2024-10-02 09:12:04
The opening ceremony of the Chess Player Vugar Gashimov Memorial, which is being held for the 10th time, took place in Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan.
According to İdman.biz, the opening ceremony of the tournament, organized jointly by the Vugar Gashimov Chess Foundation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, took place at the Shusha Hotel.
At the opening ceremony, the chief adviser of the special mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Shusha region, Suleiman Rustamov, delivered a speech and greeted the guests. Then a video was shown dedicated to the life and work of Vugar Gashimov. After this, the President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Vice-President of the International Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov made a speech and emphasized that strong chess players are participating in the tournament. M. Mamedov noted that Vugar Gashimov is one of the famous chess players in the world and said that the tournament has a great history.
A video was shown showing historical moments of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial held in Shamkir, Baku and Gabala in previous years. After this, the floor was given to Gasim Gashimov, head of the organizing committee of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, Vugar Gashimov’s father. On behalf of his family, Gasym Gashimov expressed gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who supports the holding of the tournament every year.
At the end of the opening ceremony, the chief judge of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, Rauf Hajili, introduced the chess players to the rules. During the draw, the chess players chose special clocks and determined their serial numbers.
Vugar Gashimov’s father Gasim Gashimov, head of the Chess Federation Mahir Mamedov, two-time winner of the Paralympic Games, multiple world and European champion Ilham Zakiyev and Deputy Secretary of the Security Council under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Madat Guliyev symbolically made the first moves in the first round of the rapid.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan will be represented at the tournament by three chess players. These are members of the national team Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Rauf Mamedov and Aydin Suleymanly. Also participating in the tournament will be Nodirbek Abdussatorov (Uzbekistan), Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE), Richard Rapport (Hungary), Vladislav Artemyev (FIDE) and Aravind Chitambaram (India). The winner of the tournament will be determined by the sum of the rapid and blitz results.
İdman.biz