Aeroflot Open Rd3: A leader at last

by Albert Silver
3/4/2016 – Round three of the Aeroflot Open saw one player emerge as the sole leader: Evgeny Najer, the reigning European Champion, as he defeated Tigran Petrosian. After that, things quickly become messy as six players stand at 2.5/3, and 27 more at 2.0. After two draws, Boris Gelfand scored his first win in an impressive game analyzed by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.
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Aeroflot Open 2016

Photos by Amruta Mokal

The 13th edition of the Aeroflot Open 2016 is being held in Moscow, Russia from the 29th of February to 10th of March 2016. The official hotel of the event is Cosmos and the playing venue is also located at the same place. There are three tournaments that are simultaneously taking place:

  • The A Group (2550 and above) which has 83 players. Out of them 67 are grandmasters and the average rating of the tournament is 2585. This is higher than the Qatar Masters which had a rating average of 2529 (although in Doha the rating cut-off was 2300). The top seed of the tournament is Boris Gelfand with an Elo of 2735. Other star attractions are Bu Xiangzhi, Wei Yi and Ian Nepomniachtchi. They will fight for the first place of €18,000. Round begins at 3 p.m. every day and the time control is 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from the first.

  • The B Group (2300 and above) has attracted the most entries – 94. With the participation of 16 grandmasters and 40 International Masters this event has a pretty decent rating average of 2390. The first prize is €8,000. Round begins at 3 p.m. and the time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from the first.

  • 63 players participate in the C Group (below 2300). There are players right from the rating of 2296 down to unrated players. €3,000 is the first prize. Rounds begin every day at 3 p.m. and the time control is 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first. The participants must keep the record of moves till the end of the game.

Round three

Following the trend of top players participating in prestigious opens, Boris Gelfand is the top
seed in the Aeroflot Open. After two draws, the former World Championship challenger scores.

Demchenko - Gelfand (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 Fashionable. I remember when I was in my early 20s, 6.Be3 was the predominent continuation. What has remained the same since then is the fact that regardless of what is the most fashionable continuation, Gelfand is still one of the leaders in Najdorf theory! e6 This time, Gelfand adapts a "Scheveningen" type position. 6...e5 7.Nde2 h5 8.g3 is considered the main line. In fact, Gelfand himself drew two games against Bukavshin and Swiercz. b5 9.Nd5 Nbd7 10.Nec3 Bb7 11.Bg5 Rc8 12.Bg2 Be7 13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14.a3 14.h4 b4 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 e4 1/2-1/2 (40) Swiercz,D (2620)-Gelfand,B (2741) Skopje 2015 14...Qe6 15.Qe2 d5 1/2-1/2 (53) Bukavshin,I (2657)-Gelfand,B (2731) Moscow 2015 7.g4 Be7 8.g5 Nfd7 9.h4 b5 The most principled and popular. Black is planning to push white's knight back with b4. In the mean time he will have his bishop on b7 which will exert pressure on white's central pawn on e4. 9...Nc6 10.Be3 Rb8 11.Rg1 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Ne5 13.0-0-0 0-0 Is another double-edged possibility. ½-½ (41) Anand,V (2803)-Salem,A (2624) Berlin 2015 10.a3 Bb7 11.Be3 Nc6 12.Qd2 Both parties are developing their pieces in the most accurate way. There have been many games in this position! Rc8 The most principled. Gelfand is a classical player with a great sense for Sicillian. Here his rook on c8 will have an eye on thematic exchange sacrifice on c3. 13.Rh3
Flamboyant. Nxc6 is the move which has been played more than a dozen of times.White tries to get his rook out of a8-h1 diagonal's X-ray and covers f3 square to avoid tactical blows if black knight lands on e5. Nevertheless, the rest of the game shows that this was merely a home preparation by Demchenko. He must have relied on the beautiful victory of Areshchenko in this line. 13...b4N Another alternative could be the knight's move with the idea of occupying the c4 square. 13...0-0 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.Kb1 Bf8 16.h5 Nde5 17.h6 g6 18.f4 Nxd4 19.Bxd4 Nc4 20.Bxc4 Rxc4 21.Rd3 Qb8 22.b3 Rcc8 23.Bg7 Be7 24.f5 gxf5 25.exf5 exf5 26.Nd5 Bxd5 27.Rxd5 Rc5 28.Bb2 Rxd5 29.Qxd5 Bf8 30.g6 1-0 (30) Areshchenko,A (2682)-Hamitevici,V (2430) Reykjavik 2015 13...Nce5 Or 13...Na5 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.Nce2 a5 15...d5 is a machine-type continuation, after which, things remain unclear. 16.c3 Nc5 17.cxb4 Nxe4 18.Qd1 Bxb4+ 19.Nc3 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Bxc3+ 21.Bd2 Bxa1 22.Qxa1 0-0 23.Rb3 Qc7 24.f4 24.Qb2 Rb8 is in black's favor. 24...Rb8 25.Bd3 Rfc8 26.Kf2 And despite black's extra material, the position is much easier for white. 16.c3 Nc6 16...Na6 was indeed an alternative. 17.Nb5 Nc5 18.Bxc5 dxc5 19.Rd3 Qb6 20.Nd6+ Bxd6 21.Rxd6 0-0 The dust has settled. Black is far ahead in development and he has a target: the b2 pawn! 22.f4 Rcd8 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Qc2 c4!
Opening up the a7-g1 diagonal, fixing b2 pawn and taking away c4 square from White. Moves like this are like mate in one for Gelfand! 25.Rd1 Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Qxb2 27.Qd7 Kf8! Only a player with vast amount of experience , like Gelfand, can keep his nerve and enter this line. 28.Qc7 a4 passed pawns should be pushed! 29.f5? Desparate. Kd1 and Nc1 would have held for some times. 29.Kd1 a3 30.Nc1 a2 31.Nxa2 is too hasty for black. 29...exf5 30.exf5 a3 31.Qd6+ Ke8 32.Bg2 Qb1+ 33.Kf2 Qxf5+ 34.Ke1 Qb1+ 35.Kf2 Qb6+ 36.Nd4 a2 37.Bxc6+ Bxc6 38.Qa3 Qc7! 39.Nxc6 Qf4+ 40.Ke2 Qe4+ 41.Kf2 Qxh4+ 42.Kf3 Qh1+ 43.Kf4 Qxc6 44.Qxa2 h6 45.gxh6 Qxh6+ 46.Ke4 Qe6+ 47.Kd4 g5 A classical display by Gelfand! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Demchenko,A2583Gelfand,B27350–12016B81Aeroflot Open A 20163.16

