The opening ceremony of the seventh super tournament dedicated to the memory of the late Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov took place on December 18. At the opening ceremony of the competition, which was held at the Fairmont Baku Hotel,was started with the National Anthem of Azerbaijan Republic.
Then the memory of Vugar Gashimov was commemorated with a minute of silence. After the screening of the video dedicated to Vugar Gashimov, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan Farid Gayibov said that the event is always organized at a high level, and every time ignites the interest in the world of chess community.
He said that the tournament dedicated to the memory of Vugar Gashimov is met with interest not only in Azerbaijan but all over the world. Despite the late grandmaster lived a short life, he achieved great success.
Today there is an academy named after Vugar Gashimov. His dreams and ideas are realized in that academy.By expressing deep gratitude to the family of Vugar Gashimov he ended up his speech.
President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Vice-President of the International Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov said that Baku hosted the Vugar Gashimov Memorial for the first time. He stressed that the world's leading chess players are taking part in the super tournament. Due to the pandemic, the prestigious chess tournament in 2020 did not take place. However, in the same year, under the leadership of Ilham Aliyev and the courage of Azerbaijan army, our occupied lands were liberated from Armenian aggression. Reconstruction and restoration work is underway in the liberated territories. I hope that in the future this tournament will be held in those areas.

The father of Vugar Gashimov, and at the same time the chairman of organizing committee Gasim Gashimov thanked President Ilham Aliyev for holding such a prestigious competition, which has already become a tradition. He called it as a clear example how Azerbaijan treats its sons and thanked all the organizers: the previous six tournaments were held in Shamkir. Baku is hosting the competition for the first time. This year the tournament is attended by world champions Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin. This indicates the high level of tournament.
Speaking about his son's ideas, Gasim Gashimov spoke about the high human qualities and features of worrier of the late grandmaster.
"The opening ceremony is also attended by the ambassadors of India and the United States. This will give additional incentives to participants from those countries. This step is commendable. I hope that Azerbaijani ambassadors in foreign countries will also take part in this initiative", Gashimov added.
Wishing success to all participants, the chairman of the Organizing Committee expressed confidence and mentioned that the tournament will give impetus to the development of chess in the country.
Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation Faig Hasanov noted that the strongest chess players take part in the tournament every year. The federation officially informed about the rules of the tournament. Then the lottery was drawn.
The event continued with a concert program. It should be noted that 8 chess players will compete in this tournament – Azerbaijan will be represented by Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Rauf Mammadov, Vugar Asadli, American Fabiano Caruana, Russian Sergey Karjakin, Hungarian Richard Rapport, Indian Viswanathan Anand,and Czech David Navara.
Chess players will compete in rapid and blitz. The tournament will be organized by the Vugar Gashimov Chess Foundation, supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and sponsored by SOCAR. The competition will be hosted by Fairmont Baku Hotel.