The Aeroflot Open 2008 is taking place from February 13th to 22nd. The venue
and official hotel is the "Gamma-Delta" Hotel, which can accomodate 3,500
guests. The festival consists of four tournaments, each a nine rounds Swiss
Tournament. The total prize
fund of the four tournaments is US $200,000 – $30,000 first place
and $100,000 total in the top group.
The event was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi, 17-year-old Russian Grandmaster, half
a point ahead of the field. The youngster could have made it even more convincing,
had he not accepted a draw in a winning position in round eight (details at
the end of this report).
Final top standings (after nine rounds)
| # |
Player |
FED |
Rtng |
Pts. |
Perf. |
| 1 |
GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian |
RUS |
2600 |
7.0 |
2822 |
| 2 |
GM Motylev, Alexander |
RUS |
2644 |
6.5 |
2761 |
| 3 |
GM Dreev, Alexey |
RUS |
2633 |
6.5 |
2767 |
| 4 |
GM Rodshtein, Maxim |
ISR |
2614 |
6.0 |
2717 |
| 5 |
GM Volokitin, Andrei |
UKR |
2674 |
6.0 |
2706 |
| 6 |
GM Grachev, Boris |
RUS |
2601 |
6.0 |
2736 |
| 7 |
GM Guseinov, Gadir |
AZE |
2617 |
6.0 |
2727 |
| 8 |
GM Amonatov, Farrukh |
TJK |
2649 |
6.0 |
2701 |
| 9 |
GM Mamedov, Rauf |
AZE |
2583 |
5.5 |
2694 |
| 10 |
GM Bologan, Viktor |
MDA |
2663 |
5.5 |
2655 |
| 11 |
GM Asrian, Karen |
ARM |
2621 |
5.5 |
2677 |
| 12 |
GM Predojevic, Borki |
BIH |
2641 |
5.5 |
2659 |
| 13 |
GM Sutovsky, Emil |
ISR |
2642 |
5.5 |
2653 |
| 14 |
GM Azarov, Sergei |
BLR |
2594 |
5.5 |
2611 |
| 15 |
GM Khismatullin, Denis |
RUS |
2564 |
5.0 |
2648 |
| 16 |
GM Le, Quang Liem |
VIE |
2540 |
5.0 |
2650 |
| 17 |
GM Kotanjian, Tigran |
ARM |
2545 |
5.0 |
2647 |
| 18 |
GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime |
FRA |
2637 |
5.0 |
2599 |
| 19 |
GM Volkov, Sergey |
RUS |
2623 |
5.0 |
2598 |
| 20 |
GM Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son |
VIE |
2551 |
5.0 |
2673 |
| 21 |
GM Zhou, Jianchao |
CHN |
2551 |
5.0 |
2669 |
| 22 |
GM Minasian, Artashes |
ARM |
2578 |
5.0 |
2647 |
| 23 |
GM Timofeev, Artyom |
RUS |
2664 |
5.0 |
2643 |
| 24 |
GM Grigoriants, Sergey |
RUS |
2583 |
5.0 |
2638 |
| 25 |
GM Najer, Evgeniy |
RUS |
2634 |
5.0 |
2616 |
| 26 |
GM Akopian, Vladimir |
ARM |
2700 |
5.0 |
2602 |
| 27 |
GM Jobava, Baadur |
GEO |
2643 |
5.0 |
2609 |
| 28 |
GM Riazantsev, Alexander |
RUS |
2628 |
5.0 |
2587 |
Picture gallery
By Özgür Akman, Türkish Chess Federation
Play under way in the Aeroflot Open 2008
The tournament was held in four groups, all played as nine-round Swisses
The winner: GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, RUS, 2600, 7.0 points, 2822 performance
Second: GM Alexander Motylev, Russia, 2644, 6.5 points, performance 2761
Third: GM Alexey Dreev, Russia, 2633, 6.5 points, 2767 performance
Fourth: GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel, 2614, 6.0 points, perfomance 2717
Fifth: GM Andrei Volokitin, Ukraine, 2674, 6.0 points, performance 2706
Tenth: GM Viktor Bologan, Moldova, 2663, 5.5 points, performance 2655
11th: GM Karen Asrian, Armenia, 2621, 5.5 points, performance 2677
31st: Chinese wonder: 13-year-old WGM Hou Yifan, rated 2527, 4.5 points,
2605 performance
27th: Baadur Jobava, the winner of the Aeroflot Open in 2006, rated 2643,
perf. 2609
Elena Tairova
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Marie Sebag, two young stars of French chess
Alexander Khalifman and Vladimir Akopian
Veteran Russian GM Yuri Balashov
A missed chance
Farrukh Amonatov, 2649, and Ian Nepomnaichtchi, 2600, analysing their round
seven game
The ultimate tournament winner examining his game
The two players decide to consult the computer on the final position
The computer proves: Black missed a clear win
Amonatov,F (2649) - Nepomniachtchi,I (2600) [C12]
Aeroflot Open Moscow RUS (7), 20.02.2008
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Be3 Ne4 7.Qg4 g6 8.a3
Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nxc3 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.h4 Ne7 12.h5 g5 13.f3 c5 14.dxc5 Nc6 15.f4 d4
16.Bd2 Qd5 17.Nf3 Bd7 18.0-0 gxf4 19.Qh4 Qxc5 20.Qf6 Rg8 21.Bxf4 Nd5 22.Qxh6
0-0-0 23.Bg5 Rh8 24.Qg7 Rdg8 25.Qxf7
Draw agreed. But ChessBase running the Junior engine brings clarity: 25...Ne3
wins for Black! Nepomniachtchi missed an opportunity to clinch the tournament
and win a full point ahead of the field.
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