Chess (#1094)

The Gashimov Memorial at Shamkir, Azerbaijan evokes bitter-sweet thoughts. It is one thing to remember a former champion, who passed on in the fullness of time. It is another to commemorate a 27-year-old, whose life was cut short by a brain tumour as recently as January.

Vugar Gashimov was number 6 in the world at his best. He could well have ascended higher, except for the illness. (The name is pronounced "Vuhar Hashimov" Cyrillic lacks the letter "h" and "Hashim", "Henrik", "Hussein" etc, are transliterated "Gashim", "Ghenrik" and "Gusein".)

The Memorial has two groups. The top group features Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov in a double round-robin at an average Elo of 2780 (category 22). The B group is a single round-robin with 10 players, category 17, average 2662.
 

In Group A, Carlsen started with wins against Mamedaryov and Nakamura. But the world champion lost to Caruana - his first loss since he took the title. Caruana and Carlsen are tied for the lead at 2.5 points after four rounds. In the BGroup, Etienne Bacrot leads with 3 from 4 rounds, ahead of Pavel Eljanov and Radoslaw Wojtaszek (both 2.5).

The women's Grand Prix at Khanty-Mansiysk concluded with Hou Yifan far ahead with 8.5 from 11. Olga Girya was second with 7 - proving she belongs at this level. The world women's blitz and rapids are now in progress at the same venue.

The Asian Continentals (Open and Women's) is on at Sharjah. The top five from the 64-player 9-round Swiss Open qualify for the 2015 World Cup. The prize fund is generous with 32 prizes and first of $6000. Four players share the lead with 5.5 each after seven rounds.

In the diagram, BLACK TO PLAY (Caruana Vs Carlsen Gashimov Memorial 2014), Carlsen misses a transparent threat. Black could play 24...c6 25.Nxe7 Rxe7 26.f4 Ke8 27.Bh4 g5 Or 25. Nc7 Rg8 26. e6. White has an edge but black can defend.

Carlsen blundered with 24. - Kc8? 25.Nxc7 Rd8 26.Nd5 Re8. Now Caruana demonstrates he can play with machine-accuracy when he has an edge. 27.Be1 Bd8 28.Bc3 g6 29.Kg3 b5 30.cxb5 Bxb5 31.Ne3 Re6 32.f4 32...Ra6 33.Rd2 h5 34.gxh5 gxh5 35.Nf5 Rg6+ 36.Kh2 Bc6 37.Nd6+ Kb8 38.f5 Rg8

The tricky 39.Nxf7?! Bh4! 40 Nh6 Rg3! is an example of what Carlsen hopes for. Caruana played 39.f6! Bb6 40.Nc4 Re8 41.Nd6 Rg8 Or 41...Rf8 42.Nxf7! Rxf7 43.e6 and the roller wins.

42.Nxf7 c4! Checkmate threat Bg1. Now 43. Bd4? c3 would win for black. But 43.h4! Rg4 44.e6 Be3 45.Be5+! Ka8 46.Rd8+ Kb7 47.Bg3 c3 48.Rb8+ Ka6 49.Rc8 Bd5 50.Rxc3 Bd4 51.Rd3! Re4 52.Rd2! Rxe6 53.Ng5 (1-0). White wins at least a piece.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player