2015 Moscow Open starts with over 1500 players

by Albert Silver
2/2/2015 – The Moscow Open is somewhat of a misnomer and perhaps Moscow Festival or Bonanza would be more appropriate. Set in the capital of Russia, where chess has lived and breathed for over a century, this massive event is comprised of no fewer than eight separate tournaments, including dozens of grandmasters and over 1500 players in all. Illustrated report and video.

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It is understandably hard to know where to look with so much fantastic chess going on. First there is the Gibraltar Open, which brings Top Ten players such as Topalov and Nakamura, then there is the Grenke Classic that just started with a star-studded field, and that alone would already have chess fans twisting their heads left and right to follow the action, but the Moscow Open should and must absolutely be added to this list.

A few years ago, it was timed quite unfortunately literally right before the other great Muscovite event, the Aeroflot Open, and unless a player was willing to undergo this Ultra-Marathon in chess, most found themselves having to choose between one or the other. Quang Liem Le made his great breakthrough by not only doing precisely that, but winning both one after the other, but for the most part, they cannibalized each other's lineups. The Aeroflot Open even threatened to disappear, but with its rise from the ashes and better planned dates, locals and visitors can add them both to their schedules if they wish.

The children's competition brought a record (for the event) 715 children from all over Russia...

...and beyond.

Now in its eleventh edition year, the Moscow Open AKA the International RSSU Chess Cup is held at the Russian State Social University in Moscow and consists of no fewer than eight tournaments with a combined prize fund of around 4,000,000 rubles. Unfortunately, just six months ago that would have meant some US$120 thousand, but with the collapse of the Russian currency that now equates to $58,500.

The highest profile event is the Open A, reserved only for men, with 246 players of whom 159 are titled, coming from 25 countries. At the top of the list are Ian Nepomniachtchi (2714), Francisco Vallejo Pons (2706), and reigning Russian champion Igor Lysyj (2700). Of note are also young guns such as Vladimir Fedoseev, who just won the Dvorkovich Memorial, and Vladislav Artemiev.

Reigning Russian champion Igor Lysyj is one of the highlights

Vladimir Fedoseev just came off a win at the Dvorkovich Memorial and is in good spirits

Ukrainian Anton Korobov is another heavy hitter

Players from as far away as Brazil, such as GM Alexander Fier, have come to join the action

Open B is reserved exclusively to female players, and here too no fewer than 136 players came, with Aleksandra Goryachkina (2451) as the top seed. Open C is reserved for players rated under 2300, and Open D is a Seniors only event, unisex, topped by Evgeny Sveshnikov (2514) or 81-year-old GM Evgeni Vasiukov (2426). Finally there are the youth events and the student events.

Aleksandra Goryachkina is the top seed and one of the players with a perfect 3.0/3 start

Lei Tingjie leads the pack with 3.0/3 via tiebreak

The hall where Open B is taking place

The Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony started with presentations and then the ballet

Demonstrating their grace and form

In counterpoint was a group of very jovial drummers with neon drums and more. See the video below.

Among the more official opening formalities Valentina Gunina had the honor of crossing swords
with former world champion Anatoly Karpov

 

Video with highlights of the opening ceremony with ballet, blinking neon drums, and more

Photos by Monica Dubinkayte, Denis Obukhov, Galina Popova, Eteri Kublashvili

Standings of Open A after three rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
rtg+/-
1 9 GM Grachev Boris RUS
2670
3.0
5.4
2 34 GM Xiu Deshun CHN
2543
3.0
8.1
3 37 IM Atabayev Maksat TKM
2496
3.0
9.5
4 36 GM Iljushin Alexei RUS
2515
3.0
8.7
5 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS
2675
3.0
5.5
6 70 IM Zakhartsov Vladimir RUS
2421
3.0
11.0
7 4 GM Korobov Anton UKR
2687
3.0
5.3
8 10 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS
2668
3.0
5.6
9 74 IM Atabayev Yusup TKM
2415
3.0
10.1
10 1 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS
2714
2.5
-0.4
11 43 IM Ulko Jaroslav RUS
2482
2.5
8.6
12 50 IM Wan Yunguo CHN
2472
2.5
7.8
13 20 GM Demchenko Anton RUS
2611
2.5
1.9
14 33 GM Pridorozhni Aleksei RUS
2545
2.5
2.7
15 157 FM Lomasov Semen RUS
2305
2.5
31.4
16 97 IM Kozionov Kirill RUS
2391
2.5
11.4
17 26 GM Timofeev Artyom RUS
2568
2.5
3.0
18 59 IM Kuderinov Kirill KAZ
2452
2.5
7.0
19 11 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM
2663
2.5
0.3
20 12 GM Artemiev Vladislav RUS
2659
2.5
0.2

Click for complete standings

Standings of Open B after three rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
Fed
Rtg
Pts
rtg+/-
1 2 WGM Lei Tingjie
2429
3.0
4.9
2 44 WFM Bayarmaa Bayarjargal
2134
3.0
31.0
3 6 IM Guseva Marina
2375
3.0
5.7
4 1 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra
2451
3.0
4.5
5 9 WGM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan
2344
3.0
12.4
6 20 WFM Khlichkova Tatiana
2257
3.0
12.8
7 23 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira
2220
3.0
12.2
8 3 WGM Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina
2415
2.5
0.1
9 10 FM Pustovoitova Daria
2334
2.5
0.4
10 17 WIM Ibrahimova Sabina
2273
2.5
4.4
11 27 WIM Drozdova Dina
2215
2.5
2.6
12 26 WIM Schepetkova Margarita
2216
2.5
12.8
13 13 WGM Maisuradze Nino
2310
2.5
3.8
14 30 WIM Semenova Elena
2206
2.5
10.2
15 36 WFM Zherebtsova Alexandra
2181
2.5
6.0
16 42 WFM Shuvalova Polina
2149
2.5
43.2
17 8 WIM Bivol Alina
2355
2.5
-0.4
18 21 WIM Dordzhieva Dinara
2244
2.5
5.6
19 24 WIM Matveeva Olga
2220
2.0
3.2
20 25   Li Xueyi
2218
2.0
2.8

Click for complete standings

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.