Announcing the Aeroflot Open 2020

All information provided by the organiser

The 18^th Aeroflot Open Chess Festival

The Aeroflot Open Chess Festival, which is popular throughout the world, will be held in February 2020 for the 18^th time. This time the festival has the guaranteed prize fund amounting to EUR 140 000 (taking into account the prizes for the Blitz Tournament).

Three Open Tournaments (A, B and C) are made up according to the rating of the participants, and are 9-round Swiss — tournaments. Naturally, the greatest interest is aroused by A tournament, requiring from a participant a rating above 2550 and in which a number of extra class players usually take part.

In addition to the Open Tournaments, a Blitz Tournament will be held within the festival.

The official accommodation for the participants and also the venue of the Tournament will be at the "Cosmos" hotel.

Type of Chess Festival

The Organizers of the Festival are the "Aeroflot-Russian Airlines", the Russian Chess Federation and the Association of Chess Federations.

The festival consists of three open tournaments, each of which is a nine round Swiss event.

The Tournaments and Prize Fund

The total prize fund of the three tournaments is EUR 120 000.

Tournament A

For chessplayers with a FIDE rating higher than 2549. Total prize fund Group A: EUR 65 000

Tournament B

For chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2550, but higher than 2299. Total prize fund Group B: EUR 35 000

Tournament C

For chessplayers with a FIDE rating lower than 2300 or without rating. Total prize fund Group C: EUR 17500

Placing of players into tournaments (A,B,C) will be according to their respective FIDE ratings as of 1 February 2020. In exceptional cases the Organising Committee has the right to permit a chessplayer to play in a higher rated tournament than his/her FIDE rating indicates.

In case of a tie of 2 or more participants, the prizes are divided according to the Hort system.

The number of prizes in each tournament does not exceed that indicated above in the tables.

Tiebreak systems

For tournament A and B:

1. The number of games played with Black pieces. Byes and forfeited games will be considered as games played with White.
2. The average of the opponents ratings minus the highest and the lowest rating.

For Tournament C:

• The Buchholz score

Explication of the Hort System for the prize distribution.

In cases of a tie of two or more participants prizes will be divided according to the Hort system. The following example will explain this system.
Suppose 4 players share the same place. The four prizes are as follows:1st EUR 10,000, 2nd EUR 8,000, 3rd EUR 6,000, 4th EUR 4,000.

We have to split the amount of EUR 28,000. We split it into two equal parts of EUR 14,000 each. The first part will be split equally. Each of the players receives EUR 3,500.
The second part will be split according to the ranking after tiebreak.
#1 receives 3,500 + 5,000 = 8,500

#2 receives 3,500 + 4,000 = 7,500 #3 receives 3,500 + 3,000 = 6,500 #4 receives 3,500 + 2,000 = 5,500

Special Prizes

There will also be special prizes for the best performance among seniors, women and juniors in all tournaments amounting to EUR 2500 in total.
There will also be a prize for the best result shown by an unrated player in section C.

For the purposes of prize distribution, girls who were born after 31.12.2001, are considered to be adult players.

Only one prize can be awarded to a player (the highest one).

The exact distribution of the special prizes will be announced after the second round of the tournament, when the numbers of seniors, women and juniors and the ratings of these players are known.
Attention is called to the fact that for such prizes to be awarded there should be at least 3 players in each of the above categories.

Seniors, Juniors and Women:

A player will be considered a Senior when he was born before 01-01-1960.
A woman player will be considered a Senior when she was born before 01.01.1965. A player will be considered a Junior when he was born after 31-12-2001.

Time control

Tournament A: 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.
Tournament B: 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.

Tournament C: 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.

The Festival Schedule

Additional Information

Appeals Committee

There will be an Appeals Committee of 3 members and two reserve members.
An appeal must be delivered to the non-voting Chairman of the Appeals Committee, Mr. A.Bach, within one hour after the round involved.
Appeals against pairings are not accepted, unless the following rules of the Swiss system are violated:

1. Two players shall not meet more than once.
2. A player can receive only one bye.

A player who appeals has to pay a deposit of EUR 200, which will be returned if the Appeals Committee decides to satisfy the appeal.

