Mamedyarov Repeats; Wins Shamkir 2nd Year In A Row
Despite yesterday's slip, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov successfully defended his title in the 2017 Vugar Gashimov Memorial today after a last round draw with Veselin Topalov; a draw by his only other rival, Wesley So, clinched first place for the top Azeri grandmaster. Last year Mamedyarov needed to defeat Fabiano Caruana in a playoff to win the the title, but this year will have won clear first with 5.5/9.
A confident Mamedyarov walking to his game. | Photo courtesy Shamkir Chess.
Going into today's round Topalov trailed Mamedyarov by half-point, but with the Black pieces it is always difficult to create winning chances without taking on extreme risk. The two players played it safe and drew without much intrigue:
Wesley So also had a chance to tie for first, but would need to overcome Pentala Harikrishna, also with Black. A Catalan took place on the board but So could not create any chances and the players eventually drew as well:
In the only decisive round of the day, Vladimir Kramnik managed to outplay Pavel Eljanov in another Catalan, ending with an interesting king hunt, this is our game of the day!
Kramnik finished his roller coaster event with a win.| Photo courtesy Shamkir Chess.
The final two games of the day ended peacefully, but not without some interest. First Radoslaw Wojtaszek demonstrated some nice strategic concepts to hold against Michael Adams:
Meanwhile, Sergey Karjakin chose the ultra-solid Semi-Tarrasch defense against Teimour Radjabov, who found a way to put some pressure on the 2016 Candidate:
2017 Vugar Gashimov Memorial | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rating | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2772 | 2842 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5/9 | |||
| 2 | So,Wesley | 2822 | 2798 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0/9 | 22 | ||
| 3 | Topalov,Veselin | 2741 | 2806 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0/9 | 21.75 | ||
| 4 | Kramnik,Vladimir | 2811 | 2799 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0/9 | 20.5 | ||
| 5 | Wojtaszek,Radoslaw | 2745 | 2767 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/9 | 20.5 | ||
| 6 | Adams,Michael | 2761 | 2765 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/9 | 20 | ||
| 7 | Karjakin,Sergey | 2783 | 2764 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5/9 | 19.75 | ||
| 8 | Radjabov,Teimour | 2710 | 2732 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 4.0/9 | |||
| 9 | Harikrishna,P | 2755 | 2688 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3.5/9 | 16.5 | ||
| 10 | Eljanov,Pavel | 2751 | 2689 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.5/9 | 14.5 |
Games from TWIC.
Previous Reports:
- Brilliant Wojtaszek Surging In Shamkir
- 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
