Brilliant Wojtaszek Surging In Shamkir
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played with fire and lost today to an excellently prepared Radoslaw Wojtaszek in Round 8 of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan. This cut his full point lead to just half a point, as both Wesley So and Veselin Topalov drew their games.
Wojtaszek vs. Mamedyarov. | Photo courtesy Shamkir Chess.
An easy pick for the game of the day, featuring comments by the winner on his fantastic preparation in the Anti-Grunfeld:
Meanwhile, Vladimir Kramnik essayed 1.e4 today to confidently defeat Michael Adams:
Sergey Karjakin also won, converting an endgame against Pavel Eljanov with two bishops vs. rook and two pawns:
Karjakin pressed and pressed to finally crack Eljanov's defenses. | Photo courtesy Shamkir Chess.
Wesley So also pushed for a while against Teimour Radjabov and even managed to win a pawn, but it wasn't enough to win in a same-color bishop endgame:
Lastly, Veselin Topalov could not make much progress against Pentala Harikrishna, but a draw does bring him to 4.5/8, within striking distance going into the last round:
2017 Vugar Gashimov Memorial | Round 8 Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2772 | 2855 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0/8 | ||||
| 2 | So,Wesley | 2822 | 2803 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4.5/8 | 17.75 | |||
| 3 | Topalov,Veselin | 2741 | 2810 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.5/8 | 17 | |||
| 4 | Wojtaszek,Radoslaw | 2745 | 2768 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.0/8 | 16.25 | |||
| 5 | Karjakin,Sergey | 2783 | 2770 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.0/8 | 16 | |||
| 6 | Adams,Michael | 2761 | 2768 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.0/8 | 16 | |||
| 7 | Kramnik,Vladimir | 2811 | 2762 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.0/8 | 15 | |||
| 8 | Radjabov,Teimour | 2710 | 2726 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3.5/8 | 14.5 | |||
| 9 | Eljanov,Pavel | 2751 | 2718 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5/8 | 12.75 | |||
| 10 | Harikrishna,P | 2755 | 2671 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 3.0/8 |
In the final round Mamedyarov will have White against Topalov, while So will be Black against Harikrishna. Should make for a very exciting finish in Shamkir!
Games from TWIC.
Previous Reports:
- Mamedyarov Maintains Firm Lead In Shamkir
- Mamedyarov Extends Lead As Kramnik Struggles
- Karjakin, So Notch 1st Wins In Shamkir
- Kramnik Wins With Amazing Rook Sac In Shamkir
- Mamedyarov Bamboozles Eljanov, Steals Lead In Shamkir
- Topalov Wins A Brilliancy In Shamkir
- So's Unbeaten Streak Ended By Mamedyarov
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Bio
IM Kostya Kavutskiy is a professional chess author, journalist, coach, commentator, and player. As a part of Chess.com's content team since 2009, Kostya has recorded many video lectures, covered elite tournaments, written instructive articles & blogs, and has done many live commentary shows for Chess TV. Kostya has also written a number of articles for Chess Life magazine and Chess Life Online, and is currently an instructor for Chess University. In 2015, Modernized: The Open Sicilian was released, which Kostya co-authored with IM Zhanibek Amanov. Kostya's tournament accomplishments include winning the 2014 Southern California Closed Championship, as well as achieving his IM title in November 2016. In April 2017, he placed 6th in the star-studded 2017 Reykjavik Open. He currently resides in Mountain View, CA, and his plans are to pursue the GM title while working actively as a coach.
