The first round of "Shamkir Chess 2019" Super-tournament devoted to the Memorial of Vugar Hashimov has been ended up. In the centerpiece game of the first round, the Azerbaijani grandmaster playing with white figures, Teimour Radjabov played a draw with Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Champion.

Participating in the press conference after the game, Teimour Radjabov talked about the result: "the first round is always different. I believe that I did not have too much versions. Although, the dominance was somehow available, my opponent defended himself very careful. It is very difficult to interpret the result of the first round. I believe that the main competition is still ahead. I think that, in some cases, the lack of practice played a role in the game. Certainly, I participate in the tournaments a lot by comparison to previous years. I consider the two month break normal. I would like to participate in the best tournaments of course. I mean , mainly the FIDE Grand Prize series, national team and certain super-tournaments. Somehow, I believe that last season I did not have few games. All together, I prepared confidently to the game against Magnus".

Moreover, Teimour Radjabov stated that, having odd or even number of players in the games does not matter for him: "I strongly agree that the main issue which concerns me is who plays more with black figures. This issue is frequently discussed. However, I think that chess players have already adjusted to this kind of system. It is not that much of importance for us. It is somehow a habit now, we intrinsically think about the game of the opponent".

The Press Service of "Shamkir Chess 2019"