2 superstars to miss Chess Olympiad for health reasons

Morozevich and Gashimov to miss 2012 Chess Olympiad due to health reasons

Two of the favorites for medals at the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul – Russia and Azerbaijan – need to make last minute changes in their teams. Both Morozevich (Russia) and Gashimov (Azerbaijan) are going to miss the Olympiad in Istanbul due to health reasons.

Note: Both Gashimov and Morozevich are in the FIDE Grand Prix participants list, however their first event will be the 2nd stage of the competition in Tashkent November 21 – December 5, 2012.

Chess Olympiad 2012 news / Participants men / Participants women

Russia lose Morozevich for the Olympiad

The problems for Morozevich began in the early rounds of Biel 2012. He did not feel well and asked the organizers to interrupt his participation. After a medical confirmation, Morozevich was substituted by Bologan for the rest of the rounds.

Now a month later, the health problems for Morozevich continue. He was on the top boards for the Russian team, but will not be able to participate. The substitute is Evgeny Tomashevsky, European champion for 2009 and participant in the Tal Memorial 2012 (replay his game with Carlsen here) . The news was confirmed by the head coach of the Russian team Yury Dokhoian.

Gashimov will not be present at the Olympiad in Istanbul

Due to health reasons, Gashimov will not be present at the Olympiad in Istanbul. The coach of the national team Vladimir Tukmakov commented, “This is very sad, we hope this is the last tournament Gashimov is missing and that soon he will be back in our team and in top chess.”

Gashimov will be substituted by Gadir Guseinov, and his teammates will be Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Safarli, and Mamedov.

See a recent interview with Vugar Gashimov here after winning the silver medal at the ETCC, where he says that Azerbaijan “played their best tournament ever”.