Aeroflot Open: Suleymanli catches up with Mamedov

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/27/2020 – A young gun from Azerbaijan caught up with his more experienced compatriot Rauf Mamedov in the lead of the very strong Aeroflot Open. 14-year-old Aydin Suleymanli won three games in a row to reach a 6/8 score and will have the black pieces against the former sole leader in round nine. Eight players are a half point behind the Azerbaijani duo. | Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky

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A 14-year-old from Azerbaijan

In the last World Youth Championship, played in October 2019, Aydin Suleymanli was the only player in the event who won his section (Open U-14) by a full point margin. The International Master is joining a pack of very young players quickly making a name for themselves in the elite circuit, as he is sharing the lead of the famously strong Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

Suleymanli, talking to Sagar Shah a couple of months ago, showed incredible maturity in analysing his game and mentioned that at his young age he already considers himself to be a professional chess player:

The Azerbaijani arrived in the Russian capital as the 71st seed, but we should not forget that last year's winner Kaido Kulaots was only the 62nd highest-rated player of the event. Will we see another unexpected champion at the Aeroflot Open? This time it would not be a 43-year-old making a comeback but a promising talent who did not even get his grandmaster title yet!

After seeing the host of prodigies coming from India, Jonathan Tisdall quipped:

The first of the three consecutive wins by the youngster came in round six, when he got to neutralize Vasif Durabayli's massive pawn centre with the black pieces. Durabayli allowed an unfavourable simplification on move 31:

 
Durabayli vs. Suleymanli
Position after 30...Rb8

White spent nine minutes on 31.e6, a move that Suleymanli had calculated, noticing that 31...f5 (played almost immediately) was good for him. Now the best White has is 32.xc2 xc2 33.xc2 xc2 34.c6 and Black is in time to defend against the scary-looking connected passers:

 
Position after 34.c6

Already a rook and a knight up Black can go for 34...b5, as he would have no issues giving back material after 35.c7 ♜5xb7. Durabayli went on to miss a chance to get a draw during time trouble, but Suleymanli was the more pragmatic player throughout and was rewarded with a 41-move win.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6! is more profitable than 6...cxd4 at the moment. Played by Vladislav Artemiev in January 2020. 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Na4 B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation. 8.0-0!? 8...Qa5+ 9.c3 c4 10.Nh4 The position is equal. b5 11.Nxf5 exf5 12.Nc5 Bxc5 13.dxc5 Nge7
14.b4N Predecessor: 14.0-0 b4 15.Qc2 0-0 16.f4 Rab8 17.Bf3 bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qb5 19.Rf2 Rfd8 20.Rd2 h6 21.Rad1 Qa4 22.Ra1 Qb5 23.Rad1 Qa4 24.Ra1 1/2-1/2 (24) Bartel,M (2600)-Admiraal,M (2504) Benasque 2019 14...Qa3 15.Qc2 d4 16.cxd4 16.Bxd4 Nxd4 17.cxd4 16...Qxb4+ 16...f4 17.Qc1 17.Bxf4 Nxd4 18.Qd2 Rd8 17...Qxc1+ 18.Bxc1 Nxd4 17.Qd2 17.Kf1 Rd8 18.Rb1 17...a5 17...Qxd2+ 18.Kxd2 0-0-0 18.a4! Black must now prevent axb5. f4 19.axb5 c3 20.Qd3 And now Rb1 would win. fxe3 21.fxe3 21.bxc6? c2+ 22.Kf1 Qb2-+ 21...Qb2! 22.0-0 Nb4 23.Qe4 0-0 24.Bc4? 24.Bd3 was forced. g6 25.Bc4 24...c2!-+ 25.Rac1 Rad8? Black should play 25...a4!-+ 26.Bd3 g6 26.Bd3!= g6! next ...Ned5 is good for Black. 26...Nxd3?! 27.Qxd3 Qb4 28.Rxc2± 27.b6! Ned5 Black should try 27...Qa3! 28.Bxc2 Ned5 28.Bc4! Qc3 29.Bxd5! Rxd5 30.b7 Hoping for e6. Rb8 aiming for ...Qc4. 31.e6? 31.g4!= and White has nothing to worry. Rd7 32.e6 31...f5-+ 32.Rxc2 Qxc2 And not 32...fxe4 33.Rxc3 Rxb7 34.c6± 33.Qxc2 Nxc2 34.c6 Rb5 But not 34...Nxe3? 35.c7+- 35.d5 Strongly threatening d6. Kg7 36.d6
36...Kf6? Avoid the trap 36...Nxe3? 37.d7+- 36...Nb4!-+ 37.Rc1
37...Nxc6! 38.Rxc6 R5xb7
37.d7? 37.e7= R5xb7 38.cxb7 37...Rc5 Black is clearly winning. 38.Rd1 Rd8 39.e4 Ke7 40.exf5 gxf5 41.Rd5 Accuracy: White = 57%, Black = 66%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Durarbayli,V2625Suleymanli,A24740–1202018th Aeroflot Open-A 20206.17

On Tuesday, Suleymanli had the white pieces against the experienced Israeli grandmaster Ilia Smirin. Brave play by both sides during the opening led to a sharp tactical struggle. Smirin was behind in development and had the weaker king when he decided to grab material on the f-file:

 
Suleymanli vs. Smirin
Position after 16.Qxc3

White can respond to 16...xf4 with 17.ad1, threatening to capture the rook and deflect the queen from the defence of d8. At this point, the computer gives 17...♞d7 as the best alternative for Black, but it is difficult for a human to leave the light-squared bishop and the a8-rook stranded like that on the back rank. Thus, Smirin went for 17...e6 after over a half hour. 

