Gabala, December 8, AZERTAC
The 9th international super tournament commemorating the late Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Hashimov has kicked off in the city of Gabala.
The event, held at the Heydar Aliyev Congress Center in Gabala, started with screening of a video featuring the most memorable moments of last year's tournament.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Head of the Gabala City Executive Authority Sabuhi Abdullayev described the organization of such a tournament in Gabala as a milestone event.
President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and Vice-President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Mahir Mammadov hailed the "Vugar Gashimov Memorial", saying that it has a special place in the world chess calendar.
The speakers also noted that one the prestigious sports competitions - the FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 has been held in Azerbaijan within the “Year of Heydar Aliyev”.
Then, the draw ceremony for the Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2023 was held. According to the draw, the R1 will first see a match between Shahriyar Mammadyarov vs Romanian Richard Rapport, Israel's Boris Gelfand vs Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Nijat Abbasov vs Dutch Jorden van Foreest, Teymur Rajabov vs Indian Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Aydin Suleymanli vs Rauf Mammadov.
The tournament will run until December 11.