Najer wins Aeroflot Open, Gelfand is silver

Aeroflot Open 2016

Photos by Amruta Mokal

The 13th edition of the Aeroflot Open 2016 is being held in Moscow, Russia from the 29th of February to 10th of March 2016. The official hotel of the event is Cosmos and the playing venue is also located at the same place. There are three tournaments that are simultaneously taking place: The A Group (2550 and above); the B Group (2300 and above), and the C Group (below 2300).

Final round

While Evgeny Najer’s gold was almost guaranteed should he at least draw, and having white certainly helped his cause as he neutralized any ambitions his opponent Gata Kamsky might have. The American GM, and five-time US champion had no reason to complain as he wrapped up a successful campaign in a massive tie for 3rd-10th finishing 6th on tiebreak, undefeated.

Boris Gelfand’s place on the podium was anything but sure. Entering the final round he was tied with a seven others at 5.5/8, and since most would enjoy a better tiebreak even if he won, which he did, he absolutely needed his rivals to draw if he wanted silver. If even two won their games, he was staring at a probable fourth place (on tiebreak). As fortune would have it, none did, and he was alone tied with Najer with 6.5/9, edged out by the Russian’s higher tiebreak score.

In third, was Polish GM Bartel Mateusz, who drew against Aleksandr Rakhmanov with black.

The winners at Aeroflot Open 2016: Bartel Mateusz (3rd), Boris Gelfand (2nd) and Evgeniy Najer (1st)

Among the final results of note that should not be overlooked was 21-year-old Alexandr Predke, untitled though rated a hefty 2508 FIDE, who drew Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi, thus finishing with 5.5/9, an easy GM norm, and a 2726 performance.

Hailing from Paraguay, possibly the player who travelled the furthest to participate in the event, was GM Axel Bachmann, whom readers may recall played a superb game against Korobov in round five, and who also finished on 5.5/9 with an excellent 2702 performance.

The best female was 18-year-old WGM Lei Tingjie from China, rated 2495, who scored 4.0/9 with a 2565 performance. She faced nine grandmasters in nine games, the lowest rated being 2572, and though she lost three, she also added two scalps to her collection.

Finally, 13-year-old FM Andrey Esipenko, concluded the event with a grandmaster norm, beating GM Kulaots in the last round. The young talent from Russia ended on 50%, with three wins and three losses, only splitting the point on three occasions.

Stay tuned for the full report by IM Sagar Shah, playing in the B event, with comments and analyses, and many photographic portraits by Amruta Mokal.

