Three chess players advanced at the Nakhchivan chess tournament: Alexey Aleksandrov (Belarus, 2604), Igor Kurnosov (Russia, 2649) and Alexander Khalifman (Russia, 2614).

17 chess players are behind the leaders with 0.5 point. Two Georgian chess players are among them: Mikheil Mchedlishvili (2640) and Giga Kuparadze (2489). Mchedlishvili is in the 13^th place and Kuparadze – in the 18^th place.

Here are the results of other Georgians at the Azerbaijani tournament: 22. Bachana Morchiashvili (2377) – 1.0; 51. Zurab Javakhadze (2448) – 0.5; 52. Levan Pantsulaia (2556) – 0.5.

The Nakhchivan tournament is based on Swiss system and it will finish on May 1. Prize money of the tournament is 60 000 USD. Champion will win 10 000 USD. The prize money will be distributed to 30 chess players.

Dato Manjavidze