15-year-old IM wins Moscow Open 2018

by Johannes Fischer
2/8/2018 – This year's Moscow Open was strong, if not outstanding — 16 players sported Elo ratings of 2500 or more, and three came in over 2600. But the surprise winner was 15-year-old IM Semen Lomasov, who started as the twelfth seed but left all the favourites behind, winning the tournament clear with the impressive score of eight points from nine games.
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A future Russian GM?

Over 1500 players participate in the Moscow Open chess festival across a variety of tournaments. The main A Open was held at the Russian State Social University in from January 27th to February 4th, 2018. Over 200 players competed in the a 9-round Swiss Open  for a first prize of 500,000 roubles (more than USD $8,000). The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30 second bonus per move. 

The university is located on Moscow's north side about 45 minutes from the Kremlin

Going into the last round Lomasov had half a point ahead of his pursuers, and secured clear first place with a comfortable victory over FM Maksim Samusenko.

Semen Lomasov - Maksim Samusenko

 
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1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.a4 a6 8.a5 exd4 9.Qxd4 Ng4 10.Nd5 Nde5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bf4 Bf6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Bxe5 Qxe5 15.Qxe5 dxe5 Black can trade a number of pieces, but it does little to aid his defence. His pawns are vulnerable and he has difficulty bringing his pieces into play. In the remainder of the game, the 15-year-old Lomasov shows impressive technique. 16.Rfd1 Re8 17.Ra3 Kf8 18.Rc3 f6 19.h4 Rb8 20.Kh2 Ke7 21.Bb3 c6 22.Rg3 g6 23.h5 g5 24.Rgd3 f5 25.Rd6 fxe4 26.Rh6 Rh8 27.Re1 Kf8 28.Rxe4 Kg7 29.Rd6 Rf8 30.Rxe5 Bf5 31.f3 Rbe8 32.Rxe8 Rxe8 33.h6+ Kh8 34.g4 Bc8 35.Bf7 Rf8 36.b4 Black is in Zugzwang, and can't avoid further material losses. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lomasov,S2530Samusenko,M24221–02018C41Moscow Open9

Semen Lomasov

IM Seman Lomasov | Photo: Galina Popova

Final standings (top 25)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Lomasov Semen 8,0 50,0
2 Nabaty Tamir 7,5 52,5
3 Vavulin Maksim 7,0 55,5
4 Afanasiev Nikita 7,0 51,5
5 Timofeev Artyom 7,0 46,5
6 Samusenko Maksim 6,5 52,0
7 Mozharov Mikhail 6,5 52,0
8 Zakhartsov Vladimir 6,5 50,5
9 Shukh Nikolai 6,5 50,0
10 Kokarev Dmitry 6,5 49,5
11 Harutjunyan Gevorg 6,5 49,0
12 Fakhrutdinov Timur 6,5 47,5
13 Khegay Dmitriy 6,5 47,0
14 Matinian Nikita 6,5 47,0
15 Sindarov Javokhir 6,5 46,0
16 Yeletsky Ivan 6,5 44,0
17 Savchenko Boris 6,0 52,5
18 Gaifullin Artur 6,0 52,0
19 Drygalov Andrey 6,0 51,5
20 Tsydypov Zhamsaran 6,0 51,5
21 Boruchovsky Avital 6,0 51,0
22 Vokhidov Shamsiddin 6,0 50,5
23 Bocharov Ivan 6,0 50,5
24 Mammadzada Gunay 6,0 49,0
25 Ladva Ottomar 6,0 49,0

...220 Players

Bodnaruk wins the B tournament

In parallel, a tournament only for Women was held, although many of the participants would have been at home rating-wise in the A tournament. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk matched Lomasov's score of 8 / 9 points a full point ahead of IMs Alina Kashlinskaya and Marina Nechaeva, who took second and third.

"Only victory was needed!"

Also like Lomasov, she did it by winning her last round game. In the final position below, Bodnaruk's knights are far too strong for Black's rook which is powerless to impede the advance of the passed e-pawn.

 
Anastasia Bodnaruk vs Swaminathan Soumya
Position after 51.Nd5+ Black resigned

Final standings (top 10)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Bodnaruk Anastasia 8,0 47,5
2 Kashlinskaya Alina 7,0 50,5
3 Nechaeva Marina 7,0 50,0
4 Shuvalova Polina 7,0 47,5
  Osmak Iulija 7,0 47,5
6 Charochkina Daria 6,5 47,5
7 Hojjatova Aydan 6,5 47,5
8 Soumya Swaminathan 6,5 47,0
9 Kovanova Baira 6,5 45,5
10 Voit Daria 6,5 44,0

...120 players

Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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