3/15/2019 – Every once in a while you have a fairy tale story at a world class event where a player who was given absolutely no chances of winning the tournament, comes out, plays his heart out and takes home the first prize! Something similar happened at the Aeroflot Open 2019 when the 62nd seed Kaido Kulaots scored 7.0/9 and with a rating performance of 2873 won the Aeroflot Open A, a prize of €18,000 and got himself an invitation to the Dortmund super-tournament which will take place later this year. How did Kulaots achieve this phenomenal performance? Sagar Shah caught up with the man of the moment for a detailed interview.

2/27/2019 – The Aeroflot Open in Moscow is one of the strongest open tournaments of the world. In the A-Group 101 players take part, and almost all of them are International Masters or Grandmasters. 76 participants have a rating of 2500+. Round 3 starts at 15:00 local time (13:00 CET, 12:00 UTC, 7:00 AM EST) and you can follow the games live.

3/1/2018 – In the final round of the Aeroflot Open, Belarusian GM Vladislav Kovalev secured a comfortable draw against GM Gabriel Sargissian to clinch the title prize. With his full point lead over the rest of the field, it was no surprise that Kovalev settled for peace just 15 moves into the game. Decisive games were seen on boards four and five where SP Sethuraman and Dmitry Gordievsky defeated Victor Bologan and Amin Tabatabaei respectively. Both were tied for second with a score of 6½ / 9 but Sethuraman, due to a better tiebreak, took the higher spot on the leaderboard. | Pictured: Top three finishers in Group A: (L to R) SP Sethuraman, Vladislav Kovalev & Dmitry Gordievsky | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/28/2018 – In the penultimate round of the Aeroflot Open, Vladislav Kovalev put himself in sole lead after defeating his co-leader, IM Amin Tabatabaei. With this win, the Belarusian GM has made himself a clear favourite to win the event with a full point lead over his nearest rival. But a league of 9 players will be rooting for his opponent in the final round and if Kovalev loses his final game, as many as five players could catch up with him for shared first. Round 8 report.

2/27/2018 – Amin Tabatabaei might have had a bad start to the tournament but ever since his first round loss to IM Eesha Karavade, the teenaged International Master from Iran has been on the rise. Scoring four wins in a row, he is now jointly leading the event with besides having scored a GM norm with two rounds to spare. With just two rounds to go, this young IM is definitely someone to watch out for. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/26/2018 – The sixth round of the Aeroflot Open was tactics galore. While Vladimir Fedoseev went for broke to rip open his opponent's king in his game against IM Amin Tabatabaei, Krishnan Sasikiran caught Aryan Tari's king in a mating net after the latter gave up a piece for three pawns. Besides, the tournament saw yet another leader dethroned as Kovaleyev defeated Artemiev on the top board to take the sole lead himself. An illustrated report.

2/25/2018 – The Aeroflot Open 2018 has passed the half-way mark, and Russia's talented young grandmaster Artemiev Vladislav is now the only player with 4½ points at the top of the table. On Saturday, he showed his class to outplay the experienced Moldavian, Victor Bologan, taking advantage of small inaccuracies to convert the full point. It will be exciting to see if Fedoseev, Vidit and Andreikin can make a comeback in the second half of the event. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/24/2018 – The tournament has almost reached halfway stage at the Aeroflot Open. However, none of the 2700s are among the tournament leaders. The lead currently rests in the hands of Bologan, Petrosian and Artemiev. Meanwhile, the bottom-most seed of the tournament, IM Eesha Karavade brought down GM Rinat Jumabayev and is now tied for second. With five more rounds to go, it will be interesting to watch the top seeds fight their way to the top.

11/20/2017 – The Aeroflot Open Chess Festival, which is popular throughout the world, will be held in Moscow from 19th February (the date of arrival) to 2nd March 2018 (the date of departure). This major event is open to chess players from all over the globe, of most varied qualification: from unrated to those having a very high rating. As before, the festival is held under the wings of Aeroflot – Russian Airlines.

3/4/2017 – Vladimir Fedoseev had a half point lead over the field going into the last round. He ensured that there were no hiccups and rightfully picked up the winner's purse of €18000. Along with that he gets an entry into the 2017 Dortmund super tournament. In the blitz section, it was Anton Korobov who crushed the field and won with 15.5/18. Illustrated report with analysis by IM Shah and GM Yermolinsky.

2/26/2017 – There is something about Aeroflot Open that brings out the best in Evgeniy Najer. In 2016 he went on to win the tournament ahead of Boris Gelfand. In 2017 he is already the sole leader with 4.5/5. Najer played some exquisite games to beat players like Jobava and Bluebaum. In this report we have the analysis along with some excellent pictures.

2/24/2017 – After the Gibraltar Masters, we have another super strong open tournament on our menu - the Aeroflot Open 2017. With an average rating of 2582 and players like Yu Yangyi, Vitiugov, Inarkiev, Jobava, taking part, it is a tournament that is packed with action. We bring you an illustrated report from first three rounds of the event.

4/7/2015 – He only had to hold a draw in the final round, and he had no problems doing so. Ian Nepomniachtchi drew Ivan Bukavshin to take hom the Aeroflot crown and earn his qualification to the Dortmund super-tournament later this year. The battle for second place in the last round between Daniil Dubov and Lu Shanglei was a completely slugfest, which also went in favor of the Russian.

3/31/2015 – We are a little over the halfway mark in the Aeroflot Open, and the excitement continues. Sasikirian drew two of his games in a row, allowing three people to catch up with him. Van Foreest won by default against Salgado (who withdrew from the tournament), while Nepomniachtchi and Dubov won with Black to catch up with 4.0/5. Meanwhile Mamedyarov, the top seed is struggling with 50%.

3/30/2015 – The news of the day is that one player was able to move to a perfect 3.0/3: Krishnan Sasikirian from India showed excellent handling of the Black side of the Scotch to be the only player remaining with a perfect score. However, the true excitement came a couple of boards down: Adhiban might just have missed the chance to immortalize himself with a brilliant attack.

3/29/2015 – Aeroflot is unique: what a slug-fest of the the World's best! Grandmaster against grandmaster at every corner, 2700s losing against underdogs... who are only a few points lower rated than they are! Mamedyarov was unable to keep his perfect score... he lost to Khairullin and is actually back at 50%! Four people remain with 2.0/2 and so far, it is none of the favorites...

3/28/2015 – After hosting a rapid in 2013, and skipping 2014, many had given up on the tournament - a gem that had been cancelled, a memory of an incomparably strong open. But the Aeroflot Open is back! The tournament is not as top-heavy as Gibraltar, but it packs an amazing Group A where the minimum rating requirement is a whopping 2550! The first round has been played, with some brilliant games.