
After a couple of years hiatus the Aeroflot Open is back!
The classic event has been more than just a massive super-strong series of opens, it has been the proving grounds for the players on the rise, a rich source of norms, and competition for all levels divided into three opens. It also has a richly doted blitz tournament at the end, free of entry for those registered in tournaments A and B.
Winning the A tournament is a notable point of prestige for a player, and has heralded many a new star on the come. What is so special about it that even the grandmasters come with the intention of just playing hard, fighting hard? To start with, there is the cutoff point: you need to be rated 2550 just to play. Granted the organizers do make a few exceptions, notably for young players expected to do better than their rating suggests, but no other Open in the world has such a stiff requirement. On top of that the winner of the Aeroflot Open A section will directly qualify for the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting later this year.
This year's top 30 participants:
No. | Name | FED | Rtg | |||
1 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2756 | |||
2 | Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2714 | |||
3 | Rapport Richard | HUN | 2709 | |||
4 | Vallejo Pons Francisco | ESP | 2708 | |||
5 | Inarkiev Ernesto | RUS | 2706 | |||
6 | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2694 | |||
7 | Matlakov Maxim | RUS | 2693 | |||
8 | Sasikiran Krishnan | IND | 2682 | |||
9 | Fedoseev Vladimir | RUS | 2674 | |||
10 | Grachev Boris | RUS | 2673 | |||
11 | Petrosian Tigran L. | ARM | 2671 | |||
12 | Sjugirov Sanan | RUS | 2669 | |||
13 | Kovalenko Igor | LAT | 2661 | |||
14 | Mamedov Rauf | AZE | 2658 | |||
15 | Zvjaginsev Vadim | RUS | 2658 | |||
16 | Motylev Alexander | RUS | 2653 | |||
17 | Khismatullin Denis | RUS | 2650 | |||
18 | Adhiban B. | IND | 2646 | |||
19 | Kobalia Mikhail | RUS | 2632 | |||
20 | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | VEN | 2630 | |||
21 | Khairullin Ildar | RUS | 2630 | |||
22 | Dubov Daniil | RUS | 2627 | |||
23 | Salgado Lopez Ivan | ESP | 2627 | |||
24 | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2625 | |||
25 | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2623 | |||
26 | Bukavshin Ivan | RUS | 2618 | |||
27 | Tregubov Pavel V. | RUS | 2617 | |||
28 | Anton Guijarro David | ESP | 2614 | |||
29 | Khalifman Alexander | RUS | 2613 | |||
30 | Ponkratov Pavel | RUS | 2613 |
The Aeroflot Open will not top the Gibraltar Open in terms of raw strength at the top, but it more than makes up for it in sheer number of grandmaster players. The tournament only has 72 players, and the organizers only granted a few exceptions for players under 2550 to be able to participate. The lowest rated player is the Kazakh sensation Zhansaya Abdumalik, who comes from a fantastic performance in Reykjavik.
Organizer Alexander Bach addressing the crowd
Ashot Vardapetyan and Elina Danielian
Top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
At 2653 Alexander Motylev would easily be the top seed in most opens, but not in Aeroflot
Anton Korobov from Ukraine
A little champagne to kick off the festivities
Already from the first round results it is obvious that this is not a normal Swiss. True, the top rated players are still playing against underdogs, but instead of the usual 300 or 400 point gap, there is but a 150-170 difference at the most. Many draws were seen and a couple of surprises, the most notable probably being the victory of Lu Shanglei over Matlakov. The Chinese player had already made headlines when he beat Carlsen last year in the World Blitz Championship.
Mamedyarov was playing the strong player Savchenko, but to say he had no problems would be a euphemism:
Vladimir Potkin also dispatched his opponent in a brilliant manner:
Round Two Pairings
Only 22 people remain unscathed from the first round, and the top matches already promise interesting chess. The top game will be between Khairullin-Mamedyarov, not an easy task for the top seed to continue on a perfect score.
Photos Boris Dolmatovski
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
LinksThe 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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |