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Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
The Aeroflot Open 2017 is an extremely strong tournament. Last year when I was present at the venue I could literally sense the difficulty of scoring even a single victory in the A category. Suffice it to say that when someone scores two consecutive victories in such a field, it is a big achievement. As mentioned in our previous report, after three rounds there were absolutely no players with a 100% score. Six players were on 2.5/3. Five rounds have ended now and one player who has clearly leapfrogged others and moved into sole lead is last year's winner Evgeniy Najer.
There is something about the Aeroflot Open that brings out the best in Evgeniy Najer. In the fourth round he defeated Matthias Bluebaum and in the fifth he got the better of Baadur Jobava
Bluebaum vs Najer, Round 4
Black is already better, but Najer finished off the game in a hurry. Can you find the killer blow for Black?
The talented German youngster Matthias Bluebaum was beaten soundly by the experienced Najer
The next challenge for Najer awaited in the form of Baadur Jobava
Baadur played the Philidor defense with the black pieces and equalized with ease. In fact at a certain moment I would have even preferred Black's position. However, Baadur took too many risks and badly mangled up his pieces near Black's king. What looked like a superb attack, turned into a failed mission. Najer counter-attacked well and finished off the game swiftly.
Vladimir Fedoseev is on 4.0/5. It is true that the Russian youngster has not faced any 2600+ players, but he has shown solid chess and had beaten strong opponents like Huzman, Kraemer and Narayanan. He now faces Najer in the sixth round. Check out this report of 2016 where Fedoseev tried the original 1.e4 c6 2.Be2!? against Najer.
The future Olympiad team of Russia! Seen in the picture are Fedoseev, Antipov, Dubov and Matlakov
Ernesto Inarkiev is a strong contender for the top spot. After five rounds he is on 4.0/5. Have a look at this game where he blows away his opponent in a queenless middlegame.
Denis Khismatullin is a dangerous opponent. He proved it by beating the top seed Yu Yangyi in a completely crazy closed Sicilian encounter.
Yu Yangyi vs Khismatullin, Round four
Although Khismatullin won this position by playing ...Bxh1, he had a much stronger move at his disposal. Can you find it?
Daniil Dubov is on 3.5/5. He is playing some highly exciting games. Have a look at the final position against Alexander Predke:
Dubov vs Predke. Who needs pieces when you have pawns!
"That's not what I taught him!" Elder brother Andrey looks at the game of Sergey with great concern. The Zhigalko brothers are the strongest chess siblings in the world. (Photo: Vasily Papin)
He writes reports for ChessBase, commentates for CCSCL, and poses for photographs between the games, but Alejandro Ramirez has clearly not lost his elite touch. He was able to beat the in-form Adhiban Baskaran in the fourth round.
Last year Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja was clearly struggling at the Aeroflot A 2016. This year he has clearly done his homework and has already beaten three grandmasters. They were Alexander Donchenko, Falko Bindrich and Maxim Vavulin. (Vasily Papin)
World's youngest IM R. Praggnanandhaa is not having the best of tournaments. He drew against three grandmasters and lost to two. Today he faces a talented young Armenian by the name Haik Martirosyan.
On 2.0/5 is FM Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan
Years of experience: Chief Arbiter Andrzej Fillipowicz
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Will Evgeny Najer walk away this year with the winner's trophy? Time will tell. Four more exciting rounds to go. (Photo: Vasily Papin)
These reports would not have been possible without the photographs of Eteri Kublashvili and...
...Vasily Papin (right). Checkout more of Papin's pictures on his personal blog
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
| 1 | GM | Najer Evgeniy | 2659 | 4,5 | 2 |
| 2 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2658 | 4,0 | 3 |
| 3 | GM | Inarkiev Ernesto | 2723 | 4,0 | 2 |
| 4 | GM | Smirin Ilia | 2670 | 3,5 | 3 |
| 5 | GM | Vitiugov Nikita | 2724 | 3,5 | 3 |
| 6 | GM | Lysyj Igor | 2643 | 3,5 | 3 |
| 7 | GM | Kamsky Gata | 2669 | 3,5 | 3 |
| 8 | GM | Dubov Daniil | 2661 | 3,5 | 3 |
| 9 | GM | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | 2524 | 3,5 | 2 |
| 10 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2701 | 3,5 | 2 |
| Bo. | No. | Name | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | No. |
| 1 | 18 | Fedoseev Vladimir | 4 | 4½ | Najer Evgeniy | 17 | |
| 2 | 2 | Vitiugov Nikita | 3½ | 4 | Inarkiev Ernesto | 3 | |
| 3 | 21 | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | 3½ | 3½ | Matlakov Maxim | 5 | |
| 4 | 28 | Lysyj Igor | 3½ | 3½ | Mamedov Rauf | 7 | |
| 5 | 13 | Smirin Ilia | 3½ | 3½ | Gupta Abhijeet | 25 | |
| 6 | 14 | Kamsky Gata | 3½ | 3½ | Khismatullin Denis | 29 | |
| 7 | 16 | Dubov Daniil | 3½ | 3½ | Kovalev Vladislav | 41 | |
| 8 | 1 | Yu Yangyi | 3 | 3½ | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | 77 | |
| 9 | 4 | Jobava Baadur | 3 | 3 | Kobalia Mikhail | 33 | |
| 10 | 6 | Korobov Anton | 3 | 3 | Oparin Grigoriy | 35 |