Bu Xiangzhi also scored his first win, beating Vladimir Potkin

A bonafide doll

Top results of round three

Bd No. Ti. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Ti. Name Rtg No.
1 8 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2677 2 ½ - ½ 2 GM Wen Yang 2609 36
2 16 GM Najer Evgeniy 2664 2 1 - 0 2 GM Petrosian Tigran L. 2607 38
3 4 GM Korobov Anton 2713 1½ ½ - ½ 2 GM Goganov Aleksey 2575 52
4 6 GM Matlakov Maxim 2682 1½ 1 - 0 1½ GM Khismatullin Denis 2621 29
5 31 GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2615 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2677 7
6 30 GM Lu Shanglei 2620 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Sjugirov Sanan 2667 13
7 14 GM Swiercz Dariusz 2665 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Cordova Emilio 2610 33
8 18 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim 2662 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Bachmann Axel 2609 35
9 20 GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr 2650 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Jumabayev Rinat 2607 37
10 22 GM Grachev Boris 2639 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Bluebaum Matthias 2605 39
11 23 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2637 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Bocharov Dmitry 2595 42
12 84 IM Martirosyan Haik M. 2425 1½ 0 - 1 1½ GM Dubov Daniil 2634 25
13 26 GM Kobalia Mikhail 2632 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ GM Dragun Kamil 2594 43
14 64 GM Shyam Sundar M. 2523 1½ 0 - 1 1½ GM Bartel Mateusz 2625 27
15 2 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2724 1 1 - 0 1½ GM Potkin Vladimir 2585 46
16 48 GM Demchenko Anton 2583 1 0 - 1 1 GM Gelfand Boris 2735 1
17 56 GM Kovalev Vladislav 2560 1 0 - 1 1 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2704 5
18 10 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2674 1 ½ - ½ 1 GM Wagner Dennis 2583 49
19 58 GM Bindrich Falko 2557 1 0 - 1 1 GM Kamsky Gata 2673 11
20 12 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2668 1 0 - 1 1 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2573 53

Click for complete results

Standings after round three

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 16 GM Najer Evgeniy RUS 2664 3.0
2 27 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2625 2.5
3 25 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2634 2.5
4 52 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2575 2.5
5 36 GM Wen Yang CHN 2609 2.5
6 8 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2677 2.5
7 6 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2682 2.5
8 53 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2573 2.0
9 39 GM Bluebaum Matthias GER 2605 2.0
10 43 GM Dragun Kamil POL 2594 2.0
11 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2677 2.0
12 1 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2735 2.0
  5 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2704 2.0
14 11 GM Kamsky Gata USA 2673 2.0
  13 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2667 2.0
16 15 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2664 2.0
17 33 GM Cordova Emilio PER 2610 2.0
18 35 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2609 2.0
19 37 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2607 2.0
20 41 GM Azarov Sergei BLR 2599 2.0
21 30 GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2620 2.0
22 38 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2607 2.0
23 42 GM Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2595 2.0
24 14 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2665 2.0
25 18 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2662 2.0
26 20 GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2650 2.0
27 2 GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2724 2.0
  22 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2639 2.0
29 4 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2713 2.0
30 23 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2637 2.0
31 26 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2632 2.0
  32 GM Bok Benjamin NED 2611 2.0
33 31 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2615 2.0
34 34 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2610 2.0

Click for complete standings

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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