Aeroflot Open R9: Kovalev wins the title

A comfortable draw earns Kovalev first place

Before the players crossed swords for one last time, I was thinking about the importance of the final round in any event. In chess tournaments, especially, it could be extremely exciting and can produce really shocking results. Unlike in the knock-out format, the tournament leader isn't guaranteed a second place if he loses while players slightly lower down the leaderboard can jump back to the top all in the course of one round. This is what, perhaps, makes these tournaments so exciting. Nevertheless, there were a few things that were very clear before the final round began. Kovalev, the tournament leader, only needed a draw to secure the title prize. But if he lost, anyone of the 11 players who were a point behind him could have had a shot at the title.

A brief look at the happenings of round 9 | ChessBase India YouTube

Let's begin by looking at the final round games of the top three finishers.

Kovalev vs Sargissian

In an anti-King's Indian Defence system, Kovalev managed to build up a strong position for himself. For Sargissian, getting to agree to a draw was a stroke of fortune in a way while for Kovalev, winning the title prize took precedence over winning the game.

Play the King's Indian Defence with g3

The King's Indian is an extreme counterattacking weapon for Black, so White's best way is to conduct an effective central strategy and to keep the king in safety. Maybe the only and best way to fulfill this strategy is the variation with the fianchetto of the white bishop to g3. It is the most unpleasant variation for King's Indian Defence players, easy to handle and it prevents Black from performing his typical attacking plans.

Kovalev managed to build up a strong position within just 15 moves | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Bologan vs Sethuraman

Sethuraman had a chance of finishing among the top three if he won. The same condition applied to Bologan as well. In the previous round, Bologan had scored a splendid win Evgeny Najer and must have been bustling with confidence. But with the white pieces in an Italian Opening, the Moldovan GM made a few errors and allowed his opponent put his position under pressure. In the ensuing rook endgame, Bologan lost a pawn and wasn't able to hold his position together for too long.

Final moments of the game | ChessBase India YouTube

Victor Bologan's opening errors cost him a full point against SP Sethuraman | Photo: Niklesh Jain

My Black Secrets in the Modern Italian

The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.

Interview with Sethuraman | ChessBase India YouTube

Tabatabaei vs Gordievsky

Amin Tabatabaei, who had played splendidly after his first-round loss to Eesha Karavade, had to taste a bitter defeat in the final round at the hands of Dmitry Gordievsky. In a Queen's Gambit, the Iranian IM underestimated the danger on his king and this simply spelt doom for him. The position did look equal until a certain point in the game but a few bad moves with his knight by Tabatabaei led to his downfall pretty soon. With this win, Gordievsky caught up with Sethuraman for the second place but due to an inferior tiebreak, finished third. 

The Slav and Semi-Slav revisited

For Shirov the Slav and the Semi-Slav form one huge and common opening. Of course it is a mighty opening complex and the DVD cannot give a complete picture of it, but in the areas he chooses to highlight our author is an absolute expert and capable of giving the deepest possible insights into the secrets of this extremely solid opening.

Amin Tabatabaei started and finished with a loss but played extremely well in the other seven games | Photo: Niklesh Jain

19-year-old Vladislav Artemiev, who had performed sensationally throughout the event, was unable to win his game against compatriot, Igor Lysyj and finished with a 25-move draw.

The Slav against the Reti

Against the incredibly flexible Reti Opening (1.Nf3), Henrik Danielsen relies on a Slav setup: Black plays d5 followed by c6 and quickly develops his Bc8. The Islandic GM shows you many subtleties and tricks which you definitely need to know!

Vladislav Artemiev drew against his compatriot Igor Lysyj in just 25 moves | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The board two encounter between Tigran Petrosian and Anton Korobov also ended in a draw. Both players had performed extremely well throughout the event did not risk too much in their final game which began with a Queen's Indian Defence and lasted 42 moves.

A waiting Game in the Queen's Indian 7...Na6

Let FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin introduce you to the Tiviakov method, where he covers all of 8.b3, 8.Re1, 8.Bf4, 8.Bg5, 8.a3, 8.Qa4 and 8.d5 and all in around an hour!

Neither Petrosian nor Korobov wanted to risk too much in their final round game | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The game between former FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman and Gata Kamsky was a simple draw | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Rauf Mamedov breached top 10 on the leaderboard with his final round win against Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Second seed of the tournament, Vidit Gujrathi failed to win yet another game and scored his eighth draw of the tournament against Aleksey Aleksandrov | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vidit Gujrathi, who had finally broken his spell of seven straight draws in the previous round, went back to drawing in the final round. In round 9, he drew against Aleksey Aleksandrov. The tournament was a disaster for the Indian number three. Although he did not lose a single game, his performance of 2581 was way below his 2723 rating. He will be losing around 16 points in Aeroflot.

IM R Praggnanandhaa missed his chance at scoring a GM norm after being held to a draw by GM Wen Yang in the final round | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Top three finishers of Group B: (L to R) Mikhail Mozharov, Alexander Moskalenko and Dorian Rogozenco | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Final standings (Group A)

Final standings (Group B)

Links

• Official site
• Kovalev inches closer to the title
• Artemiev in sole lead 
• A third co-leader emerges
• Bologan's masterpiece
• Early highlights
• Aeroflot Open 2018 starts in Moscow
• Chess Festival Aeroflot Open 2018
• Starting list (Chess-Results)
• Stories on the Aeroflot Open 2017