18 April 2018
5th Vugar Gashimov Memorial Opens in Shamkir
Rating favorites to face each other in round 1.
Photo by Eteri Kublashvili
On April 18, the 5th edition of Vugar Gashimov Memorial was officiallly opened in Shamkir. Opening ceremony speeches were delivered by Alimpasha Mammadov, Chief Executive of the Shamkir region, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE President, Khalik Mammadov, Vice-President of SOCAR, Mahir Mammadov, Director General of SOCAR Energy Georgia, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Head of the Organizing Committee, Farid Mansurov, Head of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Gasim Gashimov, Vugar's father, Farid Huseynov, official representative of Synergy Group, and Faiq Hasanov, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Chief Arbiter, who carried out a drawing of lots procedure.
Participants got the following starting numbers:
1. Veselin Topalov, 2. Anish Giri, 3. Ding Liren, 4. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 5. David Navara, 6. Rauf Mamedov, 7. Magnus Carlsen, 8. Radoslaw Wojtaszek, 9. Sergey Karjakin, 10. Teimour Radjabov.
Round 1 pairings:
Topalov - Radjabov, Giri - Karjakin, Ding Liren - Wojtaszek, Mamedyarov - Carlsen, Navara - Mamedov.
The match days: April 19-23 and 25-28. The rest day is April 24. The games will start at 2 p.m., the last round will begin at 1 p.m. (Moscow time).
Official website
A photo report will be published later on our website.
