Nepomniachtchi Wins Aeroflot Open 2008

Seventh edition of Aeroflot Open was held in Izmaylovo Hotel in Moscow from 13 to 23 February 2008 in Moscow. The A1 group includes GM Vladimir Akopian (2700), GM GM Andrei Volokitin (2674), GM Artyom Timofeev (2664) who recently won the Moscow Open which was held just before the Aeroflot Open Chess Festival. The event was won by the Russian youngster Ian Nepomniachtchi with an impressive 7 out of 9 followed by Dreev and Motlyev with 6.5 out of 9. Nepomniachtchi is going to play in the 2008 edition of Dortmund. The gigantic pictorial report by press officer Özgür Akman with round-by-round account of the event is below.

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Chesspro (Russian)    Europe Echecs (French)   Russian Chess Federation  ChessBase

 

Round 9

In A1 Group, Nepomniachtchi-Volokitin and Dreev-Motylev, the top two boards ended as a draw which meant that Ian Nepomniachtchi, 19-yera-old Russian Grandmaster clinched the Aeroflot Open 2008 title and now has a right to play in Dortmund against the world's very best since Dortmund Sparkassen Meeting is one of the stongest events in the world. Dreev and Motylev shared 2-3.places with 6.5 points, followwing Nepomniachtchi just half a point behind while 4-8.places were shared by Rodhstein, Volokitin, Grachev, Guseinov and Amonatov.

   

In A2 Group, Askarov and Zhou shared the first place with 7 points. The highest performing player in A2 group from Turkey was IM Haznedaroğlu who won his last game and made a "Topalovian" comeback from a difficult start like 0.5/4.

 

Left: GM Artur Yussupov Right: Veteran GM Yuri Balashov

Nepomniachtchi came to the press room for post mortem with Volokitin and after the game he accepted to give a brief interview to TCF web site.

 

What do you think about your result?
The result is really amazing. I did not expect it at all. It was a great idea to win this tournament because I really played miserably last year. It is good to win. This year I wanted to play my best chess. Maybe it was not my best but it was good enough.

Did you feel any moments of crisis maybe missing the move Ne3 in the last position against Amonatov?
It was two round before that I did not use my chance to clinch the first place more easily. Against, Rodshtein, I missed the clear winning move h4 against him. We would reach to a very constant position after that move. OK, I can't judge and say comfortably that it was completely winning but it is a very promising position.

Of course there is also the game with Amonatov. So we agreed to draw but if I played Ne3 I would be better, but I was lazy to calculate all the lines and I was content with a draw.

What about your game today against Volokitin?
This game was very nervous because my opponent needed a win and depending on the result of the second board, maybe I played a solid chess. The game was solid but I had a lot of problems during the game. It was maybe about equal but it was difficult for such a position with two bishops against one bishop and a great knight.

You won the Aeroflot Open and have the right to play in Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. You already played in Corus B twice but it would be different to play against the elite players in the world, right?

It is going to be a great exam for me. We will see.

What is your ultimate aim in your chess career?
I don't know.

 

 

 

 

We met with IM Anna Ushenina, one of the participants of Atatürk Women Masters which is going to be the first super tournament held in Turkey. Ushenina whole-heartedly accepted to give the interview and we talked about her recent tournament results. (She scored 4.5 out of 9) and slightly underperformed compared to her rating.

Ms.Ushenina, how was Aeroflot for you?
Aeroflot is a good tournament but I was not able to show my best performance here. It was still a good training for me before the tournament in Turkey.

What do you think about your performance against men in Corus Wijk aan Zee and here?
In Wijk aan Zee, I played some nice games but I had some difficulties about the time control . I have rarely played in a time control without increment in my life.
I think I played under my level in this tournament.

What are your expectations for Atatürk Women Masters?
Of course I will try to show my best and fight for the first place.

Do you have any message for Turkish chess fans?
I always enjoy coming to Turkey. I came to team competitions and loved the country. I have been there many times and the organizations are very good, people are very hospitable. I hope it continues the same way and wish all the best.

And I saw Hou Yifan and asked her a couple of questions. From my past experience with Women's World Champion Xu Yuhua, I knew that I have to choose my words exteremely carefully in order to have a good interview since they do not usually have a fluent English. Hou Yifan scored 4.5 points out of 9 in A1 group, which actually an amazing result by the super talent. It also meant she performed at 2605 and scored her first GM norm. Despite, the difficulty of communicating we had a brief interview with young super talent, cheerful off-the-board but merciless on-the-board...

