Aeroflot Open Rd6: Tough fights and great games

by Albert Silver
3/6/2016 – It has been a terrific series of fights with none able to break away from the pack for any length of time. At the top are Najer, Gelfand, Bartel and Matlakov with 4.5/6. The tournament has also been a boon to young talents, several of whom are found in the A and B events. In this report are two games with wonderfully instructive analysis by GM 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 six

One of Aravindh's biggest advantages is that doesn't really care about his previous results.
He just focuses on his present game. In round six he defeated fellow prodigy Alireza Firouzja.

The best part about Baadur Jobava is that whether he wins or loses, he is always in good spirits

Korobov - Bachmann

Korobov is a renowned tactician, but the Paraguayan grandmaster Axel
Bachmann was in the zone. Can you see his ultra-creative continuation?
Black to play.

The Polish grandmaster Bartel Mateusz has been all business and his focus and concentration
have been rewarded. After six rounds he is one of only four players with 4.5/6.

In the following game, you will be treated not only to deep strategic ideas, but extremely creative tactics to follow up on them. A true gem of a game with inspired notes by Iranian grandmaster GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

Korobov - Bachmann (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

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1.d4 d6 Axel likes this first move. 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 A transposition to KID. 5.g3 Korobov has a very broad repertoire and this move is within his repertoire. Nevertheless, this choice explains Korobov's psychological state of mind for today's battle: He is planning for a safe long-lasting edge from the white side of the King's Indian. 0-0 6.Bg2 Nbd7
Bronstein's favorite. Nc6 followed by a6 and Rb8 is another popular plan in this position thanks to the efforts of legendary Efim Geller in the 50s and 60s. 6...Nc6 7.0-0 a6 8.Qd3 e5 was played by none other than Korobov himself! 9.d5 Nb4 10.Qd1 a5 11.h3 Bf5 12.Nh4 Bd7 1-0 (50) Kovalenko,I (2700)-Korobov,A (2700) Berlin 2015 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.h3 Nc5 Nothing is new yet! All have been played several times. The author of this "commentary" has played it on several occasions from White's side! 11.Re1 a5 A thematic move. Otherwise, White would kick the c5 knight with b4 once he secures "matters" on the a1-h8 diagonal. 12.Qc2 c6 12...Nfxe4? does not win a pawn for Black! 13.Nxe4 Bxd4 14.Bg5 Qd7 14...f6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nxf6+ wins an exchange and the game for white. 15.Nf6+ Bxf6 16.Bxf6 Re6 17.Bc3 c6 18.Qd2 Na4 19.Bd4 c5 20.Rxe6 fxe6 20...Qxe6 21.Re1 Qd7 22.Bf6 wins right away. 21.Bf6 Qf7 22.Bg5 Qc7 23.Rd1 Ra6 24.b3 and the d6 pawn will collapse and so does black's position. 