In Madrid, the penultimate 13th tournament of applicants for a chess crown is held in Madrid. Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimur Rajabov plays with white figures with American Fabiano Caruana.
After 12 rounds, Rajabov has 6 points, and he shares the 4-5th place with Karuana. In the 11th round, Teimur beat Chinese Dean Liejan. On the account of the Azerbaijan Grossmaster there are two victories and two defeats at eight draws. One of the two defeats our chess player suffered just from Caruana. They met in the 7th round.
Today, Teimur is trying to take revenge and continue the struggle for 2nd place, which under certain circumstances can allow participating in the championship match. The fact is that the current world champion Magnus Karlsen said that he could refuse to protect the title.
The current tournament of applicants will almost certainly win the Russian Yang Nepomnya, who suffered a devastating defeat from the Norwegian in the last match for the crown. Carlsen can abandon the game with the Russian chess player, not only because of the lack of interest, but also for political reasons. However, according to the same Teimur Rajabov and a number of other chess players, Karlsen, despite all these conversations, will be released for the match.
In any case, 2nd place in such a tournament will be a huge achievement for Teimur, especially considering that many saw him before the competition among outsiders.
Today they also play: Yan Nepomnya (Russia) – Richard Rapport (Hungary), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) – Yan -Krzyshtof Duda (Poland), Alizer Firuj (France) – Dean Liezhen (China).
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Tournament position after the 12th round:
1. Nonal – 8.5 points; 2-3. Nakamura, Dean – 6.5 points each; 4-5. Radzhabov, Karuana – 6 points each; 6-7. Rapport, Duda – 5 points each; 8. Firuja – 4.5 points.
The competition takes place in two circles. Time control – 2 hours for the first 40 moves, 1 hour for the next 20 moves, 15 minutes for the rest of the party with the addition of 30 seconds starting from the 61st move.