Azerbaijani grandmaster Rauf Mammadov has shared his thoughts on his recent performance at the Grenke Chess international tournament held in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Idman.biz reports that, speaking to Report, the 36-year-old said he was in contention for a top-three finish until the final round:
"My last game was very intense. Had I won, I could have secured second place, but it ended in a draw. I finished with 6.5 points, sharing 9th–14th place. Considering the level of the event, it’s a decent result," he stated.
Mammadov highlighted the strength of the competition, which featured top players including Magnus Carlsen:
"Unfortunately, I lost to Magnus in the eighth round. He won all his games in the tournament. It was an exciting but very tough event—nine classical games in five days."
He also mentioned earning his first points in the Freestyle Grand Prix ranking:
"Though it’s not much, I’ve started to collect points."
Other Azerbaijani participants, Shakhriyar Mammadov and Faig Alasgarov, had less successful showings at the event.
Idman.biz