How did Aeroflot go for you?
It was good, since I had a GM norm but it can ever be. It could even be better.

What are your expectations from Atatürk Women Master's?
That is too far away! It's too early to think about it.

Nepomniachtchi,Ian - Volokitin,Andrei
Aeroflot Açık 2008 Moscow (9), 2008

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nge2 Bg7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 Ne7 11.c4 Nf5 12.Bd2 Re8 13.Bc3 b6 14.b3 Nd6 15.Nc1 h5 16.h4 Bf5 17.Re1 a5 18.Nd3 Bxd3 19.Qxd3 e4 20.Qc2 f5 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.c5 Nf7 23.f3 exf3 24.Bxf3 bxc5 25.Qc3+ Qf6 26.Qxf6+ Kxf6 27.Re6+ Kg7 28.Rc1 Ne5 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.Be2 c4 31.Bxc4 Kf6 ½-½

Dreev,Alexey - Motylev,Alexander
Aeroflot Açık 2008 Moscow(9), 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Bb4 10.Qb3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 12.Bg2 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.Rb1 Rb8 15.Bf3 ½-½

Grachev,Boris - Timofeev,Artyom
Aeroflot Açık 2008 Moscow(9), 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 0-0 5.Be2 d6 6.h3 c5 7.c3 b6 8.0-0 Bb7 9.Nbd2 Nc6 10.Bh2 Rc8 11.a4 cxd4 12.exd4 Na5 13.Re1 Bh6 14.b4 Nc6 15.Qb3 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Rad1 Qc7 18.Nxe5 dxe5 19.Bf3 Bxd2 20.Rxd2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Rfe8 22.Re3 Re6 23.f4 exf4 24.Rxe6 fxe6 25.Qxe6+ Kg7 26.Rd6 Rf8 27.Bxf4 Qxc3 28.Be5 Qf3 29.Qg4 1-0

Amonatov,Farrukh - Le,Quang Liem
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow(9), 2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.0-0-0 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 a5 16.gxh5 a4 17.h6 Bh8 18.h7+ Nxh7 19.Bd5 b4 20.Nce2 Nxg5 21.hxg5 e6 22.Nf4 Bg7 23.Ndxe6 Bxe6 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.Bxe6+ Nf7 26.Qh2 Re8 27.Rxd6 Qe7 28.Bd5 Kf8 29.Re6 Qc7 30.Rxe8+ Kxe8 31.Qd2 a3 32.Qxb4 Bxb2 33.Rh7 Rxd5 34.exd5 Qa7 35.Rh1 Nxg5 36.Re1+ Kf7 37.d6 Bf6 38.f4 Ne6 39.Qb3 Qd7 40.Qd5 Qc8 41.Kc1 Qd7 42.Kd1 Qc8 43.Re4 Qd7 44.Re3 Qc8 45.Re2 Qd7 46.Re4 Qc8 47.f5 gxf5 48.Qxf5 Qd7 49.Qd5 Qc8 50.c4 Qd7 51.c5 Be7 52.Qh5+ Kf6 53.Qe5+ Kf7 54.Qd5 Kf6 55.Kc2 Nxc5 56.Qd4+ Kg5 57.dxe7 Qc6 58.Qe5+ Kh6 59.Rh4+ Kg6 60.e8Q+ 1-0

Evdokimov,Alexander A - Bologan,Viktor
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow(9), 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Re8 9.Qc2 exd4 10.Nxd4 c6 11.Rad1 a6 12.Rfe1 Qc7 13.a3 b5 14.cxb5 cxb5 15.Qd2 Bb7 16.f3 d5 17.exd5 Nb6 18.Rc1 Qd7 19.Nb3 Nfxd5 20.Nc5 Qe7 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Bf2 Qf6 23.b3 Qb2 24.Rc2 Qxa3 25.Rd1 Bf8 26.Bd4 Rad8 27.Ra1 Bxf3 28.Rxa3 Rxe2 29.Qd3 Rxd4 30.Qxd4 Rxc2 31.b4 Bd5 32.Nd3 Rxg2+ 33.Kf1 Nc4 34.Ne5 Rg5 35.Nxc4 Bxc4+ 36.Kf2 Rd5 37.Qb2 Bh6 38.Qb1 Rd2+ 39.Kg3 Bd5 40.Qf1 Bg7 41.Qf4 Rg2+ 42.Kh3 h6 43.Rg3 Rc2 44.Re3 Rc6 45.Kg3 Kh7 46.Qb8 Rc2 47.Rd3 Rg2+ 48.Kf4 Bc4 49.Rd6 Rb2 50.Rxa6 Rxb4 51.Qd6 Rb3 52.Ra3 Rb2 53.Ra8 Rxh2 54.Qd8 h5 55.Kg5 Rg2+ 56.Kf4 Rg4+ 57.Ke3 b4 0-1

