Death Doctors diagnosed Gashimov with
epilepsy when he fell ill in February 2000, and shortly afterwards, discovered a
brain tumor. While receiving treatment for the brain tumor in a hospital in
Heidelberg, Germany, Gashimov died in the early hours of 11 January 2014. He had been inactive from chess since playing in the
Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January 2012. He was buried at the
Alley of Honor in Baku.
Reaction Chess grandmasters and sports professionals around the world reacted to Gashimov's death. Teimour Radjabov, one of Gashimov's closest teammates, said that he could not find "words to explain the deepest sorrow".
Nigel Short described Gashimov as "a brilliant player and great guy." Former world champion
Garry Kasparov said he was "deeply saddened", and found it "remarkable considering the medical obstacles he faced" that he made it to the top ten in the FIDE rating list.
Magnus Carlsen described Gashimov as "one of the most talented and original players I've met. He was always friendly with everyone and always smiling. I have many good memories with him from tournaments, especially in the Amber tournaments." Tributes also came from famous chess players such as
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov,
Hikaru Nakamura,
Levon Aronian,
Alexandra Kosteniuk,
Judit Polgár,
Sergey Karjakin and many others. One minute of silence was held at the 76th Tata Steel Chess Tournament and during all tournaments held in
Baku in January 2014.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, "Vugar Gashimov's services to the Azerbaijani sports are unmatched. Vugar Gashimov made an incomparable contribution to development of Azerbaijan's chess school, and glorified the country with his brilliant victories." ==Legacy==