Aeroflot Open 2009

Photographic report by Misha Savinov

The economic crisis definitely made some impact on chess. The Aeroflot open main event (A1) did not feel much decrease in numbers, and even the 2700-group is represented by two respectable players – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Etienne Bacrot. However, the lower events, more heavily oriented to amateurs and experience-seekers, were seriously affected, and the competition for relatively high prizes is rather withered, compared to the previous years.

The Moscow weather prepared an unpleasant surprise to the festival guests – the temperature dramatically fell to below minus 10° Celsius, which is especially noticeable after two months of very mild early-November-looking winter. According to Gismeteo.ru, there is no hope of improvement, so many players are impatiently waiting for the blitz part of the festival, when they can really warm up. Yes, the blitz part. For the first time the main Aeroflot open is followed by the World Blitz Championship Qualifier. This event, apart from the opportunity to qualify for the World Championship, has its own merit in the 40,000 Euro prize money, and each A1 and A2 Aeroflot open player can join the fun absolutely free (while strangers have to pay the entry fee). I love blitz and will surely watch it very closely. Many blitz superstars will be playing, with one sad exception of Alexander Grischuk, who, however, has a perfect excuse, as he is crushing his opponents in Linares.

Grandmaster Igor Kurnosov started winning game after game and became an early leader of the A1 event. After a couple of draws he destroyed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with black, which resulted in the Azerbaijani player withdrawing from the event! He will, however, play the blitz.

Among the contenders are Evgeny Tomashevsky, Etienne Bacrot, Alexander Moiseenko and some other notable players. Everything is likely to be decided, as usual, in the last round, with the distribution of colors being the key factor.

There are many unexpected results, from van Wely’s disastrous start to the rise of Ray Robson and Tatiana Kosintseva – but please consult your database if you want to see the games, and I will restrict myself to the photographic report. Have fun!

Standings after seven rounds

#	Player	Pts	FED	Rtng	Perf.	w-We
1	GM Kurnosov, Igor	5.5	RUS	2602	2862	+2.29
2	GM Moiseenko, Alexander	5.0	UKR	2676	2765	+0.83
3	GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny	5.0	RUS	2664	2767	+0.96
4	GM Predojevic, Borki	5.0	BIH	2650	2723	+0.67
5	GM Pashikian, Arman	5.0	ARM	2621	2745	+1.18
6	GM Zhou, Jianchao	5.0	CHN	2612	2785	+1.65
7	GM Zhigalko, Sergei	5.0	BLR	2587	2806	+2.08
8	GM Bacrot, Etienne	4.5	FRA	2722	2702	-0.16
9	GM Sargissian, Gabriel	4.5	ARM	2677	2710	+0.33
10	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim	4.5	RUS	2636	2696	+0.59
11	GM Riazantsev, Alexander	4.5	RUS	2634	2665	+0.31
12	GM Potkin, Vladimir	4.5	RUS	2613	2734	+1.18
13	GM Ehlvest, Jaan	4.5	USA	2595	2686	+0.91
14	GM Khairullin, Ildar	4.5	RUS	2574	2718	+1.41
15	GM Zhou, Weiqi	4.5	CHN	2542	2730	+1.84
16	IM Kosintseva, Tatiana	4.5	RUS	2497	2720	+2.15
17	GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	4.0	AZE	2724	2735	+0.07
18	GM Amonatov, Farrukh	4.0	TJK	2647	2619	-0.24
19	GM Smirin, Ilia	4.0	ISR	2647	2616	-0.27
20	GM Bareev, Evgeny	4.0	RUS	2645	2619	-0.22
21	GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej	4.0	BLR	2636	2624	-0.10
22	GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas	4.0	KAZ	2630	2638	+0.10
23	GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian	4.0	RUS	2628	2600	-0.25
24	GM So, Wesley	4.0	PHI	2627	2586	-0.38
25	GM Landa, Konstantin	4.0	RUS	2626	2620	-0.04
26	GM Zhigalko, Andrey	4.0	BLR	2572	2710	+1.34
27	GM Grigoriants, Sergey	4.0	RUS	2565	2693	+1.27
28	GM Safarli, Eltaj	4.0	AZE	2564	2684	+1.19
29	IM Yudin, Sergei	4.0	RUS	2562	2674	+1.09
30	GM Minasian, Artashes	4.0	ARM	2557	2684	+1.24
31	GM Filippov, Anton	4.0	UZB	2556	2679	+1.22
32	GM Dyachkov, Sergej	4.0	RUS	2553	2671	+1.15
33	GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy	4.0	UKR	2490	2641	+1.47
34	GM Dreev, Alexey	3.5	RUS	2688	2564	-1.18
35	GM Vitiugov, Nikita	3.5	RUS	2687	2597	-0.86
36	GM Grachev, Boris	3.5	RUS	2655	2622	-0.31
37	GM Mamedov, Rauf	3.5	AZE	2638	2562	-0.72
38	GM Li, Chao b	3.5	CHN	2628	2556	-0.70
39	GM Petrosian, Tigran L.	3.5	ARM	2623	2545	-0.74
40	GM Huzman, Alexander	3.5	ISR	2602	2546	-0.52
41	GM Smirnov, Pavel	3.5	RUS	2579	2648	+0.66
42	GM Romanov, Evgeny	3.5	RUS	2576	2635	+0.57
43	GM Andriasian, Zaven	3.5	ARM	2564	2652	+0.83
44	GM Kotsur, Pavel	3.5	KAZ	2563	2635	+0.70
45	GM Sjugirov, Sanan	3.5	RUS	2562	2599	+0.34
46	IM Ponkratov, Pavel	3.5	RUS	2557	2628	+0.68
47	GM Wen, Yang	3.5	CHN	2504	2600	+0.92
48	IM Robson, Ray	3.5	USA	2455	2597	+1.33
49	GM Naiditsch, Arkadij	3.0	GER	2693	2564	-1.25
50	GM Milov, Vadim	3.0	SUI	2669	2511	-1.53
51	GM Onischuk, Alexander	3.0	USA	2659	2521	-1.34
52	GM Rodshtein, Maxim	3.0	ISR	2650	2514	-1.34
53	GM Van Wely, Loek	3.0	NED	2625	2409	-1.75
54	GM Lysyj, Igor	3.0	RUS	2620	2550	-0.70
55	GM Akobian, Varuzhan	3.0	USA	2619	2497	-1.20
56	GM Vaganian, Rafael A	3.0	ARM	2596	2518	-0.77
57	GM Li, Shilong	3.0	CHN	2559	2536	-0.23
58	GM Maslak, Konstantin	3.0	RUS	2541	2569	+0.26
59	GM Melkumyan, Hrant	3.0	ARM	2519	2570	+0.47
60	WGM Shen, Yang	3.0	CHN	2448	2533	+0.77
61	GM Bocharov, Dmitry	2.5	RUS	2647	2440	-1.99
62	GM Volkov, Sergey	2.5	RUS	2627	2436	-1.86
63	GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	2.5	IRI	2604	2485	-1.17
64	GM Bartel, Mateusz	2.5	POL	2594	2480	-1.11
65	GM Maze, Sebastien	2.5	FRA	2578	2469	-1.06
66	IM Chadaev, Nikolai	2.5	RUS	2568	2487	-0.81
67	GM Shomoev, Anton	2.5	RUS	2567	2501	-0.66
68	GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier	2.5	ESP	2558	2478	-0.78
69	GM Dziuba, Marcin	2.5	POL	2556	2528	-0.28
70	IM Ipatov, Alexander	2.5	ESP	2493	2464	-0.31
71	IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda	2.5	RUS	2486	2487	-0.03
72	GM Gajewski, Grzegorz	2.0	POL	2581	2294	-2.13
73	GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav	2.0	UKR	2558	2474	-0.79
74	GM Ragger, Markus	2.0	AUT	2540	2431	-1.03
75	GM Grigoryan, Avetik	2.0	ARM	2506	2418	-0.83
76	IM Salem, A.R. Saleh	2.0	UAE	2473	2230	-1.86
77	GM Chuprov, Dmitry	1.5	RUS	2571	2419	-1.02
78	GM Kotanjian, Tigran	0.5	ARM	2568	2240	-1.53

