The rapid phase of the ongoing 7th Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended Tuesday, December 21st, with Richard Rapport and Sergey Karjakin topping the standings.
There was much action going in the last two rounds, with Karjakin catching up with Rapport on top after beating Vugar Azadli and Rauf Mamedov in Rounds 6 and 7, respectively. Rapport, on the other hand, lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Round 6 and narrowly defeating David Navara in Round 7. The wins enabled Mamedyarov to catch up with Fabiano Caruana, and the two shared 3rd to 4th places.
The rapid competition ended rather ingloriously for former world champion Viswanathan Anand, who landed in the bottom of the standings. The eight protagonists will now play a double round robin blitz contest.
The final standings (rapid): 1-2. Rapport, Karjakin, 16; 3-4. Caruana, Mamedyarov, 14; 5. Mamedov, 9; 6. Navara, 8; 7. Asadli, 4; 8. Anand, 3.
Mamedyarov,S (2767) – Rapport,R (2763) [E63]
Baku (6.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 a6 8.e4 Rb8 9.a3 Bg4 10.Be3 Na5 11.Qe2 b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.h3 Bc8 14.e5 Nd7 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bf4 fxe5 17.dxe5 Kh8 18.Rfe1 Nc4 19.exd6 exd6 20.Nxb5 Rxb5 21.Qxc4 Rxb2 22.Ng5 Qf6 23.Rad1 Ne5 24.Qxc7 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qxg5 26.Qxc8 Qh5 27.Qc7 g5 28.Rxd6 gxf4 29.Rd8 fxg3+ 30.Kg1 Nf3+ 31.Bxf3 Qxf3 32.Rxf8+ Bxf8 33.Qe5+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Rf1 Qa8 36.Qf6+ Bg7 37.Qf3 Qb8 38.Re1 h6 39.Kg2 Bf8 40.Re2 Kg7 41.a4 Bd6 42.Qg4+ Kh8 43.Qg6 Qb7+ 44.Qe4 Qc7 45.a5 1-0
Caruana,F (2792)-Mamedyarov,S (2767) [A16]
Baku (7.1) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Nxe5 0-0 6.Nf3 Re8 7.Bd3 Nxe4 8.Bxe4 Bxc3 9.dxc3 Rxe4+ 10.Be3 d6 11.h3 Nc6 12.0-0 Qf6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Bg5 Rxe1+ 15.Qxe1 Qe6 16.Qd2 f6 17.Re1 Qf7 18.Bh6 Qxc4 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.cxd4 Qf7 21.Qe3 Bd7 22.Qe7 Re8 23.Qxf7+ Kxf7 24.Rxe8 Bxe8 25.h4 Ke6 26.Bg7 g5 27.hxg5 fxg5 28.f3 h5 29.Kf2 a5 30.Ke3 h4 31.Bh6 Kf5 32.Bf8 Kf6 33.a3 Bc6 34.Kf2 Bd5 35.Bh6 Kf5 36.Bg7 b5 37.Bf8 Kf6 38.Kg1 b4 39.axb4 axb4 40.Kf2 b3 41.Bh6 Kf5 42.Bf8 g4 43.Be7 h3 44.fxg4+ Ke6 45.Bxd6 Kxd6 46.gxh3 Be4 47.h4 Kd5 48.Ke3 Bc2 49.h5 Bd1 50.h6 Bc2 0-1
Rapport,R (2763)-Navara,D (2697) [C44]
Baku (7.1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Rb1 Rb8 12.g4 Bg6 13.Ng5 Be7 14.Ne4 f5 15.gxf5 Bxf5 16.Be3 Qd7 17.Qh5 g6 18.Qf3 Be6 19.Qg3 Bxa2 20.Rb5 Be6 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.Rxc5 Qd6 23.Rb1 Rfe8 24.h4 Ne7 25.Qxe5 Nf5 26.Bf4 Bf7 27.Qxe8+ Rxe8 28.Bxd6 cxd6 29.Ra5 Nxh4 30.Rxb7 Re1+ 31.Kh2 Re2 32.Raxa7 Rxf2 33.Rxf7 Rxf7 34.Bd5 Nf3+ 35.Kg3 1-0
Karjakin,S (2743)-Mamedov,R (2656) [B33]
Baku (7.2) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 9.c4 Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qb4 Qb8 12.h4 h5 13.Be3 a6 14.Nc3 Be7 15.Na4 Qc7 16.Bb6 Qc8 17.Ba5 Bxa4 18.Qxa4+ b5 19.cxb5 0-0 20.b6 Qc5 21.Rd1 Bd8 22.Qb4 Qxb4+ 23.Bxb4 Bxb6 24.Bxd6 Rfd8 25.Ba3 Ba5+ 26.b4 Bc7 27.Bb2 Nf4 28.a3 a5 29.g3 Nxd5 30.b5 e4 31.Be2 Rab8 32.0-0 e3 33.f4 Bb6 34.Kg2 Rbc8 35.Kf3 Rc2 36.Be5 Rd2 37.Rc1 Ne7 38.a4 Nf5 39.Rc6 f6 40.Bc3 Rc2 41.Bd1 Rxc3 42.Rxc3 Nd4+ 43.Kg2 e2 44.Bxe2 Nxe2 45.Rc6 Ba7 46.b6 Bb8 47.b7 Nd4 48.Rc8 Rf8 49.Rd1 Ne6 50.f5 1-0
Asadli,V (2579)-Anand,V (2751) [C02]
Baku (7.1) 2021
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Nh6 7.Bd3 cxd4 8.b4 Bd7 9.0-0 Rc8 10.Bb2 dxc3 11.Nxc3 Be7 12.Nb5 0-0 13.Nbd4 a5 14.b5 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bc5 16.a4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 f6 18.Nf3 f5 19.Rc1 Rxc1 20.Qxc1 Rc8 21.Qf4 Qc5 22.h3 Qc3 23.Rd1 Nf7 24.g4 fxg4 25.hxg4 Rf8 26.Qg3 Qb4 27.Kg2 Nh6 28.Nd4 Nf7 29.Bc2 Ng5 30.f4 Ne4 31.Qb3 Rxf4 32.Qxb4 axb4 33.Bxe4 Rxg4+ 34.Kf3 Rxe4 35.a5 h5 36.b6 g5 37.a6 bxa6 38.b7 Rf4+ 39.Ke3 Rf8 40.Rc1 Rb8 41.Rc7 Be8 42.Nc6 Rxb7 43.Ne7+ Kf8 44.Rxb7 h4 45.Nc8 h3 46.Kf2 a5 47.Kg3 d4 48.Nd6 Bc6 49.Rb8+ Kg7 50.Nc4 Bd5 51.Nxa5 b3 52.Nxb3 d3 53.Kxh3 1-0
******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Nd3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bc7/d8 2.Rxd2#; 1…Nxd3, Rxd3 2.Nc3#; 1…Nxd1 2.Nc1#; 1…Bxd1, Rxd1 2.Nexc5#; 1…Bxd3 2.Re1#; 1…Kxd1 2.Qf1#; 1…Kxd3 2.Qf3#.
