There will be held Super Tournament "Vugar Gashimov Memorial-2022" in Baku from December 17 to 24, after the memory of Azerbaijan's genius chess player, European champion, international grandmaster Vugar Gashimov. The 2022 Tournament is the 8th official organization of its kind, and it will be held in a round robin format and attended mainly by elite chess players.
These words were reported by the competition director, Anar Allakhverdiyev, at the press conference dedicated to the "Vugar Gashimov Memorial-2022" Super Tournament.
The honored coach added that the participation of Shakhriyar Mammadyarov and Romanian representative Richard Rapport in the tournament has already been confirmed. The names of other chess players will be announced soon. There are several undergoing negotiations due to the tight tournament schedule in chess sport.
A. Allakhverdiyev reported that local youth are expected to participate in the tournament, and said that one of the main goals of the Vugar Gashimov Chess Fund is open to new opportunities for young chess players. He stressed that this year the “Vugar Gashimov” club tried its hand at the inter-club European Championship for the fourth time.
Last year, the team was among the awardees of the European Championship. The staff of the club consists mainly of young chess players. The chief referee of the tournament, Lutfiyar Rustamov, said that 10 chess players would compete in rapid and blitz competitions on the round robin system: “In the first 3 days of the competition, 9 rapid rounds will be played. Each chess player will try his hand at 3 rounds in 1 day. After a day break, chess players will have to try their hand at a total of 18 blitz rounds, provided that they meet each other twice.”
L. Rustamov reported that the procedure for accruing points would be announced in the coming days. Either 3 points will be given for each win and 1 point for a draw, or the winners in rapid will receive 2 points, those who agree to peace - 1 point, and in blitz the winners will receive 1 point, and a draw - 0.5 points.
The competition will be held at the “Fairmont Baku” hotel, organized by the Vugar Gashimov Fund, supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, sponsored by SOCAR.
Vugar Gashimov Memorial Tournament was first held in 2014 in Shamkir. Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen four times(2014, 2015, 2018, 2019), Azerbaijani chess player Shakhriyar Mammadyarov twice (2016, 2017) and USA representative Fabiano Caruana once (2021) won the tournament.
Likewise, for the first time in the history of world chess, innovative developments will be used in the competition.
A new logo was designed for the tournament last year. The silhouette of Vugar Gashimov, presented in white on a black background, was created without additional details, only on the basis of a monochrome image of the outer lines.