ONE MOVE AWAY FROM VICTORY

Undoubtedly, the attention of the entire sports community of Azerbaijan was focused on Berlin in March. We closely watched the performance of our chess player Shahriyar Mammadyarov at the Candidates Tournament. Although the leader of the Azerbaijani national team, three-time European champion was very close to victory in Berlin, he had to stop just one move away from the championship.

We did expect that Mammadyarov, the second in FIDE rating (2809), will demonstrate high performance at the Berlin tournament. With brilliant victories in 2017, Shahriyar proved that he was ready for this prestigious competition. Last year, along with the gold medal won for the national team of Azerbaijan at the European Championship, he also raised the European Champions Cup, was the first at the Vugar Hashimov Memorial and the FIDE Grand Prix. After raising his rating to 2800 points, the graduate of the Sumgait Chess School became the second best player in the world ranking. His good performance at the super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee made Shahriyar a top favourite of the Candidates Tournament. And his games played in Berlin showed that he was ready to conquer the summit of the chess Olympus.

The Candidates Tournament consists of 14 rounds. The winner becomes qualified for playing with the existing world champion Magnus Carlsen. In the first round of the tournament, Shahriyar defeated the representatives of Russia, Sergei Karyakin and the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. After that, he was considered a real candidate for victory in the tournament. However, Mammadyarov failed to realise his plans in the second round by losing to Chinese player Ding Liren, who has ended his previous games in a tie. Shahriyar risked for the sake of victory but lost. Although he defeated Alexander Grishchuk later, Caruana playing in parallel with the Armenian chess player Levon Aronian was stronger. Aronian performed very poorly in Berlin and also lost twice to Shahriyar's main rival, Fabiano Caruana...

In the last round, Mammadyarov drew with Vladimir Kramnik on the 54^th move. The only hope was for the defeat of the leading player of the tournament, Caruana, to Vladimir Kramnik. However, the American grandmaster of Italian origin won that game and became the winner of the tournament with 9 points. Although both Mammadyarov and Karyakin scored 8 points, thanks to the advantage of Karyakin in personal meetings Shahriyar took the second place. Ding Liren was the 4^th (7.5), Kramnik - the 5^th (6.5), Grishchuk - the 6^th (6), So - the 7^th (6). Aronian, who scored 4.5 points, became the first from the bottom. Thus, on November 9-28 Fabiano Caruana will compete with Magnus Carlsen in London for the chess crown.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov’s performance at the Candidates Tournament set a new record in the history of Azerbaijani chess. At the last Candidates Tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2014, Shahriyar was the 4^th with 4 points. Now our chess player has 8 points and the second place. This is a new record for the country not only in terms of the number of points collected, but also positionally.

Shahriyar's performance in Berlin sets a qualitatively new stage in his career. The Azerbaijani grandmaster, who had previously preferred a risky game style, now demonstrates a wiser tactic. Today, Shahriyar is considered an extremely strong opponent for all chess players. By increasing his rating by another 5 points, Mammadyarov also strengthened his position in the world ranking.

In his interview with R+, he thanked everyone who supported him, and shared his own assessment of the results of the Berlin tournament: "Unfortunately, I could not materialise the expectations, although I went to Berlin to win. The first round went well, but then there were some losses. The game with Liren did not go as I expected. True, it seems to me that I correctly distributed the forces. But it just did not work. As a result, I lost to Liren and fell behind the leader. In the last round, in the game with Kramnik, we had equal position and finished the game in a tie. But I remain quite optimistic. I could not become a winner in Berlin, but I will fight further."

Vice-president of the Azerbaijani Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov positively assessed Shahriyar Mammadyarov's performance in Berlin. In his interview with R+, he said that the determination and will that Mammadyarov demonstrated in Berlin should be welcomed. "Shahriyar’s achievement is the first one in the history of Azerbaijani chess for the years of independence. Our grandmaster stopped just one move away from the meeting for the chess crown. Shahriyar finished the tournament in second place but he had a chance to be the first. He showed a strong character. He was ready for the tournament and trained well. We were just a little unlucky. Nevertheless, Shahriyar must continue his struggle. We believe in him," said M. Mammadov.

Today Shahriyar is determined and close to bringing the chess crown back to Azerbaijan. On April 18, he will fight at the traditional Vugar Hashimov Memorial, a super-tournament, which will be held in Shamkir. World champion Magnus Carlsen will also take part in the competition. It will be extremely interesting to observe the duel of these two outstanding chess players. Shamkir will also be a gathering place for the representatives of Azerbaijan Teymur Rajabov and Rauf Aliyev, the Russians Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karyakin, the Chinese Ding Liren, the contender for the title of the European champion, David Navara from Czechia, the former world champion Veselin Topalov from Bulgaria, and Anish Giri from Holland.