Nepomniachtchi Wins 10th Gashimov Memorial

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won the 10th edition of the Gashimov Memorial on Saturday in Susha, Azerbaijan. The Russian grandmaster, who played in the tournament for the first time, finished ahead of GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

The tournament continues to remember the Azerbaijani GM Vugar Gashimov, who sadly died in 2014, aged 27. Until 2019, it was an annual, classical tournament held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, that was won four times by GM Magnus Carlsen. After a break for the pandemic, it has continued as a rapid and blitz event in 2021 (Baku), 2022 (Baku), 2023 (Qabala), and 2024 (Susha).

♟️Vugar Gashimov’s life has been, and will always remain, an inspiration to many.
We will continue to honor his memory in every match, every victory, and every friendly conversation. May your soul rest in peace, Vugar. pic.twitter.com/ZgDYn2azwt

— Gashimov Chess (@GashimovC) September 25, 2024

The players started with a single round-robin of rapid chess at a time control of 15 minutes and a 10-second increment, with three rounds on Thursday and four rounds on Friday. These games counted double, with two points for a win and a point for a draw.

Nepomniachtchi, who had never participated in the tournament before, was leading the pack after those two days despite oddly losing one game to tail-ender GM Rauf Mamedov, who played a strong endgame. (Mamedov would eventually score 2.5/3 against the tournament winner!)

Rapid Final Standings

On Saturday, blitz was on the menu with a double-round robin (14 rounds in total) at a time control of three minutes and a two-second increment. GM Richard Rapport wasn't in great shape and finished in an overall shared last place with Mamedov. His first blitz game with Nepomniachtchi saw a very interesting tactical phase in the late middlegame:

Besides Mamedov, another local player also managed to win one game against Nepomniachtchi. 19-year-old GM Aydin Suleymanli, who won last year's rapid segment and is also known for winning the 2020 Aeroflot Open, got a winning attack that was easy to finish off:

Nepomniachtchi took revenge in the final round of the tournament:

Blitz Final Standings

Overall Final Standings

During last week's Titled Tuesday, GM Hans Niemann mentioned on his stream that he was originally supposed to play in the Gashimov Memorial as well: "Everything was agreed upon but because certain players complained they revoked my invitation." Chess.com reached out to the Azerbaijani organizers for a comment.

GM Vidit Gujrathi was originally on the participants list as well, and would travel to the tournament straight from the Olympiad. However, when it became known that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to meet with the two Olympiad gold winning teams, the organizers understood this was something very special. GM Aravindh Chithambaram played instead.

I reached Baku and I got to know our Hon’ble PM wants to felicitate the Indian team. I was overjoyed when I heard this and I wanted to be a part of it. It’s amazing at how such short notice he is taking out time for us.

I contacted Sarkhan Gashimov (organiser) and he understood…

— Vidit Gujrathi (@viditchess) September 25, 2024

The Gashimov Memorial took place September 26-28, 2024, in Susha, Azerbaijan. The rapid tournament (15+10) was a single round-robin and counted double; the blitz (3+2) was a double round-robin. You can find the games for replay here.