Mamedov takes Silkway Cup
At the end of May, a popular chess platform playchess.com hosted Silkway Cup, an online blitz tournament dedicated to the Republic Day of Azerbaijan (28 of May), and Independence Day of Georgia (26 of May). The 15-round competition held with time control 3+2 brought together the best Azerbaijani and Georgian chess players including 25 grandmasters. With SOCAR as a sponsor, the event had a whopping 20,000 Euro prize fund. The tournament rating favorites occupied all the top positions in the final standings but not according to the starting ranking. The fifth rated Rauf Mamedov (AZE) scored 11.5 out of 15 and came clear first, defeating the rating favorite Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (the champion said that this victory had given him a real confidence boost), Ivan Cheparinov, Luka Paichadze, and others on the way. Baadur Jobava was in the contest for the title all the way, but after making a draw in his last round game with Aydin Suleymanli he finished second with 11 points. The leader after the first day Nijat Abasov is third with 10.5. Final standings: 1 Rauf Mamedov AZE 2654 11.5 2 Jobava Baadur GEO 2603 11.0 3 Nijat Abasov AZE 2664 10.5 4 Vugar Rasulov AZE 2478 10.0 5 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2764 10.0 6 Giga Quparadze GEO 2463 10.0 7 Aydin Suleymanli AZE 2512 9.5 8 Levan Pantsulaia GEO 2553 9.5 9 Nidjat Mamedov AZE 2609 9.5 10 Vasif Durarbayli AZE 2606 9.0 11 Tornike Sanikidze GEO 2458 9.0 Official website: http://www.world2020.ge/