Photo gallery from Moscow

The Aeroflot 2009 playing venue in Moscow

Vladimir Potkin and Konstantin Landa enjoying a conversation with Andrzej Filipowicz,
one of the best chess arbiters in the world

The improved state of the US Dollar (compared to our Rouble) brought more Americans
to Moscow than usual – like Varuzhan Akobian, bronze medalist of the Dresden Olympiad

The leading female player in the US, Irina Krush, also participated
in the Moscow Open (a couple of weeks before the Aeroflot)

Evgeny Tomashevsky – he has a good chance to join the Russian national team,
considering the clear need for new blood after two poor Olympiads in a row

Looking strong – Arkadij Naiditsch from Germany

"The Shakh" – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, before he pulled out of the event in protest

Wesley So, fresh from winning the Wijk C-Group

The flask of coffee didn't help – Vladimir Potkin drew against Tatiana Kosintseva in round one

Will they make him lose the locks? This will be one of the last civil tournaments of
Israeli GM Maxim Rodshtein before he goes to the army

Grimly determined: Gabriel Sargissian, many-time second to Levon Aronian

Vadim Zvjaginsev in a typical pose

Obama fan Alexander Onischuk, who recently won the Moscow Open

Young and talented Valentina Gunina

The Armenian duo Rafael Vaganian and Artashes Minasian are Aeroflot regulars

Top boards: Pavel Ponrkatov vs Igor Kurnosov, Etienne Bacrot vs Vladimir Potkin (background)

Where have we seen these two before? Ray Robson vs. Sanan Sjugirov

Ray, 15, is the youngest International Master in the USA

GM Ian Nepomniatchschi, 18, one of Russia's great talents

Oh no, another boring Sveshnikov! Pavel Ponkratov achieved a winning position
against Moiseenko and blew it in three terrible blunders.

Mamedyarov vs Grachev was a very sharp encounter, but Shakh outsmarted his opponent
in wild tactical complications

Nikita Vitiugov, a very creative player one needs to keep an eye on

The fateful game: Igor Kurnosov ponders his 12th move against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Omygod – Mamedyarov thinks about his 13th move

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Aeroflot Open 2009 – photographic impressions

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