Moscow Open Rd6: A brawl to the end

by Albert Silver
2/6/2015 – After six rounds, the previous leaders were unable to maintain their immaculate results, and suddenly nothing is clear. While Inarkiev continues in the lead, he is no longer alone, while Goryachkina is looking at nine others with the same scores, in what will be an open brawl to the end. In the student's event, Dubov defeated Belous with a spectacular sacrificial attack.

ChessBase 15 - Mega package ChessBase 15 - Mega package

Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!

More...

In the main Open, Ernesto Inarkiev dropped a half point at 5.5/6, and has already been caught
by top-seed Ian Nepomniachtchi. They will face each other in the seventh round.

20-year-old Ivan Bukavshin (2622) has been recovering from a slip in round two and is at 4.5/6

16-year-old Vladislav Artemiev has been climbing the ranks and is now at 5.0/6 with a 2707
performance. In round six he beat...

...IM Kirill Kuderinov, who is still well on track for a GM norm with a 2635 performance.

After four straight wins, Goryachkina conceded two draws and must now contend with no fewer
than nine others all at 5.0/6. She may still be the favorite, but the title is anyone's now.

Journalist and WGM, Elmira Mirzoeva has had a great event so far and shares the lead with 5.0/6

After a poor start, IM Lilit Galojan has bounced back with three straight wins

In the student's event, Dubov played a spectacular sacrificial attack to defeat Belous. Don't miss this highly entertaining game.

Daniil Dubov - Vladimir Belous

[Event "Moscow Open Students 2015"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2015.02.03"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Belous, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2577"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2015.01.31"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 c6 7. e3 Bd6 8. Bd3 Nf8 9. O-O Ng6 10. e4 dxe4 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nxe4 Qd8 13. d5 Bf4 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Bc4 Bg4 {Dubov had long been characterized as a highly positional player, but he seems to be working on changing this.} 16. Bxf7+ Kxf7 17. Nfg5+ Bxg5 18. Qxg4 Be7 19. Rad1 $1 {Though down a piece, White certainly has compensation with a king wide open to harass and pieces arriving with gain of tempi.} Qa5 20. Rd7 Rhf8 21. h4 Qe5 {Black is trying hard to regroup and make his extra material weigh in. The question is whether he will succeed in time.} 22. h5 Nf4 $6 {It is easy to look at the engine and point this out as a mitsake, but imagine being in that situation. What would you have done?} (22... Ke8 $1 {evacuating the king and opening the file for the rook on f8.} 23. hxg6 Rf4 24. Qd1 Rxe4 25. gxh7 Kf7 26. Qb3+ {would have held the balance.}) 23. Re1 Kg8 24. Nf6+ $1 Qxf6 25. Rexe7 g5 26. hxg6 Nd5 27. Rg7+ $3 ({The point is not two rooks for the queen, but... mate!} 27. Rg7+ Qxg7 28. gxh7+ {Check!} Kxh7 29. Qxg7#) 1-0

Photos by Galina Popova and Eteri Kublashvili

Standings of Open A after six rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
rtg+/-
1
7
GM
 Inarkiev Ernesto RUS
2675
5.5
12.9
2
1
GM
 Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS
2714
5.5
6.8
3
9
GM
 Grachev Boris RUS
2670
5.0
4.9
4
12
GM
 Artemiev Vladislav RUS
2659
5.0
3.3
5
33
GM
 Pridorozhni Aleksei RUS
2545
5.0
9.8
6
11
GM
 Petrosian Tigran L. ARM
2663
5.0
2.4
7
14
GM
 Mamedov Rauf AZE
2642
5.0
6.2
8
18
GM
 Volkov Sergey RUS
2618
5.0
5.0
9
34
GM
 Xiu Deshun CHN
2543
4.5
14.1
10
4
GM
 Korobov Anton UKR
2687
4.5
0.7
11
70
IM
 Zakhartsov Vladimir RUS
2421
4.5
18.9
12
36
GM
 Iljushin Alexei RUS
2515
4.5
14.1
13
2
GM
 Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP
2706
4.5
-2.0
14
10
GM
 Fedoseev Vladimir RUS
2668
4.5
-1.6
15
28
GM
 Gabrielian Artur RUS
2554
4.5
2.2
16
42
GM
 Kharchenko Boris UKR
2483
4.5
11.8
17
6
GM
 Sjugirov Sanan RUS
2678
4.5
-2.8
18
8
GM
 Khismatullin Denis RUS
2673
4.5
-3.1
19
3
GM
 Lysyj Igor RUS
2700
4.5
-5.2
20
21
GM
 Fier Alexandr BRA
2604
4.5
-1.3

Click for complete standings

Standings of Open B after six rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
Fed
Rtg
Pts
rtg+/-
1 1 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2451 5.0 3.8
2 6 IM Guseva Marina RUS 2375 5.0 4.2
3 2 WGM Lei Tingjie CHN 2429 5.0 6.3
4 26 WIM Schepetkova Margarita RUS 2216 5.0 44.0
5 3 WGM Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina POL 2415 5.0 1.1
6 23 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira RUS 2220 5.0 35.6
7 38 WCM Hojjatova Aydan AZE 2170 5.0 73.6
8 13 WGM Maisuradze Nino FRA 2310 5.0 11.6
9 17 WIM Ibrahimova Sabina AZE 2273 5.0 15.4
10 35 WFM Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim UZB 2181 5.0 56.4
11 28 WFM Petrukhina Irina RUS 2210 4.5 12.8
12 20 WFM Khlichkova Tatiana RUS 2257 4.5 14.0
13 71   Maslova Polina RUS 1996 4.5 98.0
14 15 IM Galojan Lilit ARM 2283 4.5 -1.9
15 44 WFM Bayarmaa Bayarjargal MGL 2134 4.0 36.2
16 42 WFM Shuvalova Polina RUS 2149 4.0 63.6
17 9 WGM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan KAZ 2344 4.0 -2.0
18 24 WIM Matveeva Olga RUS 2220 4.0 10.6
19 8 WIM Bivol Alina RUS 2355 4.0 -11.8
20 16 WIM Dauletova Gulmira KAZ 2277 4.0 -11.2

Click for complete standings

Links

The games are being 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.
Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.