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Rad1 Be6!? Black offers his bishop for White's central knight. Although Nxe6 is a playable move, due to Black's lack of space, it is more practical to keep more pieces on the board. 15.b3 Rad8 16.f4 The most popular and most principled. Bc8 17.Bf2 h5?!N When I first saw this move, I immediately thought about GM Sarhan Guliev, who trained me from when I was only 2250 until I became a GM. If I had played this move, Sarhan would have called me a "Cafe player". It is hard to believe that this h pawn move could ever lead to anything tangible for Black since White has already established his center. However, as the game proceeds. Bachmann's idea is to re-route his knight thorugh h7 instead of d7. 17...Nfd7 18.Kh2 Na6 with a rich position. 1-0 (110) Gunina,V (2437)-Huang,Q (2424) Sochi 2009 18.Nf3! Nh7! Bachmann is not interested in Nfd7. 19.Bd4 Bxd4+ 20.Rxd4 Nf8 21.Kh2?! A waste of time. 21.Rdd1 had great prophylactic value since it would have prevented Black from bringing his queen to the kingside. Nfe6 21...Qe7 22.a3 Black doesn't have Qb6 anymore. Qf6 23.b4± 22.Qf2 Qe7 23.Nd5!± 21...Qe7 22.Qf2 Nfe6 23.Rdd1 Qf6 24.Re3?!
24.Qd2 would have prevented g5. 24...g5! Black has managed to neutralize White's advantage. What happens next has a lot of aesthetic and dramatic value! 25.f5 Nf8 26.Qd2 Nfd7 27.h4 27.Qxd6 Qxd6 28.Rxd6 g4 29.Ng1 Ne5 is a pawn up, strategically lost position for White! 27...gxh4?! 27...g4 28.Nd4 Ne5 seems like a safer alternative to me. 28.Qxd6? Korobov's misses Black's tactical response. 28.gxh4 would have given White some solid advantage. Ne5 29.Nxe5 dxe5 29...Qxe5+?? loses to 30.Rg3+ Kf8 31.Qg5 30.Rg3+ Kf8 31.Qf2 Rxd1 31...Qxh4+?? 32.Bh3 Qe7 32...Qf6 33.Qxc5+ 33.Qg1+- 32.Nxd1 Nd7 33.Kh3 With dangerous initiative for white. 28...Qxd6 29.Rxd6 Ne5 30.Rxd8 Ng4+ This is what Korobov missed! 31.Kh3 Rxd8 32.Re2 32.Re1 Rd3 33.Ne2 was only way to hold! 32...Rd3 33.Na4 Nxe4! A beautiful position. All of Black's pieces are cooperating in the attack against White's king, and yet, the computer shows that after Ne1, White holds. My suggestion? Turn off your engines and watch how Bachmann's piece harmony takes Korobov's king to its final journey! 34.Kxh4?? 34.Ne1 Rxg3+ 35.Kxh4 Ngf6 36.Bh3‼ What a defensive move! b5 37.Nb6 Ba6 38.cxb5 cxb5 39.Nd5 Nxd5 40.Rxe4 and white should be able to hold, after a lot of difficulties! 34...Ne3 35.Bh3 Nxf5+ 36.Bxf5 Bxf5 37.Ng5 Nf6?? This almost throws away the win! 38.Nh3?? And this returns the favor! 38.Rf2! Rd4+ 39.Rf4 Rxf4+ 40.gxf4 Bb1 41.Nc3 I doubt that Black could win this endgame, though White has a long way to go to earn a draw! 38...Kg7 39.Nf4 Rd1 40.Kg5 Bg4 41.Rh2 Ne4+ 41...Ne4+ 42.Kh4 Kh6 43.Nb2 Ng5
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Korobov,A2713Bachmann,A26090–12016E69Aeroflot Open5

