Sharjah: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan beat British grand master Michael Adams to tie top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France for the lead with three points each after four rounds of the €130,000 (Dh504,358) FIDE Sharjah Grand Prix at the Sharjah Chess Club on Tuesday.
Mamedyarov, the only two-time World Junior Champion and gold-medalist at the 2012 Chess Olympiad and European Team Championships in 2009 and 2013, is fourth seed in the 18-man tournament.
The Azerbaijani used the Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation to crush Adams in 43 moves. Mamedyarov gained control of the centre and forced Adams to give up a Knight on the 23rd move. Adams resigned on the 43rd move as Mamedyarov was poised to win the Queen.
Erstwhile solo leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France drew with third seed Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in only 18 moves of a Sicilian Moscow variation after an exchange of Queens. Nakamura, four-time US champion, is alone in third slot with 2.5 points.
Twelve players follow with two points each namely; Adams, Ding Liren, Li Chao and Hou Yivan of China, Alexander Riazantsev, Dmitry Jakovenko, Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway, Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spoain, Levon Aronian of Armenia and Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine.
Richard Rapport of Hungary follows with 1.5 points after a draw with local hero Salem A.R. Saleh in 26 moves of a minor piece endgame. Salem has one point together with Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia.
The Grand Prix has 24 players, each of whom will play in three of the four tournaments. The two players with the most points at the end qualify for the Candidates tournament next year to select a challenger for the World Championship. The next leg will be in Moscow, May 11-22, then in Geneva from July 5-16 and finally in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, November 15-26. Each Grand Prix has 18 players and a prize fund of €130,000.
The tournament is a nine-round Swiss System. Games start 3pm daily.