 

Left: IM Kıvanç Haznedaroğlu had a bad start but fought back to 5 points and he even won a small prize in A2 group.  Right: IM Can and IM Erdoğdu

 

Left: Jussupov and Akopian analyzing while Armenian GMs Minasian and Asrian watching and the one of the best trainers in the world Mark Dvoretsky is sitting right near Jussupov. Right: Dvoretsky and Jusspov together exchanging some chess material...Jussupov also became a famous trainer himself with his former trainer Jussupov and the pair have written excellent books about chess training covering problems of training of the different phases of the game.

Round 8

 

 

Nepomniachtchi won against GM Le from Vietnam who won against Baadur Jobava, a former winner of the tournament back in 2006 and now leading the tournament with 6.5 points. He is followed by Dreev and Motlyev who won against Rodhstein.

 

Left: Chief editor of the renowned chess magazine "64-Chess Review" Mark Glukhovsky and Ian Nepomniachtchi Right: Motylev, Potkin(well-known Russian GM who happens to help Nepomniachtchi here and also a regular second of Levon Aronian), Ilya Odessky of Chesspro(a Russian chess news web site with great stuff), and Sergei Grigorian.

Round 7

While Rodshtein and Dreev drew their game, Nepomniachtchi played against the Tajik Gm Amonatov and accepted his draw offer after taking on f7. However, the post mortem revealed that after Ne3 black has the upper hand in the position so it seems to a missed opportunity for Nepomniacthchi to clearly lead the tournament.

Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2600) - Amonatov,Farrukh (2649) [C12]
Aeroflot Open-A1 (7), Moscow 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 ½-½

Nepomniachtchi and Amonatov checking the game from the computer of your reporter...confirming that Ne3 gives black a comfortable edge.

 

Left: Dreev and Motlyev Right: Two former winners of Aeroflot, Bologan and Jobava in a good mood before the game.

 

Left: GM Nadyrhanov who also worked with IM Emre Can, GM norm holder young IM of Turkey together with the editor o  Chesspro web site IM Ilya Odessky Right: Chief Arbiter Geurt Gijsen and his deputy Ashot Vardapetian checking the books...

In A2 Group, GM Askarov and GM Shaposhnikov drew against each other wihch resulted in Askarov defending his sole leading position. IM Kryavkin and IM GM Novikov are following Askarov from half a point range.

 

Left: IM Haznedaroğlu against IM Atakişi, the most exciting derby in Turkish chess, won by the former.

Right: GM Dreev the most successful experienced GM in the event.

 

Players of all ages playing in C Group.

 

Left:Andrei Zhigalko and last year's world junior champion Zaven Andriasian

Right:Two former winners of Dortmund: Baadur Jobava and Emil Sutovsky

Round 6

 

Dreev won against Timofeev in a queen ending with a phalanx of pawns in the centre while Rodhstein and Nepomniachtchi drew against each other after an interesting piece sacrificied executed by the latter. The sacrifice seemed to be working but young Russian GM lost his track somewhere. In A2 Group, Askarov is still comfortably leading with one point gap.