Ian Nepomniachtchi is a world-class blitz and rapid player

Boris Savchenko's bored look may explain why he lost to Ernesto Inarkiev in round six

Kamsky - Salem

It is time to turn off engines, sit back, and evaluate the position. White is
a pawn down, and Black has a great 'pack' of pawns in the center. Sound
about right?

No! As GM Moradiabadi explains in his notes: "Black king's does not have a real safe place to go to, and in the long-run Black has a lot of difficulty to mobilize his pieces. In addition, Black has a number of weaknesses on the queenside, notably the a-pawn, which would fall once White manages to mobilize his pieces on the queenside."

Kamsky - Salem (annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabadi)

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Round six of the Aeroflot Open saw a nice strategic victory by the several-times "Candidate", Super-GM Gata Kamsky! 1.e4 96 c5 0 2.Nf3 4 d6 0 3.d4 4 cxd4 0 4.Nxd4 4 Nf6 1 5.Nc3 0 a6 5 6.a4 4 No surprise! This rare line is Gata's "pet" line against Najdorf. One of the famous occasions, in which Gata employed it is during his "Candidates" match against Topalov in 2011. Another top-level player, who regularly employs this line is British no.1 Michael Adams. Nc6 52 6...e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg5 The world champion has a different opinion on this position! 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.a5 Nc6 12.Be3 Qd7 13.Re1 Rae8 14.Bb6 Bd8∞ 1/2-1/2 (48) Carlsen,M (2864) -Gelfand,B (2755) Moscow 2013 8...Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Nd5 Nd7 11.Bc4 Rc8= 1/2-1/2 (37) Kamsky,G (2732)-Topalov,V (2775) Kazan 2011 7.a5 27 This move is actually Gata's "Novelty" against Topalov in 2011. Nxa5 Young talent, Salem, takes the challenge. Topalov's reaction was less drastic back in 2011. 7...e6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bd3 Be7 10.0-0 c5 11.Bf4 Qc7 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.e5 Qc6 14.f3 Nh5 15.Bd2 c4 16.Bxc4 dxe5 17.b3 Rd8 18.Rad1 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Nf4 1/2-1/2 (41) Kamsky,G (2732)-Topalov,V (2775) Kazan 2011 8.Nd5 45 I hope my memory is not failing me, but I think this move was studied by the "Chess Evolution" team, extensively back in 2011. e6 9.Nxf6+ 45 gxf6 2 10.Bd2 0 Nc6 31 11.Nxc6 5 bxc6 1 12.Bd3 6 h5N 12...d5 13.0-0 Bb7 14.Qe2 Bg7 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Ra4 1-0 (31) Bajarani,U (2471)-Rasulov,V (2512) Baku 2014 16.Qg4!± 13.0-0 d5
It is time to turn off engines, sit back, and evaluate the position. White is a pawn down, and Black has a great 'pack' of pawns in the center. However, Black king's does not have a real safe place to go to, and in the long-run Black has a lot of difficulty to mobilize his pieces. In addition, Black has a number of weaknesses on the queenside, notably the a-pawn, which would fall once White manages to mobilize his pieces on the queenside. 14.Ba5 Qd6 135 15.Bc3 138 Be7 1005 16.Ra4 536 e5 437 17.Qe2 71 Bg4 336 18.f3 39 Be6 125 19.Kh1! 0 Computers do not like this move, but I do! This move parries all the possible tactical tricks and prepares White to set-forth pressure on the queenside. h4 206 20.h3 40 Obvious prevention Rg8 21.Rfa1 92 Qb8 This move proves how hard this position is for a human to play. The fall of the a-pawn is now inevitable, and with it comes the fall of Black's position. 22.b4 167 22.b3 is equally good if not better. 22...Bd7 264 23.Rxa6 413 Rxa6 2 24.Rxa6 8 Qc8 53 25.Qf1 Gata parries Bxh3. Bd8 116 26.Be1! Now, Black's pawns prove to be ill-structured and Gata makes sure to grab them one after another! Rh8 33 27.Bf2 120 d4 36
28.Kh2 28.c3! dxc3 29.Qa1 Bxh3 30.Ra8 was a neater and more classy continuation. Gata's choice is equally good and in essence. Black is strategically lost. 28...Bc7 7 29.b5! 137 29.c3! dxc3 30.Qa1 is another way to win this game! 29...cxb5 55 30.Bxb5 6 Ke7 27 31.Be1 9 Kf8 43 31...Bd6 32.Ra7+- and Black is busted. Rd8 33.Ba5 32.Bxd7 147 Qxd7 1 33.Rxf6 24 It is White who is a pawn up. The rest is "just a matter of technique", which Gata takes care of with caution and patience. Rh5 43 34.Qa6 1258 Kg7 42 35.Bd2 13 Bd8 31 36.Rd6 150 Qc7 17 37.Rc6 12 Qd7 18 38.Rh6 377 Rg5 2 39.Qd6 360 Qe8 1 40.Rxh4 0 Rg6 0 41.Rg4 154 Rxg4 278 42.fxg4 0 Kg8 0 43.g5 0 Gata's patience and game plan was simple and deep. I believe that Salem's loss was as a result of dubious opening choice rather a poor play. The position was already hard to handle right out of the opening.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kamsky,G2667Salem,A26291–02016B90Aeroflot Open 20166

Andrey Esipenko is just 13 years old, but already has a rating of 2445. He is playing in
the 'A' category and has beat strong GMs like Nikita Maiorov and Denis Khismatullin

GM Rinat Jumabayev from Kazakhstan has 3.5/6 and is performing about par

About the annotator

Elshan Moradiabadi, is a grandmaster, rated 2603 FIDE, and was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He is a PhD student/candidate in Management Information System (MIS) at Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech university.

