Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan has won the Superbet Chess Classic
Romania 2021, the most powerful Grand Chess tour ever hosted by Romania. Eight of
the top 12 players in the world and the two best-ranked Romanian chess players
took part in the tournament. Therefore, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So of the United
States, ranked 2nd and 9th respectively, Levon Aronia of
Armenia, no. 5 in the world, Anish Giri
of the Netherlands, no. 6 in the world and Russia’s Alexandr Grischuk enrolled
in the competition in Bucharest. Representing Romania were Constantin Lupulescu,
the only Romanian player ranked in the top 100, currently in 86th
place, and Bogdan Deac, number 147th and ranked 4th in
the world junior standings.
Aged 36, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is two-time world champion and has an impressive
track record. He played in two editions of the world championship, and in Bucharest
he ended the tournament undefeated, with 6 points in 9 matches. At the awards
ceremony, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Ludovic Orban handed him the Superbet Chess
Classic trophy. Designed by Aurelian Aldescu, the trophy is a blend of
Constantin Brancusi’s The Infinity Column and the chess king. Here is what
the winner of the tournament, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, told us after scooping the
trophy.
It is very nice to be here as a player and, of course, as a winner. It
was a very good tournament. I want to say thank you to all players for a nice
tournament. Everything was very good. Thank you very much! Love you, Bucharest,
and I’ll be back again.
The Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2021 was the first in the Grand Chess
Tour series of 5 tournaments, held under the patronage of former world champion
Garry Kasparov. (VP)