International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open 2016

International Chess Open Festival AEROFLOT OPEN 2016

The festival will be held in the Hotel Cosmos, which is one of the largest in Moscow (over 1700 rooms). The hotel is located in one of the most beautiful and environmentally pure Moscow districts, within 20 minutes travelling from Red Square and only 200 metres walking from the nearest subway station (VDNKh). The official accommodation for the participants and also the venue of the Tournament will be at the Cosmos hotel. The Organizers of the Festival are the Aeroflot – Russian Airlines, the Russian Chess Federation and the Association of Chess Federations.

Three Open Tournaments (A, B and C) are made up according to the rating of the participants, and are nine round Swiss tournaments. Naturally, the greatest interest is aroused by the A tournament, requiring from a participant a rating above 2550 and in which usually a number of extra class players take part. In addition to the Open Tournaments, a Blitz Tournament will be held within the festival.

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; two nights at the hotel: single room EUR 90, double room EUR 150 for two persons. 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 email. The earlier you pay for the tournament package the smaller the amount will be. The minimal fees are accepted until 30 November 2015. All prices are given in EUR.

Travel and accommodation

• Package cost calculation for participants (PDF)
• Package cost calculation for accompany persons and guests (PDF)
• Zone breakdown for calculation of Aeroflot Open 2016 package cost (PDF)

Prize fund

This time the festival has the guaranteed prize fund amounting to EUR 140,000. This includes the prizes for the Blitz Tournament. The total prize fund of the three tournaments is EUR 120,000, the total prize fund Group A is EUR 65,000. Here are the details:

In exceptional cases the Organising Committee has the right to permit a chess player to play in a higher rated tournament than his/her FIDE rating indicates. In case of a tie of two or more participants, the prizes are 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

The number of prizes in each tournament does not exceed that indicated above in the tables. The Organizing committee reserved the right to pay the prizes in the same currency in which the package were paid for.

Determination of the winner:

• 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.
• 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.

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: 1. The Buchholz score.

Appeals: 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.

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.

Seniors, Juniors and Women: For the purposes of prize distribution, girls who were born after 31.12.1997, are considered to be adult players. A player will be considered a Senior when he was born before 01.01.1956. A player will be considered a Junior when he was born after 31.12.1997.

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 three players in each of the above categories.

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.

Festival schedule

Visa, tickets and payment

From the list 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. 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 2016 that in order to get their visas and air tickets in time they should pay for the package no later than February 15, 2016. After the payment is made please send to our email 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 email address you indicate. Accommodation at the hotel room from February 29 to March 11, 2016 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 15, 2016). The room prices in the periods from February 26 to 29 and from March 11 to 14, 2016 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. Payments in US dollars is accepted at the rate EUR 1 = US $1.2.

Additional information will be published on the site www.ruchess.ru.
Email: aeroflotchess@gmail.com – Tel/fax: +7 (495) 635-5684 – Tel.: +7 (985) 763-3616

Bank details: We kindly request the participants to transfer the payment in EUR or USD for the package to the following double-currency (EUR, USD) account:

Links Official tournament site Download all games in PGN 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.