One of the most interesting aspects of the Candidates Tournament was the superb opening preparation, and in particular how they managed to set each other problems which hadn’t been foreseen. This is a special skill that involves interacting with the fearsome engines not to find the “best” moves but ones which are almost as strong according to the silicon evaluation — but lower down the food chain! | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Aydin Suleymanli (pictured with his father) emerged as the winner of the Azerbaijani Championship 2024. The 19-year-old native of Baku prevailed over Mahammad Muradli in the final match to capture his maiden national title. The competition consisted of two stages: a 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control was followed by a playoff with the top four finishers. | Photos: Azerbaijani Chess Federation
Denis Lazavik and Magnus Carlsen advanced to the winners’ bracket final in Division I of the Chessable Masters. Lazavik defeated Jose Martinez, while Carlsen got the better of Vladimir Fedoseev. In the losers’ bracket, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladimir Fedoseev remain in contention, as they knocked out Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So respectively. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio
The pairings of the knockout phase in all three divisions of the Chessable Masters were set up after an exciting day of online-chess action. Most notably, 17-year-old Denis Lazavik defeated Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri to reach Division I, while knocking his elite opponents down to Division II. Lazavik will face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on Friday, while perennial favourite Magnus Carlsen will face the ever-dangerous Wesley So. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio
Five players ended day 1 of the World Rapid Championship sharing first place with 4½/5 points. Magnus Carlsen, who assessed his play on the first day as “so-so”, heads the leading pack, which also includes Yu Yangyi, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi and Ivan Cheparinov. In the women’s section, Zhu Jiner and Nurgyul Salimova are sharing first place with perfect 4/4 scores. | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
This week's Wednesday Workout starts a two-part series on the 2023 Gashimov Memorial rapid and blitz event, featuring a number of prominent top players. Played in Azerbaijan in honor of the late Azeri great, Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi won with a score of 5/9 in the rapid and and 12/18 in the blitz, totaling a 22/36 score (as rapid games counted for two points each). Vidit finished a half-point ahead of countryman GM Arjun Erigaisi, and Romanian GM Richard Rapport was third with 19/36.
After finishing the rapid section in shared second place, Vidit Gujrathi tied for first in the blitz to claim overall first place at the Gashimov Memorial. Vidit managed to keep his ½-point lead over Arjun Erigaisi by winning his final game in Gabala — Arjun also scored a full point in the 18th round of blitz and grabbed clear second place. Richard Rapport, who had struggled in the rapid but obtained as many points as Vidit in the blitz, finished third. | Photo: Mukhtar Ahmad
The first three rounds of rapid chess at the Gashimov Memorial ended with Nijat Abasov as the sole leader in the standings. Abasov, who is likely to play in the Candidates Tournament next year, beat Boris Gelfand and Richard Rapport in consecutive rounds to finish the day with 5/6 points (wins are worth 2 points in the rapid section). Sharing second place on 4/6 scores are Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi and Rauf Mamedov. | Photo: Official website
The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2023 will be held in Gabala, Azerbaijan, on December 8-11. Ten strong grandmasters will compete in a combined rapid chess and blitz tournament. The event is held in memory of the former world-class player Vugar Gashimov, who sadly died of a brain tumour in January 2014, at the age of 27.
The European Team Championship kicked off with a big surprise on the top board. Azerbaijan, the rating favourites, were defeated by Denmark, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov lost to Mads Andersen after his attempt at a winning attack backfired. Romania, the second seeds, only drew Austria, while Norway also got a draw against Slovakia despite Magnus Carlsen winning his game on the top board. In the women’s event, the most shocking result on the top boards was Greece holding Germany to a draw. | Photo: Mark Livshitz