Visiting Shamkir for watching the Memorial of Vugar Hashimov, the prominent figure of the Georgian chess, five-time World, and one-time European Champion, Nona Gaprindashvili has given an interview to the official website of the ShamkirChess 2018.
Firstly, the prominent grand master has talked about the Super Tournament.: “It is my first time that I am a guest in Shamkir. Actually, I should have returned to Georgia after the opening ceremony. However, when I heard the names of the participants, I decided to stay a bit longer in Shamkir. Really, there is a very strong staff this year. Fighting all these players, Magnus Carlsen, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Sergey Kariakin, and others in Shamkir is really a chess holiday. Particularly, I would like to note the dedication of the tournament in the memory of Vugar Hashimov. Vugar left us very early. It is very difficult to accept his absence. Therefore, the organization this kind of tournaments is very essential. It is already held for the fifth time, it means it has own peculiar history.
Nona Gaprindashvili said that, she has watched the Candidates Tournament held in Berlin, evaluates highly the performance of the Azerbaijani grand master, Shahriyar Mammadyarov: “In last two years, Shahriyar plays very well. He was nearly close to win in the Tournament held in Berlin. That defeat reversed him. Regardless the defeat, I evaluate Shahryar’s` performance very highly. He is able to be the World Champion. Only, there is a need to be qualified to play against the Champion. Generally, the chess is developing in Azerbaijan. We see more male players performances. We cannot forget that Mammadyarov, Radjabov, Mammadov and others are among strong players in Europe. The Azerbaijani Team was the champion for the third time in 2017. An ordinary team cannot be the winner of the continent”.
There will be the Chess Crawn in November in London. The reigning champion Magnus Carlsen will fight against the American grand master Fabiano Caruano. Gaprindashvili said that she believes Carlsen is her favorite in this duel: “Both grand masters are very strong. However, I believe that Magnus is stronger than his opponent. This young man still maintains the Champion title for several years continuously. It means he has enough energy to win. Carlsen is a very professional sportsman. I admire, his performances in tournaments and preparation. It seems to me that he only thinks about the chess”.
Talking about the organization of the ShamkirChess 2018 Super Tournament, the Georgian grand master added especially: “There are strong chess and organization traditions in Azerbaijan. It was not forgotten how you held the International Chess Olympiad. You have a very special approach for chess contests. The Super Tournament has been organized in a high level. The staff is very strong. When I entered the hall, I remembered previous years. Believe me, every grand master dreams to participate at the tournament like ShamkirChess 2018. When I saw the staff, I remembered my chess playing times. For a while, I would like to be among participants and fight for the victory in such a tournament.
The Secretary of Media of the ShamkirChess 2018 Tournament
