Gabala hosted the “Vugar Gashimov Memorial-2023” supertournament opening ceremony
National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played to kick off the “Vugar Gashimov Memorial-2023” chess supertournament, which is being held at the Gabala Heydar Aliyev Congress Center for the ninth time, on December 8, 2023. The head of the Gabala Region Executive Power, Sabuhi Abdullayev, spoke at the inauguration ceremony and said that President Ilham Aliyev has successfully carried on the youth policy and support for sports established by the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and wished everyone success and expressed his gratitude to the president of the country and associated institutions for organizing today’s competition in Gabala. The “Vugar Gashimov Memorial” holds a special place in the global chess calendar, according to Mahir Mammadov, president of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and vice-president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He also stated that the success of Azerbaijani chess is linked to the name of V. Gashimov and mentioned that prestigious sports competitions were held in the country within the framework of “Heydar Aliyev Year”. Gasim Gashimov, the father of Vugar Gashimov and leader of the tournament's organizing committee, gave a speech during which he thanked the chess players who had accepted the invitation to compete. In the first round, after the chief judge of the super tournament introduced international grandmaster Ilaha Gadimova to the rules of the competition, there was a draw. After the draw, the first move in the game was made by the head of the Gabala Regional Football Association, Sabuhi Abdullayev, and marked the beginning of the competition. In the first round, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov faced Richard Rapport from Romania, Boris Gelfand from Israel faced Arjun Erigaysi from India, Nijat Abbasov faced Jorden Van Foreest from the Netherlands, Teymur Radjabov met Visit Santos Gujrat from India, and Aydin Suleymanli faced Rauf Mammadov.
