2017 Moscow Open: all for one and one for all

All photos by Galina Popova

The RSSU School Champions’ Cup was one of the first to open the program of the XIII International RSSU Chess Cup, 2017 Moscow Open. 740 chess players under 14 entered the struggle for the prizes. They represent 10 countries: Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Spain, Estonia, Kirgizia, Lithuania, Peru and Ukraine.

The children enjoyed their own special opening ceremony with their own special entertainment

The children clearly loved it and were mesmerized

And what a show they got!

Ernesto Inarkiev, the 2015 winner of the main event with a huge 8.0/9 score, was present and impressed

Over 740 competitors came for the competitions for boys and girls under ages 9, 11, 13, and 15

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The grand Ceremony Opening of the XIII International RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open traditionally was held in the assembly hall of the Russian State Social University main building.

The program started with the Russia dance performance by show-ballet of Irina Knyazeva

This year the competition saw no 2700+ players, though it had no shortage of grandmasters. Top seed was Sanan Sjugirov with 2673 FIDE. A slip in round four to FM Ramil Faizrakhmanov cost him dearly and he finished in 14th place. That said, FM Faizrakhmanov actually scored a full GM norm, so it wasn't just a bad beat.

Second seed was Russian-born American Gata Kamsky, who came for the very first time. In an interview, he explained that the previous year he had played Gibraltar, something he had been meaning to do for a while, and next on his bucket list was the Moscow Open, whose dates clashed with the other event. The American finished with 7.0/9 and 5th place.

Third seed was the very talented GM Vladislav Artemiev, who came tied first with 7.5/9 but came second on tiebreak

Another big name was Denis Khismatullin who did well and came in 4th with 7.0/9

The surprise winner was nevertheless IM Dmitry Gordievsky, rated 2562 FIDE, who had a superb event, finishing with 7.5/9, and a 2771 performance. This also earned him 23 Elo and 500 thousand rubles, (roughly US$8500).

The prizewinner's podium of the Main Open

Final standings for Main Open

Click for complete Main Open standings

The Women's Open saw WGM Aleksandra Goryachkina at the top of the ranking list, but finished in 7th

Kashlinskaya - Kovanova

Babiy - Kashlinskaya

The surprise winner was the astonishing 36-year-old WFM Oksana Gritsayeva, who had the tournament of her life and won with a divine 8.5/9!

Final standings for Women's Open

Click for complete Women's standings

The veteran's tournament was won by GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, also the highest rated amongst his peers

A surprise event this year was the intorduction of the Rapid Chess event for the visually impaired and blind

This event was held at the time control of 20 minutes plus a ten-second increment. So the players could follow the time, they had headphones plugged into the clock!

Links Official tournament site All Open A (main) games in PGN All Open B (women's) games in PGN All Student chess league games in PGN You can use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.