Azerbaijani chess grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated the French No 1 grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to win the vital FIDE Grand Prix in Riga, Latvia, last week.
The arduous contest went all the way to Armageddon, in which a winner must be declared when the game ends. The 2019 Riga Grand Prix was a qualifying event for the 2019-2020 World Championship cycle. Both Armageddon contenders required a victory to enhance their chances of qualifying for a ticket to the Candidates super-tournament.
Only the very top grandmasters gain entry to the Candidates Tournament, which is strictly by invitation. Whoever wins the Candidates faces the world chess champion in a battle for supremacy. Italian American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana won the last Candidates.
