Rauf Mamedov leads Aeroflot Open

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/25/2020 – Rauf Mamedov is alone atop the standings of the annual Aeroflot Open after six rounds. In round five, Mamedov defeated 12-year-old Indian IM Bharath Subramaniyamin, who came from defeating three strong grandmasters in the first four rounds. Sanan Sjugirov, Mustafa Yilmaz and Manuel Petrosyan are sharing second place, half a point behind Mamedov. | Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Yet another Indian prodigy

In the first four rounds of the Aeroflot Open, the young Indian Bharath Subramaniyam caused a sensation with victories over established grandmasters such as Mikhail Antipov, Gabriel Sargissian or Zhou Jianchao. With a 2402 rating, the 12-year-old from Chennai recently got the IM title. Not surprisingly, he was coached by the very successful trainer R.B. Ramesh with the collaboration of WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy. Bharath's trainer said about the youngster:

Bharath is one of the extremely talented players I have worked with as a coach. As a chess player he is very hard working in classes, loves chess a lot, is always willing to make changes in his thinking process, calculates fantastically without too much effort, fights well in tough situations and is very curious to learn and improve. He is very friendly off the board, cracks jokes and makes others laugh. He is also sensitive when others do the same to him! 

The kid arrived in Moscow as the 96th seed and got to play on board one in round five, when the experienced Rauf Mamedov got the better of him to get the sole lead. The three-time national champion from Azerbaijan is a regular fixture at the strong Russian open. Two years ago, he scored 6 out of 9, finishing a point behind winner Vladislav Kovalev, while in this edition he has already collected 5 points with three rounds to go, so this might finally be his year.

Standing a half point behind the Azerbaijani are fourth seed Sanan Sjugirov from Russia, Mustafa Yilmaz from Turkey — who also had a strong showing earlier this year in Gibraltar — and 21-year-old Manuel Petrosyan from Armenia, who already drew Mamedov in round six.

Praggnanandhaa, Bharath Subramaniyamin

Bharath sitting next to Praggnanandhaa on boards 3 and 4 during the fourth round, when the former defeated GM Zhou Jianchao | Photo: Eldar Mukhametov

In the key match-up between Mamedov and Bharath, the player from Baku got the upper hand out of the opening, as he got to leave one of Black's knights out of play on the queenside:

 
Mamedov vs. Bharath
Position after 13.b5

All decisive games that reached this position in the database ended up favouring White. The game continued 13...a5 14.a3+ e8 15.d6+ xd6 16.xd6, and all the positional trumps favour Mamedov — he has the initiative, the bishop pair and it is difficult for his opponent to activate the knight from a5. 

But beating these young kids is never easy. Bharath defended tenaciously, resisting by blocking the position as much as he could. Mamedov, however, found a long knight manoeuvre that allowed him to break open Black's defences:

 
Position after 28...Rd7

White made four consecutive knight moves — 29.e3, 30.c2, 31.a1, 32.b3 —to make the most of his positional trumps. Mamedov showed good technique to finally beat the youngster after 49 moves.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 Nf6 6.Na3 Nc6 7.Nb5 Qd8 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.b4 Bb6 11.Nd6 Ke7 12.Nc4 Bc7 13.b5 Na5 14.Ba3+ Ke8 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.Bxd6 b6 17.Bb4 Bb7 18.Ne5 Rc8 19.c4 Ne4 20.f3 Nc5 21.Be2 f6 22.Ng4 Kf7 23.Kf2 Ba8 24.Rhd1 Nab7 White is more active and has the pair of bishops, but the black position is very solid and compact. 25.Rd2 Rhd8 26.Rad1 Ke7 27.Rd3 Nd6 28.Ra3 Rd7 29.Ne3 The beginning of a remarkable knight manoeuvre, in which White wants to crack the black blockade. Rcc7 30.Nc2 e5 31.Na1! Ke6 32.Nb3 Nxb3 33.axb3 e4?! White opens up the position. It was better e.g. 33...Nf5 where White is still better, but Black can still fight. 34.Ra2 exf3 35.gxf3 Nf5 36.Rxd7 Rxd7 37.c5 Bd5 38.c6 Rc7 39.Bc4 Bxc4 40.bxc4 h5 41.Re2+ Kf7 42.Rd2 Ke8 43.Rd1 a6 44.bxa6 Rxc6 45.a7 Rc8 46.c5 b5 47.Ba5 Ke7 48.Rd8 Rxd8 49.Bxd8+ 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedov,R2643Bharath Subramaniyam H24021–0202018th Aeroflot Open-A 20205.1

Rauf Mamedov

Rauf Mamedov during round three | Photo: Mohammad Kheirkhah

Among the chasers, 27-year-old Sanan Sjugirov made a strong impression with his win over Abhimanyu Puranik in round five. The Russian had the black pieces and, after playing a wild game from start to finish, got to win the game by showing a mating net his opponent had missed when he made his 28th move:

 
Abhimanyu vs. Sjugirov
Position after 27...bxc3

White's 28.b3 was quickly responded by 28...xf1+ and the Indian grandmaster resigned, as there is mate-in-six on the board — 29.♔xf1 ♝h3+ 30.♔g1 ♞d4 31.♘f6+ ♚h8 32.♕a2 (the only move that avoids an immediate mate with the knight) ♞e2+ 33.♕xe2 fxe2 and promoting wins next. In the diagrammed position, 28.h4 or 28.h3 save White.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 Ne7 6.e4 0-0 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Nc3 Threatening Nxd5. Nde7 A07: Réti Opening: New York and Capablanca Systems. 10.Rb1 a5 11.b3 Nf5 The position is equal. 12.Nb5 Re8 13.Bb2 a4
14.bxa4N Predecessor: 14.c4 axb3 15.axb3 Nd6 16.Ra1 Rxa1 17.Bxa1 Nxb5 18.cxb5 Nd4 19.Bxd4 exd4 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 1/2-1/2 (31) Carlsen,M (2827)-Vidit,S (2702) Douglas 2017 14...Rxa4 15.a3 Ra8 16.c4 Nd6 17.Qb3 Bf5 18.Rbd1 Qd7 19.a4 Rad8 20.c5 Be6 21.Qa3 Nc4! 22.dxc4 Qxd1 23.Nxc7 23.Rxd1? Rxd1+ 24.Bf1 Bh3-+ 23...e4 Black has good play. 24.Nxe8 24.Rxd1? Rxd1+ 25.Bf1 Bh3-+ 24...exf3 25.Bc3?
25.Rxd1= Rxd1+ 26.Bf1 Bxc4 27.Qa1 Rxa1 28.Bxa1 Bxf1 29.Bxg7 25...Rd3? 25...Nd4-+ ( -> ...Ne2+) 26.Bf1 26.Rxd1? loses. Ne2+ Double Attack, Discovered Attack 27.Kf1 Rxd1+ 28.Be1 Bxc4-+ 26.Nf6+? Bxf6 27.h3 Nc2-+ Double Attack 26...Nc2 27.Nxg7 27.Rxd1? Rxd1 28.h4 Nxa3-+ 27...Nxe1 28.Nxe6 Nc2 29.Nxd8 Nxa3 30.Nxb7 Nb1 26.Rxd1= Rxd1+ 27.Bf1 aiming for Qb3. Bxc3 27...Bxc4!? 28.Qa1 Rxa1 29.Bxa1 Bxf1 30.Bxg7 Ba6= 28.Qb3?
Wrong is 28.Qxc3? Nd4-+ 28.h3= Nd4 29.Nf6+ Kg7 30.Ne8+ Kg8 31.Nf6+ Kg7 32.Ne8+ Kg8 28...Rxf1+! Accuracy: White = 81%, Black = 90%. . Loss on time!?
0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Puranik,A2597Sjugirov,S26740–1202018th Aeroflot Open-A 20205.7

Sanan Sjugirov

Sanan Sjugirov | Photo: Eldar Mukhametov

Three rounds are still left to go at the demanding open competition. Three players trail Mamedov by a half point while no fewer than sixteen stand a point behind on 4 out of 6. In that group we find some heavy hitters that might end the event with a streak of good results, including Adhiban, Parham Maghsoodloo and recent Gibraltar winner David Paravyan. 

To illustrate how strong this tournament is, we can go down in the standings table and find top seed Vladislav Artemiev in 48th place with 3 points, the same score achieved so far by 2018 winner Vladislav Kovalev.

Gabriel Sargissian

Second seed Gabriel Sargissian from Armenia is on 3½ out of 6 | Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky

Johannes Fischer contributed reporting


Standings after Round 6 (top 25)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Mamedov Rauf 5,0 3
2 Sjugirov Sanan 4,5 3
3 Yilmaz Mustafa 4,5 3
4 Petrosyan Manuel 4,5 2
5 Bharath Subramaniyam H 4,0 3
6 Suleymanli Aydin 4,0 3
7 Vaibhav Suri 4,0 3
8 Sarana Alexey 4,0 3
9 Aleksandrov Aleksej 4,0 3
10 Idani Pouya 4,0 3
11 Adhiban B. 4,0 3
12 Maghsoodloo Parham 4,0 3
13 Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 4,0 3
14 Paravyan David 4,0 3
15 Jumabayev Rinat 4,0 3
16 Erigaisi Arjun 4,0 3
17 Zhou Jianchao 4,0 3
18 Savchenko Boris 4,0 3
19 Antipov Mikhail Al. 4,0 3
20 Smirin Ilia 4,0 2
21 Visakh N R 3,5 3
22 Nesterov Arseniy 3,5 3
23 Cordova Emilio 3,5 3
24 Murzin Volodar 3,5 3
25 Badelka Olga 3,5 3

...97 players  


All available games

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Links


Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.