Elshan co-authored "Chess and the Art of War: Ancient Wisdom to Make You a Better Player" with Al Lawrence. He has also published written articles for ChessBase, and edited opening materials for fellow authors. Elshan Moradiabadi is a veteran instructor and teaches chess to every level, with students ranging from beginners to IM. He can be contacted for projects or teaching at his email.

Top results of round six

Bd
No.
Ti.
Name
Rtg
Pts.
Result
Pts.
Ti.
Name Rtg No.
1
8
GM
Vallejo Pons Francisco
2677
½ - ½
4
GM
Najer Evgeniy
2664
16
2
1
GM
Gelfand Boris
2735
1 - 0
GM
Grachev Boris
2639
22
3
6
GM
Matlakov Maxim
2682
1 - 0
GM
Hovhannisyan Robert
2636
24
4
27
GM
Bartel Mateusz
2625
1 - 0
GM
Artemiev Vladislav
2674
10
5
13
GM
Sjugirov Sanan
2667
½ - ½
GM
Goganov Aleksey
2575
52
6
15
GM
Fedoseev Vladimir
2664
½ - ½
GM
Wen Yang
2609
36
7
25
GM
Dubov Daniil
2634
½ - ½
GM
Zvjaginsev Vadim
2662
18
8
35
GM
Bachmann Axel
2609
½ - ½
GM
Rakhmanov Aleksandr
2650
20
9
43
GM
Dragun Kamil
2594
3
½ - ½
3
GM
Bu Xiangzhi
2724
2
10
3
GM
Wei Yi
2714
3
0 - 1
3
GM
Kobalia Mikhail
2632
26
11
5
GM
Nepomniachtchi Ian
2704
3
1 - 0
3
GM
Bok Benjamin
2611
32
12
7
GM
Inarkiev Ernesto
2677
3
1 - 0
3
GM
Savchenko Boris
2610
34
13
11
GM
Kamsky Gata
2673
3
1 - 0
3
GM
Salem A.R. Saleh
2615
31
14
67
 
Predke Alexandr
2508
3
½ - ½
3
GM
Swiercz Dariusz
2665
14
15
17
GM
Safarli Eltaj
2663
3
½ - ½
3
GM
Bocharov Dmitry
2595
42
16
19
GM
Motylev Alexander
2655
3
½ - ½
3
GM
Potkin Vladimir
2585
46
17
39
GM
Bluebaum Matthias
2605
3
0 - 1
3
GM
Sasikiran Krishnan
2637
23
18
48
GM
Demchenko Anton
2583
0 - 1
GM
Korobov Anton
2713
4
19
9
GM
Jobava Baadur
2676
½ - ½
GM
Alekseenko Kirill
2554
60
20
47
GM
Kunin Vitaly
2584
0 - 1
GM
Moiseenko Alexander
2668
12

Click for complete results

Standings after round six

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 16 GM Najer Evgeniy RUS 2664 4,5
2 1 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2735 4,5
3 27 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2625 4,5
4 6 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2682 4,5
5 36 GM Wen Yang CHN 2609 4,0
6 52 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2575 4,0
7 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2677 4,0
8 35 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2609 4,0
9 18 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2662 4,0
10 20 GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2650 4,0
11 5 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2704 4,0
12 26 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2632 4,0
13 11 GM Kamsky Gata USA 2673 4,0
14 13 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2667 4,0
15 15 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2664 4,0
16 25 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2634 4,0
17 23 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2637 4,0
18 8 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2677 4,0
19 43 GM Dragun Kamil POL 2594 3,5
20 67   Predke Alexandr RUS 2508 3,5
21 54 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2573 3,5
22 46 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2585 3,5
23 22 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2639 3,5
24 30 GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2620 3,5
25 42 GM Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2595 3,5
26 4 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2713 3,5
27 2 GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2724 3,5
28 10 GM Artemiev Vladislav RUS 2674 3,5
29 14 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2665 3,5
30 33 GM Cordova Emilio PER 2610 3,5

Click for complete standings


Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
 

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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