From Bukhara to Tashkent

The capital of Uzbekistan has launched the traditional Georgy Agzamov Memorial. Ekaterina Smirnova reviews the starting lists

Georgy Agzamov was the first grandmaster of Uzbekistan and Central Asia. The tournament in memory of this talented chess player, who unfortunately passed away at a young age, is now being held for the nineteenth time. The tournament is hospitably hosted by the International Chess Academy.

In the Asian chess calendar, this competition has long been one of the most anticipated events. Leading grandmasters from all over the world gather here to compete for the prize fund. Last year’s champion was Nihal Sarin, who currently holds the 24th spot in the world rating list. In previous years, the winner’s trophy has been claimed by Aleksandar Indjic, Shant Sargsyan, Farrukh Amonatov, Abhijeet Gupta and notably, our very own Volodar Murzin and Vladislav Artemiev.

While superstars like Nihal are not on the list this time, the lineup remains highly prestigious. The starting list is headed by five players rated 2600+: Haik Martirosyan, Abhimanyu Puranic, Pouya Idani, Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan and Anand Pranav. Following them is Sanan Sjugirov, who regularly represents our regional team as a guest player.

But Sanan won’t be the only one we’re rooting for! A whole contingent of young players from the Moscow region has arrived in Tashkent: IM Lev Zverev and FM Maxim Chertkov, who recently caused a sensation at the Aeroflot Open; SergeyKarjakin’s scholarship recipients FM Svyatoslav Lisenkov and FM Alexander Fedosov, FM Boris Plotnikov. We will also be following the performances of our other compatriots in the main tournament: GM Artem Uskov, GM Nikita Afanasiev, IM Dmitry Rostovtsev, IM Roman Shogdzhiev, IM Zaur Tekeyev, and, of course, the women: WGM Yana Zhapova (Yana is playing her fourth tournament in a row without a break: the Russian Chess Crown, Aeroflot, the women’s tournament in Bukhara, and now Tashkent!), WIM Margarita Potapova, WFM Maria Pershina and WIM Tatyana Getman.

As for me, being the third seed in Tournament “B” (under 2200), my goal is to win the impressive $3,000 first prize. Let’s see what comes of it.