Aeroflot, Rd. 8: Evgenyi Najer in sole lead again

by Johannes Fischer
3/9/2016 – Eight of nine rounds are played in the Aeroflot Tournament in Moscow and Evgenyi Najer has the best chances to win the tournament. He won in round eight after surviving a harmless opening and a not so harmless speculative piece sacrifice by Vladimir Fedoseev and now leads the field with 6.0/8. Half a point behind follow eight players with 5.5/8 each.
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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 eight

The penultimate round of the Aeroflot Open saw fierce battles because the top players tried hard to position themselves for the final round. One player who again fought hard to win was top seed Boris Gelfand who played with Black against Mateusz Bartel. But after seventy moves of fighting chess both players were forced to admit that all winning chances were a thing of the past:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 Nc6 7.Be3 e6 8.g4 b5 9.Bg2 Bb7 10.g5 Nd7 11.f4 Nb6 12.Qe2 Nc4 13.0-0-0 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Na5 15.f5 Nc4 16.Qg3 b4 17.Na4 e5 18.Nac5 Bc6 19.Bf1 Nb6 20.Nxa6 Be7 21.f6 gxf6 22.Nxb4 Bxe4 23.Bg2 Bg6 24.Bxa8 Qxa8 25.Qf2 Nd7 26.Nd5 Qxa2 27.gxf6 Bf8 28.Qd2 h5 29.Nc3 Qa6 30.Qf2 Bh6+ 31.Kb1 0-0 32.Qe2 Qxe2 33.Nxe2 Nxf6 34.Rxd6 Ng4 35.Nc3 Ne3 36.Rg1 Kh7 37.Rgxg6 fxg6 38.Nd2 Bf4 39.h3 g5 40.Nde4 Kg7 41.b4 g4 42.hxg4 Nxg4 43.b5 h4 44.Rd3 Ne3 45.Nf2 Rb8 46.Kb2 Kg6 47.Kb3 Kf5 48.Rd7 Ke6 49.Rh7 Nf5 50.Nfe4 Nh6 51.Ne2 Be3 52.Kc4 h3 53.Kd3 h2 54.N2g3 Bf4 55.c4 Rd8+ 56.Ke2 Rd4 57.Kf3 Rxc4 58.b6 Rb4 59.b7 Kd5 60.Kg2 Rb2+ 61.Kh1 Ng4 62.Rg7 Rb1+ 63.Kg2 h1Q+ 64.Nxh1 Kxe4 65.Rxg4 Rb2+ 66.Nf2+ Ke3 67.b8Q Rxb8 68.Rh4 Ke2 69.Rg4 Rb2 70.Rh4 Rc2 71.Rh3 Rc8 72.Rh4 Be3 73.Re4 Rg8+ 74.Ng4 Kd2 75.Kh3 Bf4 76.Nxe5 Bxe5 77.Rxe5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bartel,M2625Gelfand,B2735½–½2016B56Aeroflot Open A 20168.1

Mateusz Bartel

Boris Gelfand

For Evgenyi Najer things went very well. He played with Black against Vladimir Fedoseev who began the game with a surprising but harmless line against Najer's Caro-Kann but soon after the opening decided that the time was ripe for some tactics and sacrificed a piece. While this speculative piece sacrifice was fundamentally correct Fedoseev failed to find the right follow-up and found himself in a lost position with a piece down. This win allowed Najer to take the sole lead again and if he wins in round nine with White against Gata Kamsky he would also win the tournament.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.Be2
This move has never before been played on such a high level. 2...d5 3.e5 c5 4.f4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.0-0 e6 7.d3 Nh6 8.Be3 Nf5 9.Bf2 Be7
Black "survived" the opening without any problems and has a comfortable position - no real recommendation for White's opening concept. 10.Nbd2 h5 11.c3 Immediately 11.c4 might have been better. 11...g6 12.c4 Qd7 13.Rc1 b6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.d4 c4 16.b3 b5 17.bxc4 bxc4 18.Nxc4
White sacrifices a piece to get counterplay and the chance to set his central pawns in motion. The sacrifice might be correct but White does not follow up correctly. 18...dxc4 19.Rxc4 Nb4 20.Qb3 Nd5 21.Rc5 Nc7 22.e6?
Too violent. The engines recommend a much quieter approach, e.g. 22.Rcc1 0-0 23.Qb7 Rfc8 24.d5 with an - according to the engines - equal position. 22...fxe6 23.Ne5 Nxd4 24.Qb2 Nxe2+ 25.Kh1 Bf6 26.Nxd7 Bxb2 27.Rxc7
Black avoided all traps and now is simply a piece up. 27...Rd8 28.Rb7 Bc3 29.Nb8 Rc8 30.Nd7 Rd8 31.Nb8 Rf8 32.h3 Rxf4 33.Nc6 Rd6 34.Re7+ Kf8 35.Rc7 Bf5 36.Kh2 Rc4 37.Rc8+ Kg7 38.Rc7+ Kf6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fedoseev,V2664Najer,E26640–12016B10Aeroflot Open A 20168.2