Swiss system

The Swiss pairings program used in all the tournaments and in the Blitz tournament is Swiss - Manager based on ratings.

28 February 2020 a double nine-round Swiss Blitz Tournament will be held in the same venue ( Hotel “Cosmos”).The time control is 3 minutes with an increment of 2 seconds per move till the end of the game. The prize fund of the Blitz Tournament constitutes EUR 20,000 to be distributed as follows:

The Organizing committee reserved the right to pay the prizes in the same currency in which the packages were paid for.

The participants of tournaments A and B are admitted without a fee. The other players will be admitted upon the following terms:

• admission fee: EUR 300

• 2 nights at the hotel (single room:EUR 90; double room: EUR 130 for two persons)

• airfare (depending on the zone): See the table

  Determination of the winner

  1. If two players tie for the first place, then two blitz games with the same control as in the tournament will be played to determine the winner. If the outcome is still undecided, then a sudden-death game with a time control of 5 min. vs 4 min. will be played.

  2. If more than two players tie for the first place, then the first two are determined as follows:

     • Buchholz score

     • number of wins

     • result of personal encounter

     • Whereupon an additional match is played between the first two players, as per paragraph 1.

Attention of all potential participants!

All participants and accompanying persons who enjoy, within this project, the services of the air company Aeroflot – Russian airlines and who have paid for their respective packages, will get their fully paid for air tickets by e- mail.

The earlier you pay for the tournament package the smaller the amount will be. The minimal fees are accepted until 10 December 2019. All prices are given in EUR.

Transfer Airport — Hotel “Cosmos” — Airport will be given to only those participants, guests and accompanying persons who acquired air tickets as part of the whole Aeroflot Open 2020 package.

Click or tap to expand

Click or tap to expand

Visa, tickets and payment

Air tickets acquired within the package include paid-for baggage (1 place).

From the tables given below one can see the financial conditions of participation. The price of the package (airfare, transfer, accommodation and entry fee) is given at a discount. The packages include breakfast. Those who wish to have meals in addition to breakfast should additionally pay EUR 200 for full-board for the entire period.

Attention is drawn to the fact that within the package air flights are possible in the period from 15.01.2020 till

20.03.2020. Also possible are flights from Moscow to all the zones and back.

A participant who does not need air ticket and accommodation should only pay the entrance fee, which is the same for all participants. The earlier the payment is made the smaller its amount. Buffet breakfast is included in a package.

We again call the attention of all foreigners who wish to participate in the festival “Aeroflot Open 2020” that in order to get their visas and air tickets in time they should pay for the package not later than February 5, 2020.

After the payment is made please send to our e-mail or fax addresses the registration form, including the name and surname, Elo rating, birth date, home address, number and expiry date of your passport, as well as a (scanned) copy of it, your itinerary (with arrival and departure dates). Please name the city in which you want to get your entry visa. The further course of action is this – the Association of Chess Federations receives a confirmation of payment and sends an invitation to start arranging for a visa. Electronic tickets will be sent to the e-mail address you indicate.

Accommodation at the hotel room from February 18 to 29, 2020 is paid for by the package. Those who wish to come earlier and/or depart at a later date should book and additionally pay for their rooms in advance (not later than February 5, 2020). The room prices in the periods from February 15 to 18 and from February 29 to 4, 2020 are:

• single room (standard) – EUR 55

• single room (superior) – EUR 65

• double room (standard) – EUR 80

• double room (superior) – EUR 90

One person may stay in a double room only if he has paid the whole price (EUR 90).

Attention is called to the fact that full packages that have already been paid for are not refundable.

Additional information will be published on the site www.acfed.ru

e-mail: aeroflotchess@gmail.com tel/fax: +7 (495) 635-5684
tel.: +7 (985) 763-3616

Attention of foreign participants

All foreigners who wish to participate in the festival “ Aeroflot Open 2020” should pay the entry fee not later than 5.02.2020 in order to be able to get a visa and airticket in time.

Bank details

We kindly request the participants to transfer the payment in EUR for the package to the following account.

Attention is drawn to the fact that the Bank details of the account to which payments for the package in EUR must be transferred have been changed!

Links

• Official site