
The Sixth Aeroflot Festival is taking place in Moscow from February 13th to
23rd. 2007 in the "Gamma-Delta" Hotel, which belongs to the Tourist
Complex "Ismailovo". The Organizers of the Festival are the "Aeroflot-Russian
Airlines", the Association of Chess Federations and the Russian Chess Federation
in cooperation with the Committee on Tourism of the Municipality of Moscow.
The festival consists of four tournaments, each a a nine rounds Swiss. The
total tournament prize fund is US $200,000.
- Tournament A1 is for players with a FIDE rating higher
than 2549. The prize fund is US $100,000.
- Tournament A2 is for players rated between 2400 and 2549,
and has a prize fund of US $50,000.
- Tournament B is for players rated between 2200 and 2399
and has a prize fund of US $27,000
- Tournament C is for players rated lower than 2200 and has
a prize fund of US $18,000
Schedule of tournaments A1 and A2
Feb. 13 |
Arrival and Registration of the Players |
Feb. 13: 21.00 |
Opening Ceremony |
Feb. 14: 15.00 |
Round 1 |
Feb. 15: 15.00 |
Round 2 |
Feb. 16: 15.00 |
Round 3 |
Feb. 17: 15.00 |
Round 4 |
Feb. 18: 15.00 |
Round 5 |
Feb. 19: 15.00 |
Round 6 |
Feb. 20: 15.00 |
Round 7 |
Feb. 21: 15.00 |
Round 8 |
Feb. 22: 11.00 |
Round 9 |
Feb. 22: 19.30 |
Prizes |
Feb. 22: 18.00 |
Closing Ceremony |
Feb. 23 |
Departure |
Top standings in Tournament A1 after six rounds
1 |
GM Novikov, Stanislav |
2535 |
RUS |
4.5 |
2979 |
2 |
GM Jakovenko, Dmitry |
2691 |
RUS |
4.0 |
2820 |
3 |
GM Alekseev, Evgeny |
2661 |
RUS |
4.0 |
2832 |
4 |
GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny |
2624 |
RUS |
4.0 |
2793 |
5 |
GM Akopian, Vladimir |
2700 |
ARM |
3.5 |
2721 |
6 |
GM Almasi, Zoltan |
2669 |
HUN |
3.5 |
2747 |
7 |
GM Sargissian, Gabriel |
2658 |
ARM |
3.5 |
2713 |
8 |
GM Ni, Hua |
2632 |
CHN |
3.5 |
2700 |
9 |
GM Khalifman, Alexander |
2619 |
RUS |
3.5 |
2716 |
10 |
GM Wang, Hao |
2619 |
CHN |
3.5 |
2667 |
11 |
GM Balogh, Csaba |
2616 |
HUN |
3.5 |
2707 |
12 |
GM Efimenko, Zahar |
2616 |
UKR |
3.5 |
2647 |
13 |
GM Korotylev, Alexey |
2615 |
RUS |
3.5 |
2676 |
14 |
GM Sadvakasov, Darmen |
2615 |
KAZ |
3.5 |
2727 |
15 |
GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej |
2601 |
BLR |
3.5 |
2772 |
16 |
GM Minasian, Artashes |
2595 |
ARM |
3.5 |
2751 |
17 |
GM Laznicka, Viktor |
2593 |
CZE |
3.5 |
2758 |
18 |
GM Predojevic, Borki |
2587 |
BIH |
3.5 |
2786 |
19 |
GM Iordachescu, Viorel |
2563 |
MDA |
3.5 |
2796 |
Impressions from the Aeroflot Open in Moscow
By Misha Savinov
The course of this winter has made many Russians realize that the climate change
issue is a very real one. In particular, Moscow enjoyed European weather, with
+6° to +10° C, accompanies by occasional rain. However, it all changed
in late January and especially February. Back to winter, Russian style! Downhill
skiers (and this sport has become surprisingly popular recently) were especially
pleased.

