By A.E. Boy Espejo Jr.
It is a rest day at the US Chess Championship, so we will instead interject this report about the stronger 5th Vugar Gashimov Memorial happening simultaneous with the US tournament.
The 5th Vugar Gashimov Memorial is a 10-player, single round robin, Category 21 (average Elo: 2768) that started April 19th in Shamkir, Azerbaijan and will wind up at about the same time as the US Championship on April 28th. The players are world champion Magnus Carlsen (2843), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2814), Ding Liren (2778), Sergey Karjakin (2778), Anish Giri (2777), Veselin Topalov (2749), Teimour Radjabov (2748), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2744), David Navara (2745), and Rauf Mamedov (2704). The competition is in honor of GM Vugar Gashimov who died of brain tumor at age 27 in January 2014.
After five rounds of play, we find the 43-year old Topalov, a former world champion (2005-2006), on top of the standings half-a-point ahead of Carlsen. The irony of this super-tournament is that, despite the presence of young, aggressive grandmasters, it has only produced 3 decisions in 25 games – two authored by Topalov, one by Carlsen. The games in the first three rounds were all drawn; there was one decision in Round 4 and two in Round 5.
At any rate, here are the standings after Round 5: 1. Topalov, 3½; 2. Carlsen, 3; 3-7. Radjabov, Giri, Ding, Mamedov, Karjakin, 2½; 8-10. Mamedyarov, Navara, Wojtaszek, 2.
Topalov,V (2749)-Mamedyarov,S (2814) [C80]
Shamkir (4.4) 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 0-0 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Na5 13.Bc2 Nc4 14.Qd3 g6 15.Bh6 Nxb2 16.Qe2 Re8 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.f4 c5 19.Nf3 Qb6 20.Qf2 d4 21.Bg5 dxc3 22.Qh4 c4+ 23.Kh1 Bf8 24.f5 Nd3 25.e6 Bxe6 26.fxe6 Rxe6 27.Rad1 Rae8 28.Bxd3 cxd3 29.Rxd3 Re4 30.Bf4 Be7 31.Qg3 b4 32.Ng5 Bxg5 33.Bxg5 Qe6 34.h3 Qe5 35.Kh2 Qxg3+ 36.Kxg3 h6 37.Bxh6 Re1 38.Rf6 R1e6 39.Rf2 Re2 40.Rd5 Rxf2 41.Kxf2 f6 42.Be3 1-0
Navara,D (2745)-Topalov,V (2749) [A07]
Shamkir (5.1) 2018
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0-0 Bg4 5.d3 Nbd7 6.c4 dxc4 7.dxc4 e5 8.Qc2 h6 9.Rd1 Qc7 10.Nc3 Be6 11.b3 Bc5 12.Na4 Be7 13.Nh4 g6 14.h3 Kf8 15.Bb2 Re8 16.e4 Kg8 17.Rac1 Kh7 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Ne3 Nb6 20.Qc3 Nxa4 21.Qxe5 Bd6 22.Qxf6 Nxb2 23.Qxb2 Qe7 24.Qc3 Bb4 25.Qe5 Qg5 26.Qb2 Rd8 27.a3 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Bc5 29.Nf1 Rd8 30.h4 Qe7 31.Rxd8 Qxd8 32.b4 Qd4 33.Qc2 Be7 34.c5 a5 35.bxa5 Bxc5 36.a4 Kg7 37.Nh2 Bb3 38.Qe2 Qxa4 39.Nf3 Qa1+ 40.Bf1 Qc3 41.Kg2 Ba4 42.Qc4 Qxc4 43.Bxc4 Bc2 44.Nd2 Bb4 45.Bb3 Bxb3 46.Nxb3 c5 47.Kf3 c4 48.Nd4 Bxa5 49.Nb5 c3 50.Nd4 b5 51.Ke2 b4 52.f4 Bb6 53.Nb3 h5 0-1
Carlsen,M (2843)-Wojtaszek,R (2744) [B23]
Shamkir (5.3) 2018
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2 Nf6 6.b3 e6 7.Bb2 a6 8.0-0-0 b5 9.f3 h5 10.Nh3 Be7 11.Ng5 h4 12.f4 Bb7 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.Be2 Qc7 15.Rhe1 Nh7 16.Nxh7 Rxh7 17.g4 hxg3 18.hxg3 Bf6 19.Bd3 Rh8 20.g4 Nd4 21.Re3 Kf8 22.Ne2 Nxe2 23.Rxe2 Bc3 24.Bxc3 Qxc3 25.Qe3 Rc5 26.e5 dxe5 27.fxe5 Rh1 28.Rxh1 Bxh1 29.Rh2 Rxe5 30.Rh8+ Ke7 31.Qa7+ 1-0
