Russian GM Igor Kurnosov finished first at the very strong International Chess Festival Nakhchivan Open 2013, dedicated to the memory of Heydar Aliyev, which took place from 21st April to 1st May at the Nakhchivan Chess Center in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.

Kurnosov tied with two other players on 6.5/9 and was the lucky winner thanks to his better tiebreak score. His compatriot GM Alexander Shimanov obtained second place, while Azerbaijani GM Gadir Guseinov finished third.

The last round of the event saw Kurnosov winning with white against Polish GM Bartolomej Macieja. Shimanov also caught up with the leaders thanks to a last round victory over GM Aleksej Aleksandrov. Gadir Guseinov was the sole leader before last round but only got a draw with black against his compatriot GM Rauf Mamedov.

Top prizes in the Tournament A were: 10,000$ + cup/ 8000$/ 5000$/ 3000$/ 2000$/ 1500$/ 1400$/ 1300$/ 1200$/ 1000$ etc.

Last year winner was GM Viorel Iordachescu from Moldova.

Final Standings (top finishers):

1 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2649 6.5
2 GM Shimanov Aleksandr RUS 2639 6.5
3 GM Guseinov Gadir AZE 2623 6.5


4 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2644 6.0
5 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2640 6.0
6 GM Khalifman Alexander RUS 2614 6.0
7 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2591 6.0
8 GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2599 6.0


9 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2604 5.5
10 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2656 5.5
11 GM Kotsur Pavel KAZ 2552 5.5
12 GM Tiviakov Sergei NED 2650 5.5
13 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2556 5.5
14 GM Papaioannou Ioannis GRE 2627 5.5
15 GM Macieja Bartlomiej POL 2608 5.5
16 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2662 5.5
17 GM Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 2531 5.5


18 GM Abasov Nijat AZE 2479 5.0
19 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2665 5.0
20 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil GEO 2640 5.0
21 GM Miezis Normunds LAT 2556 5.0
22 GM Landa Konstantin RUS 2642 5.0
23 IM Mammadov Zaur AZE 2446 5.0
24 GM Korneev Oleg ESP 2609 5.0
25 GM Mirzoev Azer AZE 2557 5.0
26 GM Rasulov Vugar AZE 2497 5.0
27 IM Babayev Talib AZE 2405 5.0

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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