Snowflakes keep fallin' on my head... Moscow suddenly gets its traditional
winter

The morning of February 17th and a view out of our window

The weather is wonderful, Moscow is covered in snow
Heavy snowfall on February 13 did not pose any major problems for the Aeroflot
festival. All planes arrived on time. There were a couple of small accidents,
though. Baadur Jobava was held up at the border for about 40 minutes, and then
asked to write a paper describing his future activities on the territory of
Russian Federation. The Georgian grandmaster passed the test and was allowed
in. A couple of late buses with chess players got stuck in a traffic jam near
Moscow City around midnight (caused by the snowfall). But fortunately there
was nothing like in 2004, when many participants only arrived in time for the
second or third rounds.

Berik Balgabaev, assistant to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Ilyumzhinov and Karpov
The opening ceremony was rather routine, which was appreciated by nearly everybody.
Short speeches transposed into long dinner. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Anatoly Karpov
were the main guests, and they talked mostly to each other. Alexander Roshal,
invariable the press chief of the festival, experienced some health problems
which prevented him from attending the festival. Hope he comes back to the post
next year – who else can rule the process so well?

Sergey Movsesian browsing the Aeroflot commemorative book
Before the first round, a book dedicated to five year of the Aeroflot Open
was distributed among the participants – more than 640 out of 1000 printed
books.

The upset of the start was Paco Vallejo’s result, who began with 0
out of 2!

Ukrainian wonderboy Illya Nyzhnyk, eleven years old
Ilya Nyzhnyk won
the Moscow Open B section, and is doing well in the Aerolfot B. After six
rounds he has 4.5 points and is playing at a a 2455 performance level. This
11-year-old kid is surely a future star of chess.

Chinese star Hou Yifan, 13
Chinese Hou Yifan is only one year older than Illya and started with two wins
in the A1 group, beating Sutovsky in the process. ! That was followed by three
losses, Dmitry Jakovenko being the GM to stop her progress in round three (in
a very tough and long game). Her rating is 2509 and her performance so far is
2562. It looks like Hou’s going to be 2600 in no time – she is so
intense!

For this tournament, special vests were ordered by the organizers for arbiters,
tournament crew and directors. Arbiters wear green, organizing committee members
have blue, and directors wear red (of course!).

Ending a streak: Alexander Khalifman vs Yuri Kuzubov
One of the longest streaks at the Aeroflot Open came to an end in round two.
Alexander Khalifman’s ultra-solid style had brought him 13 draws in a
row! "What was the result in your last game?" one of his colleagues
asked. "There is only one result for me here!" replied El Khalif.
But finally his technique brought the ex FIDE world champion a full point against
Kuzubov, who failed to survive in an opposite-colored bishops ending. Khalifman
scored another win in round four and seems to have overcome his Aeroflot drawing
streak.
Top German GMs Jussupow and Naiditschsat next to each other during the 3rd
and 4th rounds

Vladimir Tukmakov and Yury Razuvaev aren’t playing at the tournament,
but are keen to come to the press center and watch the games

GM Bachar Kouatly appeared during the third round. He didn’t spend much
time looking the games, but was eager to discuss other topics with Artur Jussupow.

Evgeny Tomashevsky was the unexpected sole leader after three rounds, winning
three games in a row, playing in his own manner – smart and strategic
chess. Very instructive!

This is what the playing hall looks: two tournaments, A1 and A2, many visitors,
many people with cameras, watchful arbiters and a lot of light.

A banner hanging on the main entrance to the Gamma-Delta hotel inviting
everybody to the tournament

Inside the venue: the crossroads to a casino, café and the hotel
rooms

The Internet café, with water passages in the front

Shockers: Rauf Mamedov reading ChessBase news about Teimour Radjabov

Night life in Izmailovo Hotel: this casino is quite popular among certain players
Links
Official Aeroflot Open
web site