Top seed Mamedyarov withdraws from Aeroflot Open

by ChessBase
2/23/2009 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the top seed in the 2009 edition of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow (February 17–26). After five rounds he was leading, together with Alexander Moiseenko and Igor Kurnosov. In round six he was crushed by Kurnosov in 21 moves. Mamedyarov filed an official complaint, essentially accusing his opponent of cheating, and withdrew from the event. Breaking news.

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Top seed Mamedyarov withdraws from Aeroflot Open

After five rounds of the 2009 Aeroflot Open top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, rated 2724, was leading, together with Alexander Moiseenko (2676) and Igor Kurnosov (2602). All three had 4.0/5 points. Then came round six, in which the following game occurred:

Mamedyarov,S (2724) - Kurnosov,I (2602) [D70]
Aeroflot Open Moscow RUS (6), 22.02.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 f5 10.h4 fxe4 11.h5 gxh5 12.d5 Ne5 13.Bh6 Nec4 14.Qg5 Rf7 15.Bxc4 Nxc4 16.Rd4. So far this has been played before (Rodshtei-Margvelashvili, EU-Ch 2003). The next move by Mamedyarov is new (according to Mega Database 2009 and Chesslive).

16...Qd6N 17.Bxg7 Rxg7 18.Qxh5 Qf4+ 19.Kb1 Bf5 20.fxe4 Bg4 21.Nge2 Qd2 0-1.

After the game Mamedyarov played through the game with a computer, using Rybka as an analysis engine. He discovered a close correlation between the moves of the computer and those of his opponent. Furthermore Kurnosov, who is rated over 100 points below Mamedyarov, apparently kept withdrawn from the board after each move. All of this led to the following formal protest that was filed by the Azerbaijani GM:

To: The organizer of the Aeroflot Open tournament
Alexander Grigorievich Bakh

From: GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Explanation of my protest

Dear Alexander Grigorievich,

On 22.09.2009 the game between myself and Igor Kurnosov was played.

During the game my opponent went out of the playing hall after each move, took his coat and withdrew himself on the toilet. After suspicion of unfair play on move 14 I offered a draw, he refused. We quickly played 11 moves, on the 12th move I played a move which confused my opponent. The next moves from him were given as first choice by Rybka, which quickly allowed him to win the game.

Due to this series of suspicions, having to do with the unusual behaviour of my opponent, Igor Kurnosov, I hereby lodge a protest and refuse to continue participation in the tournament.

I hope that this kind of situation will not occur in the future.

Sincerely,
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

It is possible that a solution will be found and that Mamedyarov will play in round seven on Monday (but at the moment that seems very unlikely). A decision by the arbiters is pending. We will keep our readers briefed on developments in this case.

