Aeroflot R5: Black victories

by Alejandro Ramirez
3/31/2015 – We are a little over the halfway mark in the Aeroflot Open, and the excitement continues. Sasikirian drew two of his games in a row, allowing three people to catch up with him. Van Foreest won by default against Salgado (who withdrew from the tournament), while Nepomniachtchi and Dubov won with Black to catch up with 4.0/5. Meanwhile Mamedyarov, the top seed is struggling with 50%.
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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.

Round Four

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Sasikiran Krishnan 2682 3 ½ - ½ 2½ Kovalenko Igor 2661
2 Svetushkin Dmitry 2592 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Zvjaginsev Vadim 2658
3 Lu Shanglei 2570 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Khairullin Ildar 2630
4 Salgado Lopez Ivan 2627 2½ - - + 2½ Van Foreest Jorden 2493
5 Nepomniachtchi Ian 2714 2 1 - 0 2 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2625
6 Vallejo Pons Francisco 2708 2 ½ - ½ 2 Sethuraman S.P. 2623
7 Bukavshin Ivan 2618 2 1 - 0 2 Inarkiev Ernesto 2706
8 Korobov Anton 2694 2 1 - 0 2 Ponkratov Pavel 2613
9 Dubov Daniil 2627 2 1 - 0 2 Fedoseev Vladimir 2674
10 Grachev Boris 2673 2 ½ - ½ 2 Shimanov Aleksandr 2594
11 Mamedov Rauf 2658 2 ½ - ½ 2 Khalifman Alexander 2613
12 Swayams Mishra 2440 2 0 - 1 2 Adhiban B. 2646
13 Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2438 2 0 - 1 2 Kobalia Mikhail 2632
14 Bluebaum Matthias 2576 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756
15 Ernst Sipke 2530 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Petrosian Tigran L. 2671
16 Sjugirov Sanan 2669 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Grigoriants Sergey 2573
17 Motylev Alexander 2653 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Yilmaz Mustafa 2570
18 Mozharov Mikhail 2555 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Khismatullin Denis 2650
19 Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 2630 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Wagner Dennis 2549
20 Anton Guijarro David 2614 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Predke Alexandr 2530
21 Antipov Mikhail Al. 2529 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Potkin Vladimir 2605
22 Salem A.R. Saleh 2603 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Idani Pouya 2496
23 Gabuzyan Hovhannes 2553 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Goganov Aleksey 2598
24 Bok Benjamin 2587 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Vishnu Prasanna. V 2477
25 Can Emre 2555 1 ½ - ½ 1 Matlakov Maxim 2693
26 Savchenko Boris 2581 1 ½ - ½ 1 Oparin Grigoriy 2562
27 Svane Rasmus 2509 1 1 - 0 1 Esen Baris 2571
28 Sandipan Chanda 2569 1 ½ - ½ 1 Batchuluun Tsegmed 2499
29 Rapport Richard 2709 1½ 1 - 0 2 Bogdanovich Stanislav 2581
30 Stupak Kirill 2567 1 1 - 0 1 Ankit R. Rajpara 2477
31 Sanal Vahap 2487 1 1 - 0 1 Kotronias Vasilios 2565
32 Tregubov Pavel V. 2617 ½ ½ - ½ ½ Korobkov Piotr 2423
33 Al-Sayed Mohammed 2511 ½ 0 - 1 ½ Jumabayev Rinat 2572
34 Tran Tuan Minh 2455 ½ 0 - 1 0 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan 2505
35 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2379 ½ ½ - ½ 0 Kuderinov Kirill 2465
36 Asgarizadeh Ahmad 2412 0 ½ - ½ 0 Tabatabaei M.Amin 2448

