The 7th edition of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial kicked off today in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The event is played from 18th-24th December and consists of Rapid and Blitz tournaments with a double round-robin system for each. Eight Super Grandmasters participate in the event: Fabiano Caruana, Mamedyarov Shakhriyar, Rapport Richard, Viswanathan Anand, Karjakin Sergey, Navara David, Mamedov Rauf and Asadli Vugar.
The 2021 Vugar Gashimov Memorial was opened today. The ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili attended the opening ceremony and made the first ceremonial move before the start of the 1st round on the game between former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and Azerbaijan Grandmaster Mamedov Rauf.
The Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan Mr. Farid Gayibov attended also the opening, stressing that the high level annual organisation of this event is of interest to the world chess community.
The President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Vice-President of the International Chess Federation Mr. Mahir Mammadov emphasized that world leading players take part in the tournament and he thanked to Azerbaijani President Mr. Ilham Aliyev for showing interest in the Vugar Gashimov Memorial tournament.