Standings in the Aeroflot Open 2009 after six rounds

# Player FED Rtng Pts. Perf. w-We
1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 5.0 RUS 2602 2908 +2.28
2 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 4.5 UKR 2676 2797 +0.91
3 GM Pashikian, Arman 4.5 ARM 2621 2765 +1.10
4 GM Zhou, Jianchao 4.5 CHN 2612 2824 +1.66
5 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4.0 AZE 2724 2735 +0.07
6 GM Bacrot, Etienne 4.0 FRA 2722 2719 -0.04
7 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 4.0 ARM 2677 2732 +0.42
8 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 4.0 RUS 2664 2742 +0.60
9 GM Predojevic, Borki 4.0 BIH 2650 2688 +0.28
10 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 4.0 RUS 2636 2698 +0.47
11 GM Potkin, Vladimir 4.0 RUS 2613 2749 +1.09
12 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 4.0 BLR 2587 2766 +1.44
13 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 4.0 BLR 2572 2787 +1.73
14 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.0 RUS 2565 2765 +1.63
15 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 3.5 RUS 2687 2656 -0.22
16 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 3.5 TJK 2647 2628 -0.12
17 GM Smirin, Ilia 3.5 ISR 2647 2625 -0.14
18 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 3.5 BLR 2636 2633 +0.00
19 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 3.5 RUS 2634 2621 -0.09
20 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 3.5 KAZ 2630 2650 +0.20
21 GM Landa, Konstantin 3.5 RUS 2626 2640 +0.14
22 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 3.5 ARM 2623 2603 -0.13
23 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 3.5 USA 2595 2654 +0.53
24 GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.5 RUS 2576 2715 +1.18
25 GM Khairullin, Ildar 3.5 RUS 2574 2699 +1.07
26 GM Safarli, Eltaj 3.5 AZE 2564 2691 +1.09
27 GM Kotsur, Pavel 3.5 KAZ 2563 2692 +1.10
28 GM Minasian, Artashes 3.5 ARM 2557 2689 +1.12
29 GM Filippov, Anton 3.5 UZB 2556 2686 +1.12
30 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 3.5 RUS 2553 2673 +1.02
31 GM Zhou, Weiqi 3.5 CHN 2542 2686 +1.23
32 GM Wen, Yang 3.5 CHN 2504 2658 +1.30
33 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana 3.5 RUS 2497 2682 +1.54
34 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 3.5 UKR 2490 2642 +1.29
35 IM Robson, Ray 3.5 USA 2455 2658 +1.67
36 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.0 USA 2659 2573 -0.71
37 GM Grachev, Boris 3.0 RUS 2655 2631 -0.19
38 GM Bareev, Evgeny 3.0 RUS 2645 2574 -0.58
39 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 3.0 RUS 2628 2556 -0.60
40 GM So, Wesley 3.0 PHI 2627 2550 -0.65
41 GM Huzman, Alexander 3.0 ISR 2602 2545 -0.46
42 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2579 2662 +0.68
43 GM Andriasian, Zaven 3.0 ARM 2564 2651 +0.71
44 GM Sjugirov, Sanan 3.0 RUS 2562 2602 +0.32
45 IM Yudin, Sergei 3.0 RUS 2562 2619 +0.46
46 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2557 2632 +0.62
47 GM Maslak, Konstantin 3.0 RUS 2541 2615 +0.62
48 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 3.0 ARM 2519 2619 +0.82
49 WGM Shen, Yang 3.0 CHN 2448 2576 +1.04
50 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.5 GER 2693 2556 -1.15
51 GM Dreev, Alexey 2.5 RUS 2688 2501 -1.56
52 GM Milov, Vadim 2.5 SUI 2669 2499 -1.43
53 GM Mamedov, Rauf 2.5 AZE 2638 2507 -1.11
54 GM Li, Chao b 2.5 CHN 2628 2497 -1.12
55 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.5 RUS 2620 2550 -0.62
56 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 USA 2619 2466 -1.30
57 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 2.5 IRI 2604 2513 -0.79
58 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 2.5 ARM 2596 2495 -0.87
59 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 2.5 RUS 2568 2526 -0.39
60 GM Li, Shilong 2.5 CHN 2559 2524 -0.31
61 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL 2556 2572 +0.11
62 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 2.0 ISR 2650 2440 -1.71
63 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 2.0 RUS 2647 2411 -1.89
64 GM Volkov, Sergey 2.0 RUS 2627 2408 -1.78
65 GM Van Wely, Loek 2.0 NED 2625 2293 -2.13
66 GM Bartel, Mateusz 2.0 POL 2594 2473 -0.96
67 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 2.0 POL 2581 2294 -2.13
68 GM Maze, Sebastien 2.0 FRA 2578 2433 -1.16
69 GM Shomoev, Anton 2.0 RUS 2567 2474 -0.74
70 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav 2.0 UKR 2558 2504 -0.42
71 GM Ragger, Markus 2.0 AUT 2540 2458 -0.65
72 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM 2506 2454 -0.40
73 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda 2.0 RUS 2486 2463 -0.18
74 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 1.5 RUS 2571 2419 -1.02
75 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.5 ESP 2558 2400 -1.21
76 IM Ipatov, Alexander 1.5 ESP 2493 2388 -0.78
77 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh 1.0 UAE 2473 2274 -1.39
78 GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.5 ARM 2568 2240 -1.53

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