Azerbaijani GM wins Gideon Japhet Memorial

zerbaijani grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch has become the winner of the Gideon Japhet Memorial ACP Open Chess Tournament in Jerusalem, Israel.

Naiditsch gained 6.5 points, while his closest rivals Daniil Yuffa, Tamir Nabaty, Michail Antipov, Tal Baron, and Alexander Huzman earned 1,5 points less than the winner, Azertac reported.

The 7-round tournament brought together 50 chess players, including 12 grandmasters.

Originally from Latvia, Arkadij Naiditsch settled in Germany, where he has become its top player and also its youngest-ever grandmaster in April 2001. In May 2015, Naiditsch signed to play for Azerbaijan.

The first outstanding international success was achieved by Arkadij, at the age of 19, in the summer of 2005 at the Dortmund Chess Meeting - the strongest German round-robin tournament. Despite being the lowest Elo-rated participant he challenged world class players including Kramnik, Topalov, Adams, Svidler and Leko and won the tournament.

In 2013, Arkadij won the B Group at Tata Steel, the prestigious Dutch tournament in Wijk aan Zee thereby qualifying for the A Group the following year. His previous best Elo rating of 2737 points in December 2013 earned Number 18 in the world ranking list.

Arkadij won the 9th Championship title in series with 30:0 points in April 2014 with his team. The winning of the European Champion Title as the top board and leader of the German National team in the 2011 Greek Porto Carras, was sensational.