What followed was a strong demonstration by the Azerbaijani, who never let go of the initiative, delaying once and again chances to grab material, preferring to increase the pressure against the opposite king. Smirin saw it necessary to give up his queen, but by then he was already dead lost:

 
Position after 27...Re4

White opened up lines for his queen and rook tandem with 28.f5 and got the win five moves later.

 
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1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.e3 Nd7 4.Nc3 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Ne7 7.Nge2 0-0 8.0-0 A21: English Opening: 1...e5 2 Nc3. f5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.e4 The position is equal. c6
11.Be3N Predecessor: 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.b3 f4 14.gxf4 exf4 15.f3 Ne5 16.Qc2 g5 17.Rad1 g4 18.Qd2 gxf3 19.Bxf3 Bh3 20.Rf2 Nxf3+ 0-1 (20) Zubia Aramburu,M (1726)-Alonso Bouza,J (2385) San Sebastian 2017 11...Qc7 With the idea ...f4. 12.Qd2 Nb6 Black should try 12...Nf6= 13.b3! White has good play. f4 14.gxf4 exf4 15.Nxf4 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 Strongly threatening Bc1. Rxf4 17.Rad1 Be6
18.c5! Hoping for Rd6. White has strong compensation. White now steadily converts the win. Rh4 19.Rd6 Nd7? 19...Nec8± 20.f4+- Bh3 21.Qc4+ Kf8 Black wants to play ...Rg4. 22.Bxh3 Rxh3 23.Qe6
Double Attack 23...Rxe3 24.Rxd7 Qxd7 25.Qxd7 Rxe4 26.Qd3 Re6 27.Qd7 27.Qh3 Nf5 28.Qxh7 27...Re4! 28.f5 White is clearly winning. gxf5 29.Rxf5+ Kg7 30.Rg5+ Kf6 31.Rg3 aiming for Qd6+. b5 31...Nf5 32.Rf3 Rg8+ 33.Kf2 Re5 34.Qxb7 Rxc5 35.Qxh7 Rg4 32.Qd6+ Kf7 33.Qh6 Accuracy: White = 84%, Black = 63%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Suleymanli,A2474Smirin,I26151–0202018th Aeroflot Open-A 20207.10

Rauf Mamedov

Rauf Mamedov will need to face an in-form Aydin Suleymanli in the deciding ninth round | Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky

In round eight, the 14-year-old was paired up against Parham Maghsoodloo, already a seasoned grandmaster in these opens at 19! The Iranian star is rated exactly two-hundred points above Suleymanli and, true to his style, decided to challenge his rival by capturing the two pawns Black offered him out of the opening:

 
Maghsoodloo vs. Suleymanli
Position after 7...Nc6

Maghsoodloo was apparently out of book here, as he had spent eight minutes on his previous 7.b3 and now needed six minutes to play 8.xb7. During the sequence 8...b4 9.c1 0-0 10.xc7 xc7 11.xc7 the Iranian continued to invest much more time than Suleymanli, when in fact they were following theory until move 12.

From this point on, the Azerbaijani showed great positional understanding and precise calculation to make use of his initiative until getting a 27-move victory. As pointed out by Sagar Shah — see his full analysis below — this game would make Mark Dvoretsky proud!

