We’re putting closure to our interrupted report on the 7th Vugar Gashimov Memorial which ended Christmas Eve in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a victory for GM Fabiano Caruana.
To recap, the tournament was in memory of the late GM Vugar Gashimov, and was composed of eight players competing in a rapid mini-match tournament combined with a double round robin blitz. In the rapid phase, GMs Richard Rapport and Sergey Karjakin jointly won the rapid section, while Caruana won the blitz. Caruana and Rapport tied in the overall tally with 24 points apiece, and had to dispute the championship via an Armageddon match where Caruana prevailed.
The final overall standings: 1. Caruana, 24; 2. Rapport, 24; 3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 22½; 4. Karjakin, 21; 5. Rauf Mamedov, 15½; 6. David Navara, 14; 7. Vugar Asadli, 10; 8. Viswanathan Anand, 9;
Caruana,Fabiano (2792) – Rapport,Richard (2763) [A40]
Baku (tb/1) 2021
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Be7 5.Nbd2 cxd4 6.exd4 0-0 7.c3 b6 8.Bd3 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.0-0 Nc7 11.a4 a6 12.c4 d5 13.b3 dxc4 14.bxc4 b5 15.axb5 axb5 16.Rxa8 Nxa8 17.c5 Nd5 18.Bg3 Nac7 19.Qb3 Qa8 20.Rb1 Rc8 21.Ne4 b4 22.h4 h6 23.Ne5 Nb5 24.Qf3 Rf8 25.Qd3 Nbc3 26.Nxc3 bxc3 27.Nd7 Rd8 28.Nb6 Qa5 29.Nxd5 Rxd5 30.c6 Bd6 31.Bxd6 Rxd6 32.Rb8+ Rd8 33.Rxd8+ Qxd8 34.Qxc3 Qc7 35.Qc5 f6 36.d5 exd5 37.Qxd5+ Kf8 38.Qe6 Qd8 39.g3 Qc7 40.h5 Qd8 41.Kg2 Qc7 42.Kf3 Qd8 43.g4 Qc7 44.Ke4 Qd8 45.Qd7 Qb8 46.c7 Qa8+ 47.Kf4 Qa4+ 48.Qxa4 1-0
Karjakin,S (2743)-Rapport,R (2763) [E94]
Baku (1.4) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Re1 Qe8 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.a3 Bg4 11.b4 Rd8 12.Qc2 Nb8 13.b5 Nh5 14.Bg5 Rc8 15.Be3 Nd7 16.h3 Be6 17.Rad1 Nf4 18.Bf1 c6 19.Qa4 Nb6 20.Qxa7 Nxc4 21.Bc5 cxb5 22.Bxf8 Bxf8 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Bc5 25.Qxb7 Nd6 26.Qa6 e4 27.Nd4 Qe5 28.Nb3 Nxh3+ 29.gxh3 Qg3+ 30.Kh1 Bxf2 31.Bg2 Bxe1 32.Nd4 Bc3 33.Ne2 Qe5 34.Rc1 e3 35.Bf3 Kg7 36.Rxc3 Rxc3 37.Nxc3 Qxc3 38.Qxd6 Qe1+ 39.Kh2 Qf2+ 40.Bg2 e2 41.Qe5+ Kh6 0-1
Mamedov,R (2656)-Caruana,F (2792) [B25]
Baku (2.4) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nf3 e5 7.a3 Nge7 8.b4 0-0 9.Rb1 b6 10.0-0 h6 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 Ne7 13.bxc5 Nxd5 14.Bd2 dxc5 15.Re1 Re8 16.Qc1 Kh7 17.h4 Bg4 18.Nh2 Bf5 19.Qd1 Rc8 20.h5 g5 21.a4 Qd7 22.a5 b5 23.c4 Nc7 24.Be3 bxc4 25.dxc4 Qxd1 26.Rbxd1 Bf8 27.g4 Be6 28.Rc1 Rb8 29.Be4+ Kg7 30.f3 Rb4 31.Bd3 Rd8 32.Be2 Ne8 33.Nf1 e4 34.Ng3 exf3 35.Bxf3 Nf6 36.a6 Nxg4 37.Nf1 Ne5 38.Bg2 Nxc4 39.Bf2 Bd6 40.Ng3 Bf4 41.Rcd1 Rxd1 42.Rxd1 Ne3 43.Rd8 Rb1+ 44.Kh2 Ng4+ 0-1
Navara,D (2697)-Anand,V (2751) [A06]
Baku (10.1) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 b6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bb2 a6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Be2 Nbd7 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Rc1 0-0 11.Re1 b5 12.d4 Qe7 13.Bf1 Ne4 14.Ne2 c6 15.Nf4 a5 16.Nd3 f6 17.Re2 a4 18.Rec2 axb3 19.axb3 Rfc8 20.g3 g6 21.Bh3 Rc7 22.Ra1 Rcc8 23.Rcc1 Rcb8 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Ra1 Nb8 26.Rxa8 Bxa8 27.Qa1 Bb7 28.Nc5 Bxc5 29.dxc5 Na6 30.Bd4 Naxc5 31.Qa3 Kf7 32.Ne1 Nxf2 33.Bg2 Nce4 34.b4 Bc8 35.Nc2 Nh3+ 36.Bxh3 Bxh3 37.Qa8 Qe6 38.Qb7+ Qd7 39.Qa8 Qf5 40.Qb7+ Kg8 41.Qb8+ Kg7 42.Qc7+ Kh6 43.Qf4+ g5 44.Qxf5 Bxf5 45.Bb6 Bd7 46.Nd4 Kg6 47.Kg2 h5 48.Nb3 Nd6 49.Bc5 Nc4 50.Bd4 Bf5 51.Nc5 Be4+ 52.Kf2 Nd2 53.Nd7 Nf3 54.Bxf6 Nxh2 55.Bd4 Ng4+ 56.Kg1 Kf5 57.Nb8 h4 58.gxh4 gxh4 59.Bb6 h3 60.Bc7 d4 61.exd4 Bd5 62.Nd7 h2+ 63.Bxh2 Nxh2 64.Kxh2 Ke4 65.Nc5 Kd4 66.Kg3 Kc4 67.Na6 Be6 68.Nb8 Kd5 69.Na6 Bc8 70.Nc5 Kc4 0-1
Mamedyarov,S (2767)-Karjakin,S (2743) [E35]
Baku (10.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c5 7.dxc5 Nc6 8.e3 Qa5 9.Nge2 Ne4 10.a3 Bf5 11.Qc1 Nxc5 12.Ng3 Bxc3+ 13.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 14.bxc3 Bg6 15.h4 h5 16.Be2 0-0-0 17.0-0 f6 18.Rfd1 Na5 19.Ra2 Nc4 20.a4 b6 21.Rd4 a5 22.e4 Ne6 23.exd5 Nxd4 24.Bxc4 Nf5 25.Rb2 Nd6 26.Ba6+ Kc7 27.c4 Rb8 28.Ne2 Rhe8 29.Nd4 Kd7 30.Nc6 Ra8 31.Rxb6 Re1+ 32.Kh2 Rb1 33.Nb8+ Rxb8 34.Rxd6+ Ke7 35.Re6+ 1-0
******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rh3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Rc4 2.Nb3#; 1…Rc3 2.bxc3#; 1…Bc4 2.Nxc2#; 1…Rg3 2.Re4#.
