Azerbaijan pride Shakhriyar Mamedyarov put on a strong performance in the blitz segment of the ongoing 7th Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Baku, to lead the first half of the double round robin competition. The second half is being played as we wrote this.
Mamedyarov scored 5 points out of a possible 7, and his 5 wins included an nice win over rapid co-winner Richard Rapport, who is leading the overall standings. Rapport’s rapid co-winner, Sergey Karjakin, didn’t fare well in the blitz, notchin only 2 points from 7 games. Fabiano Caruana, who tied Mamedyarov in the rapid section, kept up by finishing the blitz first half just half-a-point shy of the Azeri top player. The combined rapid and blitz scores determines the winner of the event.
The blitz standings standings after Round 7: 1. Mamedyarov, 5; 2-3. Caruana, Rappoty, 4½; 4-5. Navara, Asadli, 4; 6. Anand, 2½; 7. Karjakin, 2; 8. Mamedov, 1½.
Caruana,F (2792)-Mamedyarov,S (2767) [A18]
Baku (b/7.3) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be2 Bg4 8.0-0 Be7 9.d4 0-0 10.h3 Bh5 11.Be3 Qd7 12.Qb3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd8 14.Rac1 Ne6 15.Qd2 Rfd8 16.b4 a5 17.b5 Bxf3 18.gxf3 c5 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.f4 c5 21.f5 Nxd4 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.Bd3 f6 24.f4 Rdc8 25.Kh1 Kh8 26.Qg2 Rc3 27.Rcd1 Rb8 28.Rf3 Rbc8 29.Rg1 Bd8 30.h4 Rc1 31.h5 h6 32.Qg6 Rxg1+ 33.Kxg1 Qb7 34.Rf1 Qe7 35.Rb1 Kg8 36.e6 Bc7 37.Rb7 Rb8 38.Qf7+ Qxf7 39.exf7+ Kxf7 40.Rxc7+ Kf8 41.Kf2 Rb2+ 42.Rc2 Rb4 43.Kf3 a4 44.Rc5 Rb2 45.Rxd5 Rxa2 46.Rd7 a3 47.Ra7 Ra1 48.Ke4 a2 49.Kxd4 Ke8 50.Bc2 Kd8 51.Bb3 Rf1 52.Bxa2 Rxf4+ 53.Kd5 Rxf5+ 54.Kd6 Kc8 55.Be6+ Kb8 56.Bxf5 Kxa7 57.Ke7 1-0
Rapport,R (2763)-Navara,D (2697) [C44]
Baku (b/7.2) 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.c3 a5 9.a4 Re8 10.Nbd2 Bf8 11.Nc4 Bf5 12.Re1 f6 13.d4 exd4 14.Rxe8 Qxe8 15.Nxd4 Be4 16.Bxe4 Qxe4 17.Nd2 Qe8 18.Nxc6 Qxc6 19.Nf3 Nb6 20.Bf4 Qd5 21.Qxd5+ Nxd5 22.Bd2 Rd8 23.Kf1 Bc5 24.h4 h5 25.Ke2 Kf7 26.Be1 Re8+ 27.Kf1 c6 28.Nd2 g5 29.hxg5 fxg5 30.Nb3 Bb6 31.c4 Nb4 32.Bxb4 axb4 33.a5 Bd8 34.a6 bxa6 35.Rxa6 Bf6 36.Rxc6 Bxb2 37.Rb6 Bc3 38.c5 h4 39.Kg2 Rc8 40.c6 Ke6 41.Na5 Kd6 42.Ra6 hxg3 43.Kxg3 Bd4 44.f3 Kc7 45.Nb3 Bb6 46.Ra4 Rb8 47.Kg4 Be3 48.Ra6 Rb6 49.Ra2 Rxc6 50.Ra4 Rc4+ 51.Kf5 Kb6 52.Ra8 Rf4+ 53.Ke5 Rxf3 54.Ke4 Rh3 55.Rb8+ Kc7 56.Rb5 Kc6 57.Rb8 Bb6 58.Nd2 b3 59.Nc4 Rh4+ 60.Kd3 Rxc4 61.Rc8+ Bc7 0-1
Mamedyarov,S (2767)-Rapport,R (2763) [E63]
Baku (b/6.3) 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.c5 b5 10.d5 Na5 11.b4 Nc4 12.Nd4 Qe8 13.a4 e5 14.Nc6 Rb7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Ra8 Qd7 17.Qd3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 f5 19.Ng5 e4 20.Qe2 dxc5 21.bxc5 Re8 22.Rd1 Bh6 23.Na7 Rxa7 24.Rxa7 e3 25.Ne6 exf2+ 26.Qxf2 1-0
Anand,V (2751)-Caruana,F (2792) [C72]
Baku (b/6.2) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bd7 6.c3 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.Re1 Nf6 9.h3 0-0 10.Bc2 Re8 11.d5 Ne7 12.c4 h6 13.Nc3 Nh7 14.b4 f5 15.c5 f4 16.Nd2 Rf8 17.Ba4 Bc8 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.b5 g5 20.bxa6 Rxa6 21.Bb5 Ra8 22.Be2 Ng6 23.Rb1 Nh4 24.a4 Nf6 25.Ba3 Rf7 26.Nc4 Bf8 27.Nb6 Rg7 28.Nxa8 g4 29.hxg4 Nxg4 30.Bf3 Qg5 31.Nb6 Nh2 32.Kxh2 Nxg2 0-1
Mamedyarov,S (2767)-Mamedov,R (2656) [D34]
Baku (b/4.3) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.a3 Ne4 11.Nxd5 Be6 12.Ne3 Qb6 13.b4 Be7 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.Qxd5 Nc3 16.Qd3 Rfd8 17.Qxc3 Bf6 18.Qc2 Bxa1 19.Ng5 g6 20.Qa2 Bg7 21.Nxf7 Kf8 22.Be3 Nd4 23.Ng5 Rd7 24.Nxh7+ Ke7 25.Bg5+ Kd6 26.Qd5+ 1-0
Navara,D (2697)-Caruana,F (2792) [E94]
Baku (b/4.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 h6 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.Bf1 Re8 10.Rb1 a5 11.b3 b6 12.d5 Nh7 13.g3 Nc5 14.a3 a4 15.b4 Nb3 16.Be3 Bd7 17.Nd2 f5 18.Nxb3 axb3 19.Rxb3 f4 20.gxf4 Qh4 21.Qf3 exf4 22.Qxf4 Qe7 23.Qg3 g5 24.c5 Rf8 25.c6 Be8 26.f4 gxf4 27.Bxf4 Qf6 28.Ne2 Bh5 29.Bc1 Ng5 30.Nf4 Qf7 31.h4 Nf3+ 32.Rxf3 Bxf3 33.Bh3 Rae8 34.Be6 Rxe6 35.dxe6 Qf6 36.Qxf3 Qxh4 37.Re2 Kh7 38.Be3 Be5 39.Rh2 Qe1+ 40.Kg2 Rg8+ 41.Kh3 Qc3 42.Rg2 Rf8 43.Qg3 Kh8 44.Ng6+ 1-0
Karjakin,S (2743)-Mamedyarov,S (2767) [C53]
Baku (b/3.3) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.0-0 d6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.Re1 Ne7 9.Nf1 Ng6 10.Ng3 c6 11.h3 Re8 12.d4 Bb6 13.Bd3 Be6 14.a4 a5 15.Qc2 Bc7 16.Be3 Nf4 17.Bf1 N4h5 18.Ne2 d5 19.Nxe5 Nxe4 20.f3 Nd6 21.g4 Nf6 22.Nf4 Nc4 23.Nxc4 dxc4 24.Nxe6 Rxe6 25.Bxc4 Nd5 26.Qf2 b5 27.axb5 cxb5 28.Bd3 Qd6 29.Bd2 Rf6 30.Re5 Qc6 31.Re4 Bf4 32.Rae1 g6 33.Bxf4 Nxf4 34.Rxf4 Rxf4 35.Be4 Rxe4 36.Rxe4 b4 37.Re3 b3 38.Kg2 a4 39.Kg3 Rb8 40.d5 Qxd5 41.Qe2 a3 42.Re8+ Kg7 43.Rxb8 Qd6+ 44.f4 Qxb8 45.h4 a2 46.Qd1 Qa7 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Nf3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bg5 2.Rb7#; 1…g5 2.Qb6#; 1…f4 2.Qxg6#; 1…Nf4 2.Qh1#; 1…Rxa2 2.Rd1#.
