Kramnik scores a win, Mamedyarov wins Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2nd year in a row
With the development of modern computers, it has become customary to state that chess is game for young people.
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik seems to be an exception to that rule. Because with his win in Vugar Gashimov memorial 2017 round 9, he is ranked number three in the world, trailing Wesley So on the second place by mere 3 rating points.
His display of youth-like energy in Shamkir resulted with five decisive games in nine rounds. Although his tournament had it’s ups and downs, his final game against the poor Pavel Eljanov brought him the shared second place and +1 score at the end of the tournament.
On the other hand, Pavel Eljanov will try to forget this tournament as soon as possible. After getting swindled by Mamedyarov in round 3 and by Topalov in round 6, in round 9 he once again flinched at the critical moment, and turned markedly better position into a losing one.
The rest of the games in round 9 saw little excitement. Mamedyarov took no risk with White and drew his game quickly. So and Karjakin, who were half a point behind, did the same with the Black pieces which meant that Mamedyarov would repeat his last year’s success and win the Vugar Gashimov Memorial for the second year in a row.
