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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.
Three draws on the top boards. No one reaches 4.0/4, and only two players are now 3.5/4. One of them is the leader before this round started, Sasikirian, who drew Kovalenko.
The other person with 3.5... well he got there in a slightly different way. He was scheduled to play Ivan Salgado from Spain. With Black and being considerably lower rated, the Dutch player certainly had a tough game ahead of him. However the Spaniard didn't show up, still for reasons unknown, and forfeited his game. We will be trying to find out more about the situation and provide it in the next report.
Sasikirian trying to extend his lead
Meanwhile Bukavshin brings us a beautiful victory against Inarkiev
Bukavshin putting in the final touches on Inarkiev
[Event "Aeroflot Open A 2015"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2015.03.30"] [Round "4.7"] [White "Bukavshin, Ivan"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2618"] [BlackElo "2706"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2015.03.27"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Rc1 cxd4 10. cxd4 e6 {This move looks a little strange. It doesn't really hinder d5 and it costs Black an important tempo.} 11. Bc4 O-O 12. O-O Na5 13. Bd3 b6 14. h4 {even though the rook is no longer on the h-file, it is natural to weaken the Black king position.} Bb7 15. h5 f5 {This move is as ugly as it gets, it's definitely very weakening. Black wants his light squares, but life is not so easy.} 16. e5 gxh5 17. Ng5 Qd5 $2 {Missing White's brilliant reply.} (17... Qe8 18. Rc7 {with an initiative.}) 18. Be4 Qd7 (18... fxe4 19. Qxh5 h6 (19... Rfc8 20. Qxh7+ Kf8 21. Qg6 Kg8 {And White has a choice of brilliant wins to choose from.} 22. Qf7+ Kh8 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Kh2 {with Rh1 and Kg3 to follow, just to name one.}) 20. Rc7 {with the unstoppable idea of Qg6 and forced mate.}) 19. Bxb7 Nxb7 20. Qxh5 Bh8 21. f4 Rae8 22. Rf3 Re7 { Positionally Black is simply busted.} 23. Rg3 Rg7 24. Bf2 Qe8 25. Qh3 Nd8 26. Nxh7 Rxg3 27. Bxg3 Rf7 28. Ng5 Rd7 29. Rc8 $18 Bg7 30. Bf2 Qg6 31. Qb3 Bf8 32. Qa4 Qg7 33. Rc3 Rc7 34. Rg3 Rc1+ 35. Kh2 Qh6+ 36. Rh3 Qg7 37. Qe8 Qe7 38. Qh5 Bg7 39. Qg6 Kf8 40. Nh7+ Kg8 41. Nf6+ Kf8 42. Rh8+ 1-0
And it's over!
Vallejo and Sethuraman split the point on board six
Nepomniachtchi in his game against Vidit Santosh
The two leaders drew their game at the top, leaving an opportunity for the horde with 3.0/4 to win their game and catch up to first place.
Only two players managed to do this, and they both did it with the black pieces!
Nepomniachtchi convincingly outplayed Kobalia. He was able to trap his opponent's bishop on a5, away from the action, and even though that bishop never perished, it simply wasn't able to help the rest of his army on the other side of the board. It was also always a target on a5. Nepo won a pawn and cleaned up on the kingside.
Meanwhile in the Kovalenko-Dubov game, White bet all his chips on his kingside attack, while Black had an annoying passed b-pawn to create counterattack with. It became pretty clear pretty quickly that White wasn't going to breakthrough on the kingside, and Black's pawn cost White a piece and the game.
Back in board eight the game between Mamedyarov and Anton Guijarro was crazy, with Black's king waltzing to f5 with a lot of pieces still on the board... to help out on the attack! A game that we recommend you replay through. A tough loss for Mamedyarov but a good victory for the young Spaniard.
Speaking of young talented Spaniards, Ivan Salgado Lopez seems to have withdrawn from the tournament despite his great start.
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. |
| 1 | Dubov Daniil | RUS | 2627 | 4.0 |
| 2 | Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2714 | 4.0 |
| 3 | Van Foreest Jorden | NED | 2493 | 4.0 |
| 4 | Sasikiran Krishnan | IND | 2682 | 4.0 |
| 5 | Lu Shanglei | CHN | 2570 | 3.5 |
| 6 | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2694 | 3.5 |
| 7 | Bukavshin Ivan | RUS | 2618 | 3.5 |
| 8 | Anton Guijarro David | ESP | 2614 | 3.5 |
| 9 | Rapport Richard | HUN | 2709 | 3.5 |
| 10 | Khairullin Ildar | RUS | 2630 | 3.5 |
| 11 | Zvjaginsev Vadim | RUS | 2658 | 3.5 |
| 12 | Petrosian Tigran L. | ARM | 2671 | 3.5 |
| 13 | Adhiban B. | IND | 2646 | 3.5 |
| 14 | Vallejo Pons Francisco | ESP | 2708 | 3.0 |
| 15 | Mamedov Rauf | AZE | 2658 | 3.0 |
| 16 | Grachev Boris | RUS | 2673 | 3.0 |
| 17 | Motylev Alexander | RUS | 2653 | 3.0 |
| 18 | Sjugirov Sanan | RUS | 2669 | 3.0 |
| 19 | Gabuzyan Hovhannes | ARM | 2553 | 3.0 |
| 20 | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2603 | 3.0 |
The four leaders will face each other. With a little over half the tournament over, it is still anyone's event to win. Even players with 2.5/5 (50%!) can hit a hot streak, win the next four rounds and tie for first.
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. |
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