GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov still leads the preliminaries of the Aimchess Rapid tournament after eight rounds of play, but it was again GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who got the fans on the edge of their seats as he played a brilliant move in his game with GM Richard Rapport. Together with GM Magnus Carlsen, the Azerbaijani GM is trailing Abdusattorov by half a point.

After his encounter with GM Anish Giri became a candidate for Game of the Year, Mamedyarov’s final move against Rapport will be among the contestants of Move of the Year. While the black queen was under attack, the rook sacrifice was the prelude to a forced checkmate:

Another very exciting game was GM Arjun Erigaisi’s win vs. Carlsen. It was also a revenge for Erigaisi’s loss to the same opponent in the Julius Baer Generation Cup final last month.

 “That felt really good, I was really happy with the game,” Erigaisi said after the game.

Especially 27.Qf7+ was a tough but great decision, as the queen would be combining attack and defense from g6:

Abdusattorov started the second day with a loss against GM Vidit Gujrathi but kept his slim lead in the standings as he bounced back with two straight wins and a draw. One of his wins was against the star of the Chennai Olympiad, who was actually winning for most of the game.

Like Mamedyarov, Carlsen is only a point behind the leader. In the final round, the world champion managed to win a very drawish rook endgame vs. Vidit:

Aimchess Rapid | Round 8 Standings

All games rounds 5-8

The Aimchess Rapid, the seventh event in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, takes place October 14-20, 2022 on chess24. The preliminaries consist of a round-robin among 16 players, from which the top eight advance to the knockout stage. There, they play a match of four rapid games (15+10) in each round and if necessary, a blitz + armageddon tiebreak. The prize fund is $150,000.

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