Timofeev,Andrei - Dreev,Alexey
Aeroflot A1 (6), Moscow 19.02.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.f4 g6 7.Nb3 Bg7 8.Be2 Qb6 9.a4 a5 10.g4 h5 11.gxh5 Nxh5 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.Be3 e6 14.Bb6 Qh4+ 15.Bf2 Qd8 16.Nb6 Ng3 17.Bxg3 Qxb6 18.c3 e5 19.Bf2 Qc7 20.f5 gxf5 21.Nd2 Ne7 22.Nc4 Ra6 23.Nd2 Rc6 24.Bb5 d5 25.Rg1 Bh6 26.exd5 Nxd5 27.Ne4 Be6 28.Nc5 Nf4 29.Qc2 Nh3 30.Rg3 Bf4 31.Rd1 Bxg3 32.Bxg3 Ke7 33.Nxe6 fxe6 34.Qg2 Kf7 35.Bxc6 bxc6 36.Rd3 Nf4 37.Bxf4 exf4 38.Kf1 c5 39.Rh3 Qd8 40.Qb7+ Kf6 41.Rxh8 Qxh8 42.Qg2 Qh5 43.Ke1 f3 44.Qf2 f4 45.Kd2 Kg6 46.Kc1 Qh3 47.Qe1 Kf5 48.Qg1 e5 49.Qxc5 Qf1+ 50.Kc2 Qe2+ 51.Kb3 f2 52.Qc8+ Ke4 53.Qc6+ Ke3 54.Qc5+ Kd2 0-1

 

 

 

Aeroflot Open 2008

 

More than 500 players are playing in the Aeroflot open with thtop players in group A1(only players with ELO rating over 2550 are entitled toparticipate) Vladimir Akopian(2700), Andrei Volokitin(2674), Viktor Bologan(2663), Farruk Amonatov(2649), Alexander Motylev(2644), Baadur Jobava(2643), Emil Sutovsky(2642), Borki Predojevic(2641), ex-world champion Alexander Khalifman(2638) and totalling to 56 players. The top seed of A2 group is GM Semen Dvoirys(2549), GM Giorgi Kachesihvili(2544), former World Junior Champion GM Zaven Andriasian (2532) are among the participants of A2 Group in which the players rated between 2549-2400 are eligible for playing. FM Ilya Nyzhnyk, the 12-year-old Ukrainian star is also playing in Group A2.

IM Anna Ushenina (2486) and IM Harika Dronavalli(2455) are also playing A2 Group who are going to play in the super women's tournament Atatürk Women Masters Tournament in İstanbul,Turkey.

One GM-norm holder IM Emre Can(2461), two GM-norm holder and winner of Turkish Championship Qualification Tournament which was held just before Aeroflot IM Haznedaroğlu(2458), fourth in Under18 European Championship and one GM-norm holder IM Emre Can(2461) are playing in the event.

The pairings of the first five boards in round 5 is as follows:

1 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 3.5  RUS 2600  - GM Grachev, Boris 3.5  RUS  2601 
2 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 3.5  ISR 2614 - GM  Bologan, Viktor 3.0 MDA  2663 
3 GM Timofeev, Artyom 3.0  RUS  2664  - GM Bocharov, Dmitry 3.0  RUS  2600 
4 GM Guseinov, Gadir 3.0 AZE 2617 - GM Motylev, Alexander 3.0  RUS  2644 
5 GM Dreev, Alexey 3.0  RUS  2633 - GM  Grigoriants, Sergey 3.0  RUS  2583

 

 

IM Mert Erdoğdu(left) and IM Emre Can(right) who faced GM Kharlov yesterday are the highest performing Turkish players in Group A2 until round 5.

IM Erdoğdu and IM Emre Can are the most successful Turkish players since IM Can has 2572 performance while IM Erdoğdu performed like a 2510-rated player.

 

 

 

 

General Secretary of Russian Chess Federation and IA Alexander Bach checking GM Viktor Bologan's game...

 

 

 

  

GM Alexander Motylev bringing out his pen against Caruana...The picture at the right shows just five minutes before Motylev arrived, the time when Italian prodigy GM Caruana was trying to concentrate. You can also notice GM Arkadij Naiditsch, the winner of Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2005.

R4: GM Motylev made a draw against the sole leader of A1 group, young Nepomniachtchi of Russia while GM Grachev won against Evgeny Najer and GM Rodhstein won against GM Feller to join Nepomniachtchi at 3.5 out of 4. Dreev bounced back in to the top boards after winning against the Chinese grandmaster Jainchao Zhaou after losing the clash of generations match against Ian Nepomniachtchi. IM Emre Can has 2.5 points and performing close to 2600 while IM Erdoğdu has 2 points and has 2510 performance. FM Selim Çıtak also has 4 points out of 5 rounds in Group B and playing at the top boards.