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

Round Five

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg  
1 Sasikiran Krishnan 2682 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ Van Foreest Jorden 2493  
2 Kobalia Mikhail 2632 3 0 - 1 3 Nepomniachtchi Ian 2714  
3 Khairullin Ildar 2630 3 ½ - ½ 3 Korobov Anton 2694  
4 Kovalenko Igor 2661 3 0 - 1 3 Dubov Daniil 2627  
5 Zvjaginsev Vadim 2658 3 ½ - ½ 3 Bukavshin Ivan 2618  
6 Adhiban B. 2646 3 ½ - ½ 3 Lu Shanglei 2570  
7 Petrosian Tigran L. 2671 2½ 1 - 0 3 Svetushkin Dmitry 2592  
8 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756 2½ 0 - 1 2½ Anton Guijarro David 2614  
9 Sethuraman S.P. 2623 2½ 0 - 1 2½ Rapport Richard 2709  
10 Khalifman Alexander 2613 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Vallejo Pons Francisco 2708  
11 Wagner Dennis 2549 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Grachev Boris 2673  
12 Potkin Vladimir 2605 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Mamedov Rauf 2658  
13 Shimanov Aleksandr 2594 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ Motylev Alexander 2653  
14 Inarkiev Ernesto 2706 2 ½ - ½ 2½ Gabuzyan Hovhannes 2553  
15 Fedoseev Vladimir 2674 2 1 - 0 2 Stupak Kirill 2567  
16 Idani Pouya 2496 2 0 - 1 2 Sjugirov Sanan 2669  
17 Khismatullin Denis 2650 2 1 - 0 2 Svane Rasmus 2509  
18 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2625 2 ½ - ½ 2 Mozharov Mikhail 2555  
19 Ponkratov Pavel 2613 2 ½ - ½ 2 Swayams Mishra 2440  
20 Vishnu Prasanna. V 2477 2 0 - 1 2 Salem A.R. Saleh 2603  
21 Grigoriants Sergey 2573 2 1 - 0 2 Bok Benjamin 2587  
22 Bogdanovich Stanislav 2581 2 1 - 0 2 Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2438  
23 Matlakov Maxim 2693 1½ 1 - 0 2 Sanal Vahap 2487  
24 Oparin Grigoriy 2562 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 2630  
25 Goganov Aleksey 2598 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Sandipan Chanda 2569  
26 Batchuluun Tsegmed 2499 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Savchenko Boris 2581  
27 Predke Alexandr 2530 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Bluebaum Matthias 2576  
28 Jumabayev Rinat 2572 1½ 1 - 0 1½ Can Emre 2555  
29 Yilmaz Mustafa 2570 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Ernst Sipke 2530  
30 Esen Baris 2571 1 ½ - ½ 1½ Antipov Mikhail Al. 2529  
31 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan 2505 1 1 - 0 1 Tregubov Pavel V. 2617  
32 Kotronias Vasilios 2565 1 1 - 0 1 Korobkov Piotr 2423  
33 Ankit R. Rajpara 2477 1 ½ - ½ 1 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2379  
34 Tabatabaei M.Amin 2448 ½ + - - ½ Al-Sayed Mohammed 2511  
35 Kuderinov Kirill 2465 ½ ½ - ½ ½ Tran Tuan Minh 2455  
36 Asgarizadeh Ahmad 2412 ½ 1   bye    
37 Salgado Lopez Ivan 2627 2½ 0   not paired

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.

Standings after Round Five

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

Round Six Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Nepomniachtchi Ian 2714 4   4 Van Foreest Jorden 2493
2 Dubov Daniil 2627 4   4 Sasikiran Krishnan 2682
3 Bukavshin Ivan 2618 3½   3½ Rapport Richard 2709
4 Korobov Anton 2694 3½   3½ Adhiban B. 2646
5 Lu Shanglei 2570 3½   3½ Petrosian Tigran L. 2671
6 Anton Guijarro David 2614 3½   3½ Zvjaginsev Vadim 2658
7 Vallejo Pons Francisco 2708 3   3½ Khairullin Ildar 2630
8 Khalifman Alexander 2613 3   3 Fedoseev Vladimir 2674
9 Grachev Boris 2673 3   3 Potkin Vladimir 2605
10 Sjugirov Sanan 2669 3   3 Shimanov Aleksandr 2594
11 Svetushkin Dmitry 2592 3   3 Kovalenko Igor 2661
12 Mamedov Rauf 2658 3   3 Bogdanovich Stanislav 2581
13 Motylev Alexander 2653 3   3 Grigoriants Sergey 2573
14 Salem A.R. Saleh 2603 3   3 Khismatullin Denis 2650
15 Gabuzyan Hovhannes 2553 3   3 Kobalia Mikhail 2632
16 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756 2½   3 Wagner Dennis 2549
17 Savchenko Boris 2581 2½   2½ Inarkiev Ernesto 2706
18 Bluebaum Matthias 2576 2½   2½ Matlakov Maxim 2693
19 Jumabayev Rinat 2572 2½   2½ Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2625
20 Mozharov Mikhail 2555 2½   2½ Sethuraman S.P. 2623
21 Ernst Sipke 2530 2½   2½ Ponkratov Pavel 2613
22 Swayams Mishra 2440 2½   2½ Goganov Aleksey 2598
23 Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 2630 2   2 Svane Rasmus 2509
24 Bok Benjamin 2587 2   2 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan 2505
25 Stupak Kirill 2567 2   2 Idani Pouya 2496
26 Kotronias Vasilios 2565 2   2 Vishnu Prasanna. V 2477
27 Sanal Vahap 2487 2   2 Oparin Grigoriy 2562
28 Antipov Mikhail Al. 2529 2   2 Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2438
29 Batchuluun Tsegmed 2499 1½   1½ Esen Baris 2571
30 Ankit R. Rajpara 2477 1½   1½ Yilmaz Mustafa 2570
31 Sandipan Chanda 2569 1½   1½ Asgarizadeh Ahmad 2412
32 Can Emre 2555 1½   1½ Tabatabaei M.Amin 2448
33 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2379 1½   1½ Predke Alexandr 2530
34 Tregubov Pavel V. 2617 1   1 Tran Tuan Minh 2455
35 Korobkov Piotr 2423 1   1 Kuderinov Kirill 2465

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

Replay Round Four and Five

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Topics: Aeroflot Open, Russia
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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