Aeroflot Open 2019

[Hans Jung]

and of course many great fighting games

[Hans Jung]

World Chess Club in Moscow and signature chess champion cocktails - brilliant!

[Hans Jung]

Wei Yi !! - miniature round 6. Rxf4! and Bc8. I personally like the computer variations with the obvious last move Re8+ Lots of interesting geometrical piece configurations in that game.

[Hans Jung]

Anton Guijarro game rd 6 - 31.Nf6!! ends in nice zugzwang themes.

[Wayne Komer]

Aeroflot Open 2019

February 24, 2019

Round Six

Results

Bo. Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name FED Rtg

1 GM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2590 4 ½ - ½ 5 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2678
2 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2542 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Chigaev Maksim RUS 2613
3 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2615 3½ ½ - ½ 4 GM Martirosyan Haik M. ARM 2616
4 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2589 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Wei Yi CHN 2733
5 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2603 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2561
6 GM Gordievsky Dmitry RUS 2603 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2715
7 GM Wang Hao CHN 2714 3 1 - 0 3 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2599
8 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2703 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2600
9 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2595 3 1 - 0 3 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2703
10 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2593 3 1 - 0 3 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2703
11 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2688 3 1 - 0 3 GM Nihal Sarin IND 2578
12 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2687 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2574
13 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2663 3 ½ - ½ 3 IM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2569
14 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642 3 1 - 0 3 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2560
15 GM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2564 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2642
16 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2575 3 1 - 0 3 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2636
17 GM Sarana Alexey RUS 2630 3 1 - 0 3 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2560
18 GM Paravyan David RUS 2627 3 ½ - ½ 3 IM Sychev Klementy RUS 2545
19 IM Sargsyan Shant ARM 2488 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2626
20 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2621 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Xu Yinglun CHN 2512
21 IM Xu Yi CHN 2520 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2618
22 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2610 3 1 - 0 3 GM Debashis Das IND 2532
23 GM Idani Pouya IRI 2604 3 ½ - ½ 3 IM Sadhwani Raunak IND 2448
24 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2692 2½ 1 - 0 2½ IM Tsydypov Zhamsaran RUS 2547
25 GM Esipenko Andrey RUS 2603 2½ 0 - 1 2½ GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2666
26 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2578 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2651
27 GM Alekseenko Kirill RUS 2634 2½ 0 - 1 2½ GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2538
28 GM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2554 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ GM Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2630
29 GM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2532 2½ ½ - ½ 2½ GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2627
30 GM Van Foreest Jorden NED 2618 2½ 1 - 0 2½ FM Suleymenov Alisher KAZ 2428

Ranking after Round Six

1 Sasikiran 5.5
2-6 Kulaots, Tabatabaei, Wei Yi, Chigaev, Martirosyan 4.5
7-17 Fier, Deac, Wang Hao, Zhou, Petrosian, Sarana, Anton, Vaibhav, Narayanan, Lupulescu, Nabaty 4

Bios

Krishnan Sasikiran was born in 1981 and was one of Vishy Anand’s seconds in the World Chess Championship 2013. At the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, he scored 7.5/10 points on board three to help the Indian team to win the bronze medal.

Kaido Kulaots was born in 1976 and got his grandmaster title in 2001. He has won the Estonian Chess Championship eight times and represented Estonia in the Chess Olympiads.

Amin Tabatabaei was born in 2001 and earned his grandmaster title in 2018. The top four Iranian players on the FIDE Ratings list of January 2019 are:

Maghsoodloo, Parham 2666
Firouzja, Alireza 2618
Idani, Pouya 2604
Tabatabaei, M. Amin 2590

Round 6, Feb. 24
Kulaots, Kaido – Chigaev, Maksim
C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Bogolyubov variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.d4 Bg4 10.Be3 Bh5 11.h3 exd4 12.cxd4 Na5 13.Nbd2 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bg6 15.Bf4 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.Nf1 f6 18.Rc1 fxe5 19.Bxe5 Rc8 20.Rc6 a5 21.Qc1 