Results of round nine

Bd	No.	Ti.	Name	Rtg	Pts	Result	Pts	Ti.	Name	Rtg	No.
1	16	GM	Najer Evgeniy	2664	6	½ - ½	5½	GM	Kamsky Gata	2673	11
2	1	GM	Gelfand Boris	2735	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2607	37
3	18	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	2662	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Matlakov Maxim	2682	6
4	26	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	2632	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Dubov Daniil	2634	25
5	20	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	2650	5	½ - ½	5½	GM	Bartel Mateusz	2625	27
6	2	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	2724	5	½ - ½	5		Predke Alexandr	2508	67
7	23	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2637	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	2704	5
8	31	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2615	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2667	13
9	40	GM	Eliseev Urii	2601	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2664	15
10	38	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	2607	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Wei Yi	2714	3
11	42	GM	Bocharov Dmitry	2595	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	2677	7
12	8	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2677	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Bluebaum Matthias	2605	39
13	46	GM	Potkin Vladimir	2585	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Artemiev Vladislav	2674	10
14	12	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2668	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Wen Yang	2609	36
15	52	GM	Goganov Aleksey	2575	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Safarli Eltaj	2663	17
16	68	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram	2506	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Motylev Alexander	2655	19
17	22	GM	Grachev Boris	2639	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Timofeev Artyom	2593	44
18	24	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	2636	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Martirosyan Haik	2425	84
19	35	GM	Bachmann Axel	2609	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Dragun Kamil	2594	43
20	58	GM	Bindrich Falko	2557	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Jobava Baadur	2676	9
21	56	GM	Kovalev Vladislav	2560	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Swiercz Dariusz	2665	14
22	28	GM	Khalifman Alexander	2624	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2573	54
23	29	GM	Khismatullin Denis	2621	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2557	59
24	60	GM	Alekseenko Kirill	2554	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Lu Shanglei	2620	30
25	34	GM	Savchenko Boris	2610	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Socko Bartosz	2587	45
26	72	WGM	Lei Tingjie	2495	4	0 - 1	3½	GM	Korobov Anton	2713	4
27	32	GM	Bok Benjamin	2611	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Yuffa Daniil	2502	71
28	55	GM	Oparin Grigoriy	2572	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Cordova Emilio	2610	33
29	62	GM	Pichot Alan	2542	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Azarov Sergei	2599	41
30	65		Xu Yinglun	2518	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Kunin Vitaly	2584	47
31	48	GM	Demchenko Anton	2583	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Shen Yang	2466	77
32	64	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2523	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Wagner Dennis	2583	49
33	50	GM	Kulaots Kaido	2578	3½	0 - 1	3½	FM	Esipenko Andrey	2445	82
34	85	IM	Karavade Eesha	2395	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2577	51
35	80	IM	Lorparizangeneh Shahin	2449	3½	½ - ½	3	IM	Pourramezanali Amirreza	2506	69
36	21	GM	Anton Guijarro David	2641	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Gasanov Eldar	2503	70
37	76	FM	Igonin Temur	2470	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	2573	53
38	57	GM	Maiorov Nikita	2558	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2554	61
39	73		Firouzja Alireza	2475	2½	1 - 0	3	IM	Wang Yiye	2445	81
40	66	WGM	Goryachkina Aleksandra	2509	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Swayams Mishra	2470	75
41	78	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	2462	2½	½ - ½	2	IM	Korchmar Vasiliy	2450	79
42	83	IM	Sarana Alexey	2433	2	1 - 0	2	CM	Erigaisi Arjun	2379	86
43	74	GM	Debashis Das	2471	1½	1			bye
44	63	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	2541	2½	0			not paired

