managed to save the day when Gukesh's exchange sacrifice did not yield as much as he would have liked.

Position after 45.Ke1

White's incorrect displacement of his king to e1, 45.Ke1 completely turned things in Black's favor. Find out why. The king needed some breathing space like 45.Kc2 would have been fine.

Gukesh lost the second game against Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2578) in a positional skirmish where Gukesh's bishop lacked squares to move around and eventually it became a liability. He had a space crunch for his pieces too.

Rauf Mamedov just outplayed Gukesh positionally | Photo: Gashimov Chess Memorial live stream

Gukesh - Vallejo, Round 3

Position after 37...Rd2

Which pawn to capture and which one to defend? These are difficult questions especially when you are quite low on time. Capturing either a5 or e5-pawn is fine for White as after Rxb2, White can capture the other pawn. 38.b3 Rxd3 and now capturing either pawn is no longer fine. The key difference is White is going to lose another pawn at h3. So defending it should be prioritized. 39.Rxa5 Rxh3 40.Rxe5 Rxb3 allows Black to stay ahead of the pawn and gain a decisive advantage. Although Gukesh somehow almost managed to save the game in the end.

Position after 63...Rb3

This is still not over as White can save the game. Try to figure out how. White being very low on time erred 64.Ra8 h4 and Black won the game in another six moves.

Gukesh had an exciting encounter against Spain no.1 Francisco Vallejo Pons | Photo: Gashimov Chess Memorial live stream

Gasim Gashimov, father of late Vugar Gashimov, made the inaugural first move on Hao and Mamedyarov's board | Photo: Official site

Replay 8th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2022 Rapid Round 1-3 live stream | Video: Gashimov Chess Memorial

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 ten players. Only first day on 18th December, the first round starts at 2 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. IST). The remaining four days - 19th, 20th, 22nd and 23rd December, the game starts at 3 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST). 21st December is a rest day.

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 2022/12/18 at 14-00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	2399	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	0 - 1	GM	Mamedov Rauf	2578	10
2	2	2721	GM	Wang Hao	½ - ½	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2746	9
3	3	2657	GM	Shankland Sam	1 - 0	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2448	8
4	4	2676	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	1 - 0	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2682	7
5	5	2802	GM	Rapport Richard	0 - 1	GM	Gukesh D	2632	6
Round 2 on 2022/12/18 at 15-15
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	10	2578	GM	Mamedov Rauf	1 - 0	GM	Gukesh D	2632	6
2	7	2682	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	1 - 0	GM	Rapport Richard	2802	5
3	8	2448	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	0 - 1	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2676	4
4	9	2746	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	½ - ½	GM	Shankland Sam	2657	3
5	1	2399	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	0 - 1	GM	Wang Hao	2721	2
Round 3 on 2022/12/18 at 16-30
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	2721	GM	Wang Hao	½ - ½	GM	Mamedov Rauf	2578	10
2	3	2657	GM	Shankland Sam	½ - ½	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	2399	1
3	4	2676	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	1 - 0	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2746	9
4	5	2802	GM	Rapport Richard	1 - 0	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2448	8
5	6	2632	GM	Gukesh D	0 - 1	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2682	7

Details

Round 4-6 pairings

Round 4 on 2022/12/19 at 15-00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	10	2578	GM	Mamedov Rauf		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2682	7
2	8	2448	GM	Suleymanli Aydin		GM	Gukesh D	2632	6
3	9	2746	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar		GM	Rapport Richard	2802	5
4	1	2399	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla		GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2676	4
5	2	2721	GM	Wang Hao		GM	Shankland Sam	2657	3
Round 5 on 2022/12/19 at 16-15
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	2657	GM	Shankland Sam		GM	Mamedov Rauf	2578	10
2	4	2676	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek		GM	Wang Hao	2721	2
3	5	2802	GM	Rapport Richard		GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	2399	1
4	6	2632	GM	Gukesh D		GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2746	9
5	7	2682	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco		GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2448	8
Round 6 on 2022/12/19 at 17-30
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	10	2578	GM	Mamedov Rauf		GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2448	8
2	9	2746	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2682	7
3	1	2399	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla		GM	Gukesh D	2632	6
4	2	2721	GM	Wang Hao		GM	Rapport Richard	2802	5
5	3	2657	GM	Shankland Sam		GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2676	4

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB	2676	3	0	3	3,00
2	10	GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2578	2,5	0	2	2,50
3	7	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2682	2	0	2	2,00
4	2	GM	Wang Hao	CHN	2721	2	0	1	2,25
5	3	GM	Shankland Sam	USA	2657	2	0	1	0,75
6	6	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2632	1	0	1	1,00
7	5	GM	Rapport Richard	ROU	2802	1	0	1	0,00
8	9	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	AZE	2746	1	0	0	2,00
9	1	GM	Gadimbayli Abdulla	AZE	2399	0,5	0	0	1,00
10	8	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	AZE	2448	0	0	0	0,00

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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