 
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1.e41,185,00854%2421---
1.d4959,51055%2434---
1.Nf3286,50356%2441---
1.c4184,83456%2442---
1.g319,89256%2427---
1.b314,60054%2428---
1.f45,95448%2377---
1.Nc33,91150%2384---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25054%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 5...c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.g4 is one of the main ways to play here. 6.e3 Bf5 An ambitious way to develop your light squared bishop. 6...0-0 7.Bd3 6...c6 7.Bd3 7.Qb3 You can bank on Parham to play in the most uncompromising way. 7.Nge2 0-0 8.Ng3 Be6 9.Bd3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.0-0 Nc6 7...Nc6! The right spirit of the position. Black needs to give up a few pawns and focus on speedy development. 7...Qc8?! 8.Nf3 8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.Qxd5 Bb4+ 8.Qxb7 8.g4! This should have been played by Maghsoodloo. Bxg4 8...Nxg4 9.Qxd5! White should be slightly better here. Kramnik chose 9.Nxd5?! was Topalov's choice, but after 0-0! It seems like Black is already doing quite well. 0-1 (39) Topalov,V (2725)-Kasparov,G (2795) Linares 1997 9...Qc8!? 10.Qg2 Aronian retreated the queen and later won the game. 9.Qxb7 Nb4 10.Rc1 The bishop now is not so well placed on g4 and White can hope for an opening edge. Rb8 10...Bf5 11.a3 Rb8 12.Qxa7 Nc2+ 13.Rxc2 Bxc2 14.Bxc7 Ra8 15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.Qb6 Qc8 17.Nge2± 11.Qxc7 Qxc7 12.Bxc7 8...Nb4 9.Rc1 9.Bb5+ Kf8 10.Rc1 a6 11.Be2 Ne8 The threat is Rb8 Qc8 and Rb7 trapping the queen. 12.a3 Rb8 13.Qa7 Ra8= 9...0-0 10.Qxc7 10.g4 now makes no real sense. Nxg4 10.Bxc7 Qc8 11.Qxc8 Rfxc8 Just transposes to the game. 10...Qxc7 11.Bxc7 Rfc8 12.Bf4 Ne4 13.f3?! 13.a3! Nxc3 14.bxc3 14.Rxc3 Na2 15.Rxc8+ Rxc8 16.Ne2 Rc2 17.b4 a5 14...a5! 14...Nd3+ 15.Bxd3 Bxd3 16.Kd2 Bf5 17.Ne2 14...Na2 15.Ra1 Nxc3 16.Ba6± 15.axb4 axb4 And this position is quite unclear. Black with his active pieces, definitely has excellent chances. 16.e4 dxe4 17.Bb5 Ra5 13...Nxc3 14.bxc3 g5 15.Bg3 This is the moment of the game which makes you understand what a big talent this youngster is. Of course he first began by checking Nxa2. But he realized that Nxa2 is met with Ra1 and Nxc3 by Ba6 when White completes his development with Ne2 and is completely fine. The main problem was the light squared bishop developing with a tempo. and so what does Aydin do? a5‼ A brilliant move aimed against the Ba6 ideas. Such deep prophylaxis at such an age just shows what a big talent this youngster really is. 15...Nxa2 16.Ra1 Nxc3 17.Ba6 Bb4 17...Re8 18.Kf2± 18.Kf2 Re8 19.Ne2 16.a4 Na2 17.Ra1 Nxc3 18.Ne2 4 Bb4?! Perhaps the only move in the game where Aydin could have improved his play. 18...Nxe2! 19.Bxe2 Rc2 The rook swoops in and the other rook will also join in via Rac8, Rb2 and Rc2. It's going to be very difficult for White to hold here. 19.Kf2 Bc2 20.Nxc3 Bxc3 5 21.Ra2? The final mistake of the game. 21.Ra3! would have led to a draw. The key point is that White shouldn't allow Black to remove both his bishops and get his rook activated. Bb4 21...Bb2 22.Ra2± 22.Ra1! 22.Ra2? Bb1 23.Ra1 Rc1 22...Bc3 23.Ra3 Bb4= 21.Rc1? Bd2 22.Ra1 Rc3 21...Bb1! 22.Re2 22.Ra3 was better, but Black is still in the driver's seat. Bb4 23.Ra1 23.Be2 Bxa3 24.Rxb1 23...Rc1 22...Rc4! If the a4 pawn falls it is game over. 23.Rc2!? Maghsoodloo's last trick. 23.h4 Rxa4 24.hxg5 Ra1 23...Be1+! 23...Bxc2? 24.Bxc4 dxc4 25.Rc1 Bxa4 26.Rxc3 Bb3 27.Bd6 a4 28.Ba3= 24.Kxe1 Rxc2 25.h4 Rac8 26.Bd6 R8c3 27.hxg5 Rb2 A tremendous game by Aydin Suleymanli. Definitely a talent to look forward to. 27...Rb2 28.Kd1 Ba2-+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maghsoodloo,P2674Suleymanli,A24740–12020D31Aeroflot Open A 20208.5

Suleymanli will play Black in the last round against Mamedov, while on boards two to five eight players currently standing on 5½ out of 8 will need the all-Azerbaijani duel to end in a draw if they want to get a chance to end up sharing first place.


Standings after Round 8 (top 25)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Suleymanli Aydin 6,0 4
2 Mamedov Rauf 6,0 4
3 Sjugirov Sanan 5,5 4
4 Adhiban B. 5,5 4
5 Paravyan David 5,5 4
6 Yilmaz Mustafa 5,5 4
7 Jumabayev Rinat 5,5 4
  Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 5,5 4
9 Shimanov Aleksandr 5,5 4
10 Petrosyan Manuel 5,5 3
11 Aleksandrov Aleksej 5,0 4
12 Idani Pouya 5,0 4
13 Asadli Vugar 5,0 4
14 Sarana Alexey 5,0 4
15 Sethuraman S.P. 5,0 4
16 Rakhmanov Aleksandr 5,0 4
17 Deac Bogdan-Daniel 5,0 4
18 Antipov Mikhail Al. 5,0 4
19 Zhou Jianchao 5,0 4
20 Smirin Ilia 5,0 3
21 Svane Rasmus 5,0 3
22 Bharath Subramaniyam H 4,5 4
23 Nesterov Arseniy 4,5 4
24 Vaibhav Suri 4,5 4
25 Aryan Chopra 4,5 4

...97 players  


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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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