Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the last minute. Two of these wins came against the leaders Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri. That catapulted Mamedyarov into a tie for first prize with Caruana, and then he went on to win the tie-break. This was a colossal performance by the Azeri frontrunner and it must have thrilled the home crowds.

Full scores in the main tournament were as follows: Mamedyarov and Caruana 6 (out of 9); Giri 5½; Karjakin 5; Mamedov 4½; Harikrishna, Safarli and Radjabov 4; Eljanov 3½ and Hou Yifan 2½. Mamedyarov then went on to win the four-game play-off against Caruana by one win with three draws.

Here are the conclusions of both games which brought Mamedyarov the overall laurels.

Caruana-Mamedyarov: Vugar Gashimov Memorial, Shamkir 2016 (see diagram 1)

23 … Rc5 Black avoids 23 … Nf3+ 24 Kg2 Nxe1+ 25 Rxe1. True, Mamedyarov would have gained rook for knight but White’s absolute control of the central light squares would have made any kind of progress impossible. As played Black is angling to break with … d5 when his advance pawn on b3 represents an ever-present danger to White. 24 Qd1 Bxf5 25 Nxf5 Nxf5 26 exf5 Rd8 27 Qh5 Kg7 28 Rc3 h6 29 Ree3 This gives Black the opportunity to reinforce the b3-pawn. The sensible course would have been 29 Qg4+ followed by Qh5 renouncing any thought of victory and relying on the shattered formation around the black king to give chances for a draw. 29 … a4 30 Qe2 d5 31 Qf3 Rdc8 32 cxd5 Rxc3 33 Rxc3 Rxc3 34 Qxc3 Qxd5 35 Qb4 h5 36 Qxa4 Qd3 37 g4 Qb1+ 38 Kg2 Qxb2 Now Black has a decisive passed pawn. 39 gxh5 Qc2 40 Qg4+ Kh7 41 h6 Kxh6 42 Qg8 Qxf5 43 Qf8+ Kh5 44 f3 Kxh4 45 Qb4+ Qf4 46 Qxb3 Qd2+ 47 Kf1 Kg3 White has rounded up the b-pawn but the activation of Black’s king is decisive. 48 f4+ Kxf4 49 a4 f5 50 Qb5 Qd1+ 51 Kf2 Qc2+ 52 Kf1 f6 53 Qb4+ e4 54 Qb5 Kg3 55 Qe2 Qxe2+ 56 Kxe2 f4 57 a5 f3+ 58 Kf1 e3 White resigns

Mamedyarov-Giri, Vugar Gashimov Memorial, Shamkir 2016 (see diagram 2)

26 … Nd7 Now Black loses a pawn. He should have kept life complicated with 26 … Ne4. 27 Nxd7 Rxd7 28 Bf1 e5 29 Bc5 d4 30 cxd4 exd4 31 Bxa6 Rxa6 32 Rxa6 Bxa6 33 Rxa6 With the threat of Ra8+. 33 … f5 34 exd4 Bxd4 35 b4 Bxc5 36 bxc5 Rd1+ 37 Kg2 Rc1 38 Rc6 Black’s kingside is too exposed. 38 … Kf7 39 Kf3 g5 40 Ke3 Rc3+ 41 Kd4 Rf3 42 Ke5 Again, king activation is decisive. 42 … Rxf2 43 Rf6+ Ke8 44 Rxf5 Rxh2 45 Kd6 Rd2+ 46 Kc7 Rd7+ 47 Kb6 g4 48 Re5+ Kd8 49 Rg5 Rd3 50 Rg8+ Ke7 51 Rxg4 Rb3+ 52 Kc7 Kf6 53 c6 Black resigns

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