The 6th edition of Shamkir Chess tournament, in memory of Vugar Gashimov, launched yesterday and takes place from 30th March-9th April in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
The Gala Opening Ceremony of the event took place on Saturday, 30th of March, with attendance of the executive chief of Shamkir region, Alimpasha Mammadov, the Minister of the Youth and Sports, Azad Rahimov, the vice-president of FIDE and SOCAR, the sponsor of the event, Mahir Mammadov, the father of Vugar Gashimov, Gasim Gashimov, and Azerbaijan Chess Federation representatives. After the ceremony, the drawing of lots took place in the same venue.
The event features participation of World top grandmasters: World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2843), world #3 Ding Liren (CHN, 2809), #4 Giri Anish (NED, 2797), #5 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE, 2793), #6 Anand Viswanathan (IND, 2774), #9 Grischuk Alexander (RUS, 2771), #12 Radjabov Teimour (AZE, 2756), #17 Karjakin Sergey (RUS, 2743), #18 Topalov Veselin (BUL, 2740) and #21 Navara David (CZE, 2733).
The first round of the event was played yesterday at the Haydar Aliev Centre, in peaceful manner, with all five games ended in a draw. The second round of the event starts today at 15:00 (local time) and the live transmission of the event is available here.
The event is as 9 rounds in Robin round system, with time control 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player shall be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control; an increment of 30 seconds per move shall be allowed from move 61 onwards.
The total prize fund of the event is 100.000 EUR with 30.000 EUR reserved for the Winner of the event.
Official Website of the Championship