Vladimir Fedoseev

A number of players close to the top tried hard to win their games to catch up to the leaders. One of them was Spanish Grandmaster Francisco Vallejo Pons. Directly after the opening he ventured a speculative piece sacrifice against Rinat Jumabayev but in the end fell victim to a tactical shot by his opponent.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.g3 Nb6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Kf2 Qd7 14.Ng2 Bd6 15.Nf4 0-0 16.h4
16...Nh5!? Starting double-edged play. Safer was 16...Bf5 17.g4 Be6 . 17.Nxh5 Bxh5 18.g4 Bxg4 18...Bg6? 19.h5 19.fxg4 Qxg4 20.Ne2 Nc4
21.Rxc4! Returning material to ease the pressure and to liberate the white pieces. dxc4 22.Qxc4 Be7 23.Ke1 Bxh4+ 24.Kd1 Rae8 25.Qd3 h6 26.Kc2 Bg5
For White's two minor pieces Black has a rook and two pawns - moreover, he has active play and is by no means worse. 27.Nc3 b5 28.Be2 Qe6 29.Bf3 a5 30.d5 cxd5 31.Bxd5 Qb6 Better was 31...Qc8! 32.Ne4 Be7? By hindsight it is obvious that an active approach would have been better, e.g. 32...Re5! 33.Bc3 Rf5 and White is only slightly better. 33.Bc3 Qg6?
Overlooking a tactical trick. More stubborn was 33...Rc8! even though White is still clearly better here. 34.Nf6+‼ Winning the queen! Qxf6 34...gxf6 35.Qxg6+ Kh8 36.Rxh6# 34...Bxf6 35.Qxg6 34...Kh8 35.Qxg6 fxg6 36.Nxe8 Rxe8?? 37.Rxh6# 35.Bxf6 Bxf6 36.Rf1 Bg5 37.e4 Rc8+ 38.Kb1 Kh8 39.Qxb5 f5 40.e5 f4 41.a3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Jumabayev,R2607Vallejo Pons,F26771–02016D12Aeroflot Open A 20168.6

Francisco Vallejo Pons

Results

Bo. No.   Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg No.
1 27 GM Bartel Mateusz 2625 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Gelfand Boris 2735 1
2 15 GM Fedoseev Vladimir 2664 5 0 - 1 5 GM Najer Evgeniy 2664 16
3 6 GM Matlakov Maxim 2682 5 ½ - ½ 4½ GM Bu Xiangzhi 2724 2
4 5 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2704 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr 2650 20
5 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2677 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Kobalia Mikhail 2632 26
6 37 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2607 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2677 8
7 11 GM Kamsky Gata 2673 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Goganov Aleksey 2575 52
8 25 GM Dubov Daniil 2634 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Moiseenko Alexander 2668 12
9 13 GM Sjugirov Sanan 2667 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2637 23
10 36 GM Wen Yang 2609 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Zvjaginsev Vadim 2662 18
11 3 GM Wei Yi 2714 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Bachmann Axel 2609 35
12 10 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2674 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Petrosian Tigran L. 2607 38
13 14 GM Swiercz Dariusz 2665 4 0 - 1 4 GM Eliseev Urii 2601 40
14 17 GM Safarli Eltaj 2663 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Potkin Vladimir 2585 46
15 19 GM Motylev Alexander 2655 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Bocharov Dmitry 2595 42
16 43 GM Dragun Kamil 2594 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Grachev Boris 2639 22
17 44 GM Timofeev Artyom 2593 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Hovhannisyan Robert 2636 24
18 54 GM Lalith Babu M R 2573 4 0 - 1 4 GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2615 31
19 67   Predke Alexandr 2508 4 1 - 0 4 GM Savchenko Boris 2610 34
20 39 GM Bluebaum Matthias 2605 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Korobov Anton 2713 4
21 9 GM Jobava Baadur 2676 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Kovalev Vladislav 2560 56
22 45 GM Socko Bartosz 2587 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Khalifman Alexander 2624 28
23 30 GM Lu Shanglei 2620 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Bindrich Falko 2557 58
24 84 IM Martirosyan Haik M. 2425 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Bok Benjamin 2611 32
25 33 GM Cordova Emilio 2610 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2506 68

...

Standings

Rk. SNo   Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2 
1 16 GM Najer Evgeniy RUS 2664 6,0 4 2643
2 26 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2632 5,5 4 2622
3 1 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2735 5,5 4 2621
4 27 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2625 5,5 4 2618
5 18 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2662 5,5 4 2613
6 25 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2634 5,5 4 2597
7 11 GM Kamsky Gata USA 2673 5,5 4 2594
8 37 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2607 5,5 4 2582
9 6 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2682 5,5 3 2647
10 67   Predke Alexandr RUS 2508 5,0 4 2638
11 20 GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2650 5,0 4 2622
  31 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2615 5,0 4 2622
13 5 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2704 5,0 4 2610
14 2 GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2724 5,0 4 2606
15 13 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2667 5,0 4 2603
16 23 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2637 5,0 4 2585
17 15 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2664 5,0 4 2584
18 40 GM Eliseev Urii RUS 2601 5,0 4 2554
19 52 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2575 4,5 4 2666
20 43 GM Dragun Kamil POL 2594 4,5 4 2643
21 46 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2585 4,5 4 2642
22 35 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2609 4,5 4 2637
23 42 GM Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2595 4,5 4 2625
24 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2677 4,5 4 2621
25 8 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2677 4,5 4 2610

... 86 players

Click here for complete results...

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.
 
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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