9th Gashimov Memorial 2023 Rapid R1-3: Nijat Abasov gains early sole lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/12/2023

Nijat Abasov (AZE) emerged early sole leader at 9th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2023. He scored 5/6 including wins against Richard Rapport (ROU) and Boris Gelfand (ISR). Rauf Mamedov (AZE), Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi are the three players at 4/6 each. Vidit had the longest game of the day against Jorden van Foreest (NED) in the second round which went for over 150 moves. After that, he beat Rapport in the third. Arjun Erigaisi defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) in the third round. It was an excellent game where 'Shakh' faltered in the end and Arjun capitalized on it in a sharp position. Round 4 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi make a strong start

Nijat Abasov scored 2.5/3 to emerge as an early sole leader

Round 1: Rauf scores sole victory

GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2622) scored the only win of the round against his compatriot GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2517). He gave up his bishop for a pawn, eventually created a passed rook-pawn on the queenside which helped him to score a full point.

GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE) started his campaign with a win

Gelfand - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

GM Arjun Erigaisi (2654) is undefeated against GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2622) in all three formats of rated games. That statistic remained unchanged so far.

Position after 44.gxf6+

Arjun felt that he should have taken on the f6-pawn after 44.gxf6+

Teacher takes on the student - Boris Gelfand vs Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi had a well fought draw against the legend - GM Boris Gelfand (ISR)

Vidit Gujrathi plays the London against Radjabov | Video: ChessBase India

GM Vidit Gujrathi drew his first round game against his 'Wolfpack' buddy - GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE)

Round 2: Abasov and Mamedyarov win their games

The second round had only two victors - GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2554) and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2715). They scored the wins against GM Richard Rapport (ROU, 2735) and GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2622) respectively.

Jorden - Vidit

Position after 72.c4

The sole chance Black had in the endgame was after 72.c4. Building a stronghold with 72...Rd3 followed by Bf5 was not something easy to spot. The game took its natural course to a draw in a rook vs rook and bishop endgame after another 78 moves.

Suffering for 154 moves! Jorden van Foreest vs Vidit Gujrathi | Video: ChessBase India

Jorden van Foreest (NED) and Vidit Gujrathi had the longest game of the day, spanning over 150 moves

Nijat Abasov (AZE) outplayed Richard Rapport (ROU)

Boris Gelfand (ISR) dropped a pawn on the queenside which cost him the game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)

Round 2 in progress

Round 3: Four decisive games

GM Arjun Erigaisi (2654), GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2554), GM Vidit Gujrathi (2691) and GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2517) scored the wins over GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2715), GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2622), GM Richard Rapport (ROU, 2735) and GM Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2655). The only draw occurred between GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2622) and GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE, 2691).

Mamedyarov - Arjun: 0-1

The last rated rapid game between Mamedyarov and Arjun was won by the latter at World Rapid 2022. Arjun once again repeated the same result in an excellent game.

Position after 43.Be5?

In a sharp position, White pushed too hard 43.Be5? which cost him dearly Rxd3 44.Rg1 Be4 45.Qf4?? Rd2+ 46.Kc1 Rc2+ 47.Kb1 Bg6 48.Ka1 Rxa2+ 49.Kxa2 Qa7+ 50.Kb2 Qa3#

Arjun Erigaisi on his victory against 'The Shakh' | Video: ChessBase India

Arjun Erigaisi is brutal in time pressure - Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Arjun Erigaisi won an excellent game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)

Abasov v Gelfand - Well-timed Exchange Sac in the Endgame | Video: ChessBase India

Nijat Abasov (AZE) made a nice exchange sacrifice en route his victory against Boris Gelfand (ISR)

Vidit - Rapport: 1-0

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2691) defeated GM Richard Rapport (ROU, 2735) in their last rated game at European Club Cup last year. Vidit maintained the same result in the third round here.