 

Left: The French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave as one of the frequent visitors of Aeroflot Chess Festival.

Right: GM Artyom Timofeev

 

 

 

GM Vladimir Akopian as the top seat of Group A1. Two female players of group A1, IM Marie Sebag of France and 14-year-old Hou Yifan of China at the background.

 

 

 

Left: GM Arkadij Naiditsch between black and white pieces.  Right: GM Alexander Riazantsev executes his move (Nc3) while GM Predojevic is watching him. You can also see GM Arteshes Minasian at the far left.

Selected Games

Dreev,Alexey - Minasian,Artashes
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow (2), 2008

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.a4 c6 8.Ba2 h6 9.Nh4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Bxh4 11.Nxd6 exd4 12.Qh5 Nf6 13.Bxf7+ Kh8 14.Qxh4 Qxd6 15.Bxh6 Nh7 16.Bf4 Qf6 17.Qxf6 Nxf6 18.Bg6 Ng4 19.Bg3 Bf5 20.Bxf5 Rxf5 21.Rad1 Rd8 22.Rfe1 Rfd5 23.Re7 R8d7 24.Rxd7 Rxd7 25.Kf1 Kg8 26.Ke2 Nf6 27.Kd3 Nd5 28.Re1 Nb4+ 29.Kd2 Kf7 30.h4 c5 31.b3 b6 32.h5 Kf6 33.Bh4+ Kf7 34.Re5 Nc6 35.Rf5+ Ke6 36.Rg5 Kf7 37.Bg3 Re7 38.Rd5 Kg8 39.Bf4 Rf7 40.g3 Kh7 41.Rg5 Rf6 42.Ke2 Re6+ 43.Kd1 Rf6 44.Rd5 Rf7 45.Rd6 Nb8 46.Ke2 Nd7 47.Rd5 Nf6 48.Re5 Ng4 49.Rg5 Re7+ 50.Kf3 Nf6 51.Re5 Rd7 52.Ke2 Nd5 53.Bd2 Nc3+ 54.Ke1 c4 55.bxc4 Nxa4 56.Rd5 Re7+ 57.Kf1 Nc5 58.Rxd4 a5 59.g4 Ne4 60.Bc1 Nf6 61.f3 Rc7 62.Ke2 b5 63.cxb5 Rxc2+ 64.Bd2 Rb2 65.Ra4 Rxb5 66.Bxa5 Rb2+ 67.Bd2 Rb7 68.Ra6 Re7+ 69.Kf2 Rd7 70.Bf4 Rd4 71.Kg3 Rd5 72.h6 Ng8 73.hxg7 Kxg7 74.Bc1 Kf7 75.Bb2 Rb5 76.Bc3 Ne7 77.Rf6+ Kg8 78.Bd4 Rd5 79.Rf4 Ng6 80.Re4 Kf7 81.f4 Ne7 82.Kf3 Rb5 83.Be3 Kf6 84.Rc4 Rb1 85.Ke4 1-0

Nguyen,Ngoc Truong Son - Predojevic,Borki
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow (2), 2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 g5 12.Ne3 gxf4 13.Nxf5 0-0-0 14.Qc2 Ng6 15.0-0 Kb8 16.Rfc1 a5 17.b4 axb4 18.Nb5 Qe5 19.Nbd4 Bc5 20.Nb3 fxg3 21.hxg3 h5 22.Rab1 Ba7 23.e3 h4 24.Nbd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 c5 26.Rxb4 cxb4 27.Nc6+ Ka8 28.Nxe5 Ndxe5 29.a5 h3 30.a6 hxg2 31.axb7+ Ka7 32.Qc5+ 1-0

Bocharov,Dmitry - Khairullin,Ildar
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow (2), 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 e5 8.Bd3 Re8 9.Ne2 c5 10.d5 Nbd7 11.f3 Nf8 12.h4 h5 13.Ng3 Qa5 14.Bg5 N8h7 15.Bd2 Bd7 16.a4 g6 17.Nf1 Kf8 18.Ne3 Ke7 19.Be2 Kd8 20.Kf2 Re7 21.Rhb1 Kc8 22.g3 Ne8 23.Kg2 Rb8 24.Rf1 Ng7 25.Bd3 Qd8 26.Rf2 a5 27.Raf1 b6 28.Nd1 f6 29.f4 Be8 30.f5 gxf5 31.Bh6 Bd7 32.Ne3 Qg8 33.Kh2 Kc7 34.Qd1 Nf8 35.Qf3 f4 36.gxf4 Qh7 37.fxe5 fxe5 38.Bg5 Ree8 39.Qf7 Ng6 40.Nf5 Rg8 41.Nxd6 Rbf8 42.Nb5+ Kc8 43.Na7+ Kc7 44.d6+ Kxd6 45.Nb5+ 1-0