Final standings

Tiebreak criteria: 1) most blacks 2) avg rating of opponents

Rk	SNo	Ti.	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1	TB2
1	16	GM	Najer Evgeniy	RUS	2664	6.5	4	2647
2	1	GM	Gelfand Boris	ISR	2735	6.5	4	2619
3	27	GM	Bartel Mateusz	POL	2625	6.0	5	2623
4	13	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	RUS	2667	6.0	5	2604
5	25	GM	Dubov Daniil	RUS	2634	6.0	5	2602
6	11	GM	Kamsky Gata	USA	2673	6.0	5	2597
7	15	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	RUS	2664	6.0	5	2587
8	6	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2682	6.0	4	2649
9	26	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	RUS	2632	6.0	4	2624
10	18	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	RUS	2662	6.0	4	2623
11	67		Predke Alexandr	RUS	2508	5.5	5	2642
12	7	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2677	5.5	5	2617
13	5	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	RUS	2704	5.5	5	2614
14	37	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2607	5.5	5	2601
15	19	GM	Motylev Alexander	RUS	2655	5.5	5	2550
16	35	GM	Bachmann Axel	PAR	2609	5.5	4	2631
17	20	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	RUS	2650	5.5	4	2622
18	2	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	2724	5.5	4	2602
19	23	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2637	5.5	4	2598
20	12	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	UKR	2668	5.5	4	2590
21	39	GM	Bluebaum Matthias	GER	2605	5.0	5	2620
22	10	GM	Artemiev Vladislav	RUS	2674	5.0	5	2595
23	17	GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2663	5.0	5	2567
24	9	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2676	5.0	5	2560
25	3	GM	Wei Yi	CHN	2714	5.0	5	2557
26	59	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	NED	2557	5.0	5	2545
27	52	GM	Goganov Aleksey	RUS	2575	5.0	4	2665
28	46	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2585	5.0	4	2647
29	31	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	UAE	2615	5.0	4	2628
30	8	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2677	5.0	4	2610
31	38	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	ARM	2607	5.0	4	2599
32	22	GM	Grachev Boris	RUS	2639	5.0	4	2596
	84	IM	Martirosyan Haik M.	ARM	2425	5.0	4	2596
34	44	GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2593	5.0	4	2591
35	40	GM	Eliseev Urii	RUS	2601	5.0	4	2570
36	24	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2636	5.0	4	2565
37	43	GM	Dragun Kamil	POL	2594	4.5	5	2638
38	30	GM	Lu Shanglei	CHN	2620	4.5	5	2613
39	4	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2713	4.5	5	2596
	82	FM	Esipenko Andrey	RUS	2445	4.5	5	2596
41	14	GM	Swiercz Dariusz	POL	2665	4.5	5	2589
42	51	GM	Sandipan Chanda	IND	2577	4.5	5	2564
43	45	GM	Socko Bartosz	POL	2587	4.5	5	2556
44	41	GM	Azarov Sergei	BLR	2599	4.5	5	2516
45	36	GM	Wen Yang	CHN	2609	4.5	4	2669
46	54	GM	Lalith Babu M R	IND	2573	4.5	4	2637
47	42	GM	Bocharov Dmitry	RUS	2595	4.5	4	2631
48	48	GM	Demchenko Anton	RUS	2583	4.5	4	2617
	60	GM	Alekseenko Kirill	RUS	2554	4.5	4	2617
50	56	GM	Kovalev Vladislav	BLR	2560	4.5	4	2592
51	34	GM	Savchenko Boris	RUS	2610	4.5	4	2589
	64	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	IND	2523	4.5	4	2589
	68	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram	IND	2506	4.5	4	2589
54	32	GM	Bok Benjamin	NED	2611	4.5	4	2564
55	28	GM	Khalifman Alexander	RUS	2624	4.5	4	2546
56	55	GM	Oparin Grigoriy	RUS	2572	4.5	4	2538
57	65		Xu Yinglun	CHN	2518	4.0	5	2610
58	47	GM	Kunin Vitaly	GER	2584	4.0	5	2527
59	57	GM	Maiorov Nikita	BLR	2558	4.0	5	2479
60	72	WGM	Lei Tingjie	CHN	2495	4.0	4	2598
61	80	IM	Lorparizangeneh Shahin	IRI	2449	4.0	4	2579
62	58	GM	Bindrich Falko	GER	2557	4.0	4	2575
63	29	GM	Khismatullin Denis	RUS	2621	4.0	4	2563
64	21	GM	Anton Guijarro David	ESP	2641	4.0	4	2484
65	49	GM	Wagner Dennis	GER	2583	3.5	5	2603
66	77	IM	Shen Yang	CHN	2466	3.5	5	2601
67	71	IM	Yuffa Daniil	RUS	2502	3.5	5	2598
68	33	GM	Cordova Emilio	PER	2610	3.5	5	2583
	69	IM	Pourramezanali Amirreza	IRI	2506	3.5	5	2583
70	53	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	RUS	2573	3.5	5	2567
71	85	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2395	3.5	5	2543
72	76	FM	Igonin Temur	UZB	2470	3.5	4	2583
73	62	GM	Pichot Alan	ARG	2542	3.5	4	2551
74	73		Firouzja Alireza	IRI	2475	3.5	4	2537
75	66	WGM	Goryachkina Aleksandra	RUS	2509	3.5	4	2529
76	50	GM	Kulaots Kaido	EST	2578	3.5	4	2477
77	70	GM	Gasanov Eldar	UKR	2503	3.0	5	2576
78	83	IM	Sarana Alexey	RUS	2433	3.0	5	2556
79	81	IM	Wang Yiye	CHN	2445	3.0	5	2542
80	61	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	UKR	2554	3.0	5	2484
81	78	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	RUS	2462	3.0	4	2555
82	75	IM	Swayams Mishra	IND	2470	2.5	5	2578
83	79	IM	Korchmar Vasiliy	RUS	2450	2.5	5	2506
84	74	GM	Debashis Das	IND	2471	2.5	4	2509
85	63	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	GRE	2541	2.5	3	2558
86	86	CM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2379	2.0	4	2514

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

Aeroflot Open 2016

Photos by Amruta Mokal

Final round

Results of round nine

Final standings

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