Shamkir Chess-2015 tournament commemorating Vugar Hashimov opens

Shamkir, April 17, AZERTAC Shamkir Chess-2015 tournament commemorating Azerbaijani grandmaster and European champion Vugar Hashimov has officially opened at the Heydar Aliyev Center in the city of Shamkir. Prior to the opening ceremony, the event participants observed a moment of silence to honor Vugar Hashimov. Speakers at the opening ceremony included head of the Shamkir District Executive Authorities Alimpasha Mammadov, First Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of "Synergy Group" and Chairman of the ShamkirChess 2015 Organizing Committee Fakhriyar Jabbarov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Ismayil Ismayilov, Vice President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation Faig Hasanov and father of the Azerbaijani grandmaster Gasim Hashimov. The tournament, organized by “Synergy Group”, features one group. In the first round, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen will face Indian Viswanathan Anand, Azerbaijan`s Shahriyar Mammadyarov will take on Italian Fabiano Caruana, Azerbaijan`s Rauf Mammadov will clash with French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Dutch Anish Giri will play American Wesley So and Russian Vladimir Kramnik will face British Michael Adams. Money prize of the tournament is €100,000. President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov hailed the Azerbaijani government`s attention to developing chess.