Pavlovic,Milos - Caruana,Fabiano
Aeroflot Open 2008 Moscow (2), 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Qd1 Qe7 11.Bd2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5 13.Bb3 Rad8 14.Qc2 Bb8 15.Ne2 Nb6 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Ng3 Qg5 18.Ne2 Qe5 19.Ng3 Qg5 20.Ne2 Nbd5 21.Rad1 Rfe8 22.Nd4 Ne4 23.Nf3 Qf5 24.Ba5 Rd6 25.Nd4 Qd7 26.Rfe1 Rg6 27.Kf1 Rf6 28.Nf3 Rf5 29.Rd4 Qe7 30.Red1 Nxe3+ 31.fxe3 Ng3+ 32.Kg1 Qxe3+ 33.Qf2 Ne2+ 34.Kf1 Ng3+ 35.Kg1 Ne2+ 36.Kf1 Qxf2+ 37.Kxf2 Bg3+ 38.Kf1 Nxd4 0-1

 

 

Winner of Moscow Open, GM Artyom Timofeev and GM Ian Nepomiachtchi who is sharing the first place after Round 4.

  

GM Fabiano Caruana and WGM Hou Yifan, two supertalents

Selected Games of Turkish Players

 

Charochkina,Daria (WIM) (2380) - Çıtak,Selim (FM) (2319) [C29]
Aeroflot Open B Moscow (3), 15.02.2008 [Notes: Selim Çıtak]

1.e4 e5 2.Ac3 Af6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Axe4 5.Af3 Fb4 6.Ve2 Axc3 7.dxc3 Fe7 8.Ff4 c5 9.0-0-0 Fe6 10.h4 h6 11.g4 Va5 12.Şb1 Ac6 13.g5 0-0-0 14.Fh3 hxg5 15.Axg5 Fxg5 16.Fxg5 Kde8 17.Kxd5 [Diagram]

 f5! 18.Rhd1 [18.exf6 Bxh3] 18...Bxd5 19.Rxd5 g6 20.Bf6 Rhf8 21.Qf2 Qc7 22.Rxc5 Rxf6 23.exf6  Qh2! [Diagram]

24.f7 Rd8 25.Rxc6+ [25.f8V Vxf2] 25...bxc6 26.Vf3 Qd6 [26...Qg1+ 27.Bf1 Qh1 28.Qe2 Qe4 29.Qa6+ Kb8 30.b3; 26...Qxh3 27.Qxc6+ and perpetual check] 27.f8R Rxf8 28.b4 Rh8 29.Bg2 Rxh4 30.Qe2 Rh2 31.b5 cxb5 32.Qe8+ Kc7 33.Qf7+ Qd7 34.Qxg6 f4 35.Be4 Re2 36.Bd3 Re3 37.Va6 Rxd3 38.Qxa7+ Kd6 39.Qb8+ Ke6 40.Qg8+ Kf5 41.cxd3 Qxd3+ 42.Kb2 Qe2+ 43.Kb1 f3 44.Qd5+ Kg4 45.Qd4+ Kh3 46.Qd7+ Kg2 47.Qg4+ Kf1 48.Qh3+ Kg1 49.Qg3+ Qg2 50.Qh4 Qf1+ 0-1

Tukhaev,Adam(GM) - Erdogdu,Mert(IM) [B96]
Aeroflot Open-A2 (1), 14.02.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 b5 9.0-0-0 b4 10.Bxf6?! [Not a very popular move and not very sound at the same time l.] bxc3 11.Bh4 cxb2+ 12.Kb1 Nd7 13.e5 Bb7 14.exd6 Bxd6
[ Erdoğdu noticed 14...Bxf3 15.dxc7 Bxd1 16.Bxa6 Nb6 17.Bb7 ( 17.Bb5+) and did not like it ] 15.Qg4 Fd5 16.Vxg7 Diagram Vc3!

