Winners of Vugar Hashimov Memorial 2024 awarded in Shusha

Azerbaijan was represented by three chess players in the tournament: members of the national team Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Rauf Mammadov, and Aydin Suleymanli.

Other participants include Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan),Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE), Richard Rapport (Hungary), Vladislav Artemiev (FIDE), and Arvind Chidambaram(India).

The tournament winner was determined based on the total results in rapid and blitz formats.

Azerbaijan Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov addressed the closing ceremony. In his speech, the minister stressed that the organization of such international tournaments greatly contributes to the development of chess in Azerbaijan.

The minister also talked about the development of Azerbaijani chess in recent years. He emphasized that the state pays great attention and care to chess as well as to other sports.

The President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Mahir Mammadov, said that the tournament was organized at a high level and the competition was fiercely contested.

He underlined that the strong chess players took part in the memorial, and expressed his gratitude to those with sharp intelligence.

He emphasized that he believes that the city of Shusha will host the memorial tournament for many years.

M. Mammadov thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the support provided for organizing the tournament at a high level.

Despite his short life, Vugar Hashimov made a remarkable contribution to the chess history of Azerbaijan.

He played for Azerbaijan's national team in the Chess Olympiads in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Hashimov won a bronze medal in the European Team Championship in 2007 and became the European Champion with the national team in 2009.

He was the European vice champion of the national team in 2011 and the winner of the Reggio Emilia tournament in 2010–2011.