The Sheki Open International Chess Festival has officially kicked off in the city of Sheki.
The tournament features 260 participants from 9 countries, making it one of the region's prominent chess events, Idman.biz reports.
In the first round of the A Tournament, 15 players secured victories. Among them is Khagan Ahmad, who recently made headlines by defeating the world’s second-ranked grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, at the Blitz World Championship.
Top seed and rating favorite, Ukrainian grandmaster Vitaliy Bernadski, also began the tournament with a win.
Sheki Open is part of the Chess Tour Azerbaijan series, organized by the Azerbaijan Chess Federation.
The tournament is being held in a 9-round Swiss system format and will conclude on June 25.
Idman.biz
