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If you, as a chess enthusiast, consider a list of open tournaments that you would like to attend, one you should really not miss is the Aeroflot Open in Moscow. Most readers, however, would probably have to start humbly with the C tournament — there everyone can play, even if you're unrated! By contrast, participation in the B tournament requires an Elo rating of at least 2300, while the A tournament is mainly grandmasters and internatonal masters.
Joining last year's winner Vladimir Fedoseev, the A-tournament will also feature other grandmasters from the elite 2700 Elo points section at the top of the starting list: Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India, 2723), Dmitry Andreikin (Russia, 2712), Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan, 2709) and Maxim Matlakov (Russia, 2709). Gata Kamsky is also once again back in Moscow. For the tournament winner, in addition to the prize money of roughly 18,000 euros, there is an extra incentive, namely an automatic invitation to the "Super Tournament" in July in Dortmund.
The playing hall is ready for action (click or tap to enlarge) | Photo: Niklesh Jain
The total prize fund for all three tournaments is 120,000 euros; the winner of the B tournament gets 8,000 euros, in the C tournament, 3,000 euros for the first place. Finally, the event will be supplemented by a blitz tournament.
You can find all the details and regulations in our advance preview from November. This year, ChessBase News will have full coverage, in collaboration with ChessBase India who have editor Niklesh Jain on the ground in Moscow.
A typical winter's day at Sheremetyevo international airport | Photo: Niklesh Jain
This year it's a bit late to decide to participate, if you're not already in Moscow, but looking ahead to next year, you won't need to worrk about running out of hotel space: The Cosmos in the center of the Russian capital has more than 1,700 rooms...
The Cosmos Hotel at dusk | Photo: Vidit Gujrathi
Translation from German: Macauley Peterson