Position after 3...b5

Creative Rapport went for an early surprise 3...b5. Vidit handled it quite well. Later, Black made an incorrect bishop sacrifice and White went on to win the game comfortably.

Vidit on his 154-move draw against Jorden and beating Rapport's 3...b5 | Video: ChessBase India

You cant mess with Vidit 2.0, Vidit Gujrathi vs Richard Rapport - Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Vidit Gujrathi defeated Richard Rapport (ROU) comfortably

Previous round's 150+ move battle took a toll on Jorden van Foreest (NED) as he blundered a rook for no compensation against Aydin Suleymanli (AZE)

Photo Gallery

Guests and players at the opening ceremony

Gasim Gashimov, father of Vugar Gashimov, declared the tournament 'open'

Vidit Gujrathi drew the number four at the 'Draw of Lots'

Richard Rapport (ROU) got the number nine

The legend - Boris Gelfand got the number one

Last year's runner-up - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) drew the number two

Arjun Erigaisi got the number ten

All participants, Chief Arbiter, organizers and officials

Replay live stream

Replay 9th Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2023 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. The Rapid event will take place from 8th to 10th December, the first round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. On the last day, Monday 11th December, a total of 18 rounds of Blitz games will be played starting from 2 p.m. local time, 3:30 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

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
Round 1 on 2023/12/08 at 15:00
1	1	2622	GM	Gelfand, Boris	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2654	10
2	2	2715	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½ - ½	GM	Rapport, Richard	2735	9
3	3	2554	GM	Abasov, Nijat	½ - ½	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2655	8
4	4	2691	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	½ - ½	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2691	7
5	5	2517	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	0 - 1	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2622	6
Round 2 on 2023/12/08 at 16:15
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	10	2654	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	½ - ½	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2622	6
2	7	2691	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	½ - ½	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2517	5
3	8	2655	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	½ - ½	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2691	4
4	9	2735	GM	Rapport, Richard	0 - 1	GM	Abasov, Nijat	2554	3
5	1	2622	GM	Gelfand, Boris	0 - 1	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2715	2
Round 3 on 2023/12/08 at 17:30
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	2715	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	0 - 1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2654	10
2	3	2554	GM	Abasov, Nijat	1 - 0	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2622	1
3	4	2691	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	1 - 0	GM	Rapport, Richard	2735	9
4	5	2517	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	1 - 0	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2655	8
5	6	2622	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	½ - ½	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2691	7

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	3	GM	Abasov, Nijat	AZE	2554	2,5	2	1,50
2	6	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	2622	2	1	3,25
3	10	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2654	2	1	2,75
4	4	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2691	2	1	1,75
5	5	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2517	1,5	1	1,75
6	2	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2715	1,5	1	0,75
7	7	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	2691	1,5	0	2,75
8	8	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2655	1	0	2,25
9	1	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2622	0,5	0	1,00
10	9	GM	Rapport, Richard	ROU	2735	0,5	0	0,75

Details

Round 4-6 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
Round 4 on 2023/12/09 at 15:00
1	10	2654	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2691	7
2	8	2655	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2622	6
3	9	2735	GM	Rapport, Richard		GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2517	5
4	1	2622	GM	Gelfand, Boris		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2691	4
5	2	2715	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar		GM	Abasov, Nijat	2554	3
Round 5 on 2023/12/09 at 16:15
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	2554	GM	Abasov, Nijat		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2654	10
2	4	2691	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi		GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2715	2
3	5	2517	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin		GM	Gelfand, Boris	2622	1
4	6	2622	GM	Mamedov, Rauf		GM	Rapport, Richard	2735	9
5	7	2691	GM	Radjabov, Teimour		GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2655	8
Round 6 on 2023/12/09 at 17:30
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	10	2654	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2655	8
2	9	2735	GM	Rapport, Richard		GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2691	7
3	1	2622	GM	Gelfand, Boris		GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2622	6
4	2	2715	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar		GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2517	5
5	3	2554	GM	Abasov, Nijat		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2691	4

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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