[Now black threatens Ba2 and Qa3-Qa1 mate] 17.Qxh8+  [After 17.Qg3 Qc5 black has slightly better position] 17...Nf8 [17...Bf8? does not work here since there is a very beautiful tactical possibility. Diagram

18.Be7!! actually wins as Erdoğdu noticed] 18.Rd3 Rb8 19.Qxf8+  [19.Nb5 Rxb5 20.Rxd5 Qxc2+ (20...Qxh8 21.Bxb5+ axb5 22.Rxd6) 21.Kxc2 b1Q+] 19...Kxf8 20.Nb3 Qc6 21.Bf6 a5 22.Be2 a4 23.Nd4 Qb6 24.Rdd1 Qb4 25.Bd3 Qxa2+ 0-1

R3: Nepomniachtchi, the only leader after he won against Alexey Dreev, the experienced Grandmaster from Russia. French GM Sebastien Feller the third player to have a perfect score after round 2 held GM Artyom Timofeev, the winner of Moscow Open to a draw with black pieces. Najer won against the experienced grandmaster Artur Jussupow.

 

 

 

GM Farrukh Amonatov from Tajikistan and GM Andrei Volokitin from Ukraine.

 

 

GM Artur Jussupow

 

 

 

Turkish IMs, Erturan and Atakişi

R2: Dreev, Nepomniachchi and Feller are the only players leading the event after the second round. Two Russian GMs, Dreev and Nepomniacthci will face each other. The winner of the clash of generations might be the early sole leader of one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. Dreev won against Artashes Minasian, the Armenian grandmaster who is the final Soviet Champion in 1991. GM Feller won against Azarov while Motylev another well-known grandmaster from Russia who happens to be the former second of Peter Svidler and former participant of Corus Wijk aan zee A won against Rumenian GM Parligras. The derby of the youth between WGM Hou Yifan, won against GM Laznicka from Czech Republic. Hou Yifan is one of the female players participating in Aeroflot who happens to be coming Atatürk Women Master's Tournament.

 

 

 

Left: IM Emre Can and IM Mert Erdoğdu Right: IM Kıvanç Haznedaroğlu and GM Yuri Balashov

  

Pictures taken from the Russian Chess Federation web site thanks to Evgeny Surov since our delegation were accrediting to the tournament. Left: Anatoly Karpov also attended the opening ceremony. Right: Chief arbiter Geurt Gijsen together with the General Secretary of the Russian Chess Federation IA Alexander Bach.

 

Left: Alexander Bach delivering a very short opening speech. Right: Artashes Minasian(right) won against Andrei Volokitin, the third seed of the A1 group in the first round.

 

Left: IM Anna Ushenina faced IM Umut Atakişi of Turkey in the first round and won. Right: IM Harika Dronavalli completing her castling while the experienced Georgian GM Giorgi Kacheishvili trying to figure out which move to make in his own game.

R1: In the seventh edition of the Aeroflot Open, the top seed of the A1 group and the only player at the 2700 rating barrier Vladimir Akopian was held to a draw by Azerbaijani Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov who players in Türkiye İş Bankası Chess League. Actually it was Mamedov who has chances of winning but in the end the full point was shared between the two. Another interesting game of the first round was between Italian prodigy GM Fabiano Caruana and WGM Hou Yifan which also ended as a draw.

 

Left: Under 14 Girls World Champion who won her medal in WYCC 2007 in Antalya, WFM Nazi Paikide of Georgia Right: 2007 Yaş Grupları Dünya Şampiyonası'nda Türkiye'de oynayan Zhansaya Abdumalik.

 

 

Left: Geurt Gijsen, the chief arbiter of Aeroflot Open 2008. Right: Kids not missing the opportunity to smile into the camera.

 

 

 

Two well-known journalists...Misha Savinov(left) is reporting for well-known Russian chess magazine 64 and Russian Chess Federation web site while IM Ilya Odessky(right) is preparing very humerous reports for the Russian chess web site Chesspro including IM Kovalevskaya, former runner-up for world women's championship, one of the best trainers in the world whose name is a trademark now, Mark Dvoretsky.

Odessky, analyzing with IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya for the Chesspro web site.

Report and pictures by Özgür Akman