Moscow Open: Untitled Belous tops them all

Every year, those seeking maximum chess bliss and suffering head over to Moscow to partake in the Moscow Open followed by the Aeroflot Open that starts right after. Both events are huge opens with plenty of events to attract players of all strengths, and if you want a chance at a title norm, you can't go wrong. The Moscow Open was a multi-tiered event with some odd names, but what mattered was the content not the cover. There were a couple of round-robin GM events for both men and women, the main open, and even an 'open' reserved entirely for female players. The organizers had a very nice site with pictures and reports, not to mention translated into English, and are to be commended. This is mentioned as there are sometimes very strong events in Russia that barely have a webpage, much less actual coverage.

The main open is the principal attraction, with 528 players participating, and no fewer than 100 titled players. Last year, the Moscow and Aeroflot had revealed Vietnamese prodigy Liem Le Quang to the world, and this year the Moscow Open E (the name they gave the main event) was won very unexpectedly by the untitled 17-year-old Vladimir Belous, rated 2497, who finished with a remarkable 8.0/9 and a 2735 performance.

Final standings for Moscow Open E (main open)

His success was punctuated by a final 3.0/3 sprint in the end, defeating three grandmasters in the process. Here is his last round win, which clinched him sole first under what had to be the greatest pressure.

Kabanov,Nikolai (2482) - Belous,Vladimir (2497) [B31]
Moscow Open E Moscow RUS (9), 06.02.2011

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 Nh6 7.Nc3 f6 8.Be3 b6 9.Qd2 Nf7 10.0-0-0 e5 11.Ng1 Be6 12.Kb1 Qe7 13.f4 0-0-0 14.Nf3 exf4 15.Bxf4 Rhe8 16.Rhe1 Kb7. 16...Qb7 17.Bh2 Qa6 18.Qf4 Ne5 19.Nxe5 fxe5 20.Qh4 b5 21.Qxh7 b4 22.Na4 Bxa2+ 23.Kxa2 Qxa4+ 24.Kb1 b3 25.cxb3 Qxb3 26.Qxg6 1-0 (40) Zherebukh,Y (2567)-Belous,V (2471)/Kirishi 2010/CBM 136 Extra (40) 17.Qf2 Qd7 18.g4 Qc8 19.Ne2 Ka8 20.Bc1 Nd6 21.b3 Bg8 22.Bb2 Rd7 23.Ng3 Kb7 24.Rd2 Qd8 25.a4 Bh6 26.Rde2

26...c4! Well seen after which Black takes the upperhand. 27.g5. The pawn cannot be taken since doing so runs into 27.dxc4 Nxc4! 28.bxc4 Rd1+ 29.Bc1 (White actually gets mated if he takes with 29.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 30.Ka2 Bxc4+ 31.Ka3 Bf8+) 29...Bxc1 30.Rxd1 Qxd1 31.Re1 Be3+ 32.Rxd1 Bxf2 and the shattered pawn structure combined with the bishop pair should make for easy pickings. 27...cxd3?! Belous misses a step and the edge swings back to White. The tension for this last round game had to be enormous! 27...fxg5! 28.dxc4 Rf8 29.e5 Nxc4 30.bxc4 g4! and he would have the same tactical motif as in the line above with 31.hxg4 Rd1+ etc. 28.Bxf6 Qc7 29.cxd3 Bf8 30.Ne5 Bxb3 31.Nxd7 Qxd7 32.Rb2?! [32.Re3!] 32...Bxa4 33.Ne2

33...Nb5! White's homeless king just has to be fatal. 34.Qf3 Ba3 35.Ra2 Qd6 36.Ka1 Bb3 37.Rb1 Bxa2 38.Kxa2 Qc5 39.Ka1 Qc2 40.Bb2 Rf8 41.Bf6 Qa4 42.Rf1 Bc1+ 0-1. [Click to replay]

The men's Young GM invitational was won by Boris Grachev.

Boris Grachev was actually trailing going into the last round, but a gritty win and
misteps by his rivals gave him the victory.

Moscow Open A (i.e. men's Young GM round-robin)

Aleksandr Rakhmanov

And the women's Young GM invitational was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who had to come from behind to clinch it on tiebreak at the very end.

Moscow Open B (i.e. women's Young GM round-robin)

Pictures by Yana Melnikova and official site

Links Official tournament site Moscow Open A games in PGN Moscow Open B games in PGN Moscow Open E games in PGN To read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light. This program also gives you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.