LOST POSITIONS

Tata Steell Masters 2019 chess super-tournament, traditionally called the Wijk aan Zee Tournament in honour of the town with the same name, finished in the Netherlands on January 27. Being one of the oldest and most prestigious chess competitions of the world, Wijk aan Zee Tournament has been held since 1937 and is the opening tournament of year. This year, it brought together 14 strongest chess players in the world.

The incumbent world champion Magnus Carlsen won the super tournament once again.

Grandmasters Shahriyar Mammadyarov and Teymur Rajabov represented Azerbaijan in Wijk aan Zee. Unfortunately, they could not achieve encouraging results this time. Teymur Rajabov became the seventh with 6.5 points and Shahriyar Mammadyarov the 12^th with 5 points.

Rajabov won one game and lost another one, ending the remaining 11 games in a draw. He failed to use his advantage gained in three games. At the same time, Rajabov demonstrated confident moves throughout the tournament. In general, Teymur's performance corresponded to his rating. We hope that the Azerbaijani grandmaster who is one of the strongest chess players in the world will be able to regain his previous shape. Meanwhile, Teymur is going to face a series of other qualification rounds this year, including the candidates' tournament, the European Team Championship and a number of other prestigious competitions.

Shahriyar Mammadyarov's fans used to see successful performances of their idol in recent years were waiting for at least successful games. Unfortunately, Shahriyar could not accomplish this task at the first international tournament of the year. After losing three games, Mammadyarov could not demonstrate his usual dynamic game in the last rounds. As a result, losing 27.3 points, he stepped down from the third place in the rating to the fourth.

Experts believe that the unsuccessful performances of Rajabov and Mammadyarov in the tournament are not alarming yet, albeit raising questions. Both players have enough time and opportunities to rectify the situation this year, according to the Honoured Trainer of Azerbaijan Anar Allahverdiyev. “Certainly, the Wijk aan Zee Super Tournament has a great history and authority, which is why all the strongest chess players in the world want to get there. The organisers treat the list of participants extremely carefully and only the strongest receive an invitation to participate in it. This year Azerbaijan was represented by Shahriyar and Teymur, who in different years were the winners of this tournament or returned with positive results. As the third strongest player in the FIDE rating, Shahriyar Mammadyarov has been considered one of the favourites of the tournament. However, he demonstrated a performance below his potential. It looked like he was out of shape. Therefore, he lost an equal position in the game with [Magnus] Carlsen. Following this, Shahriyar experienced the bitterness of defeat at the game with [Viswanathan] Anand and in the last rounds, he had no ambitions left.

As for Rajabov, in general, he played well. However, he could not take advantage of the chances that he had in previous three games. The main reason is the lack of practice. At the same time, he demonstrated a dynamic struggle. At the meeting with Vladimir Kramnik at the beginning of the tournament, he had an advantage that he could work on. Teymur lost only one game, and he tied in a draw with Vladimir Fedoseyev. He did not deserve defeat and could score more points,” Mr. Allahverdiyev believes.

In his opinion, keeping the leading position in chess is not easy. However, Azerbaijani athletes in 2019 will still have chances to prove themselves.

FIDE has already announced the Grand Prix of the new season. Both Shahriyar and Teymur are one of the main candidates for participation in the candidates tournament. They have previously claimed the crown. It is sometimes impossible to be in good shape at the beginning of the year, but it is possible to restore it. This means significant practice.