Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi set to face world's best at 9th Gashimov Memorial 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 07/12/2023

Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi are the two Indians who will take part at 9th Gashimov Memorial 2023. They will battle against - Richard Rapport (ROU), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE), Teimour Radjabov (AZE), Jorden van Foreest (NED), Boris Gelfand (ISR), Rauf Mamedov (AZE), Nijat Abasov (AZE) and Aydin Suleymanli (AZE). Nine rounds of Rapid and 18 rounds Blitz games will be played from 8th to 11th December 2023. The winner will be decided based on the combined score of Rapid and Blitz events. Three rounds of Rapid games will start tomorrow Friday 8th December from 2 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Vugar Gashimov Chess Foundation, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Chess Federation are organizing the ninth edition to honor the memory of Vugar Gashimov. Who will win this prestigious event? Photos by Shahid Ahmed unless mentioned otherwise.

Vidit, Arjun, Jorden and Gelfand will play at this prestigious event for the first time

Four out of the ten players - Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Jorden van Forest (NED) and Boris Gelfand (ISR) will play at the 9th Gashimov Memorial 2023 for the first time in their career. Nijat Abasov (AZE) participated in the B category of the inaugural edition in 2014. Teimour Radjabov (AZE) will be returning to this event after four years. His last appearance was in 2019.

9th Gashimov Memorial 2023 participants

Players

The tournament features five of the Azerbaijan's best players along with five world-class players around the globe. They are - FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 winner and World no.15 - Vidit Gujrathi, Romania no.1 and World no.18 - Richard Rapport, Tata Steel India 2021 Rapid, and Tata Steel Chess Challengers 2022 winner, World no.23 - Arjun Erigaisi, World Rapid 2013 champion - Shakhriyar Mamedyaraov, FIDE World Cup 2019 winner - Teimour Radjabov, 83rd Tata Steel Chess 2021 winner - Jorden van Foreest (NED), FIDE World Cup 2009 and Candidates 2011 winner, World Championship 2012 Challenger - Boris Gelfand, three-time Azerbaijan champion, Rauf Mamedov, FIDE World Cup fourth place finisher and Candidates 2024 participant - Nijat Abasov, World Youth Under-14 Open 2019 champion, Aydin Suleymanli.

All ten participants visited Vugar Gashimov's grave at the Alley of Honor

Vidit Gujrathi, Jorden van Foreest, Arjun Erigaisi, Teimour Radjabov, Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov holding flower bouquets to pay respects to Vugar Gashimov

Teimour Radjabov putting flower bouqet on Vugar Gashimov's grave. He is followed by Richard Rapport, Aydin Suleymanli, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Nijat Abasov and Rauf Mamedov | Photo: Gashimov Chess

For more photos, please click here.

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).

Tournament schedule

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.

Tie-break details

Photo Gallery

On the way from Baku to Gabala, players and the organizing team halted at Abqora Restaurant & Wine Club for lunch.

Seven out of the ten participants along with Chief Arbiter - WGM IA FT IO Ilaha Kadimova (third from left), General Secretary, Azerbaijan Chess Federation

Players and officials enjoying a sumptuous lunch

Great food and beautiful scenery are two of the many reasons to visit this restaurant

For more photos, please click here.

We will bring you detailed coverage of the event as I am present on location for this iconic tournament.

Starting list of players in Rapid

No.		Name	FideID	FED	Rtg
1	GM	Rapport, Richard	738590	ROU	2735
2	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	13401319	AZE	2715
3	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	13400924	AZE	2691
4	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	5029465	IND	2691
5	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	1039784	NED	2655
6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	35009192	IND	2654
7	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2805677	ISR	2622
8	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	13401653	AZE	2622
9	GM	Abasov, Nijat	13402960	AZE	2554
10	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	13413937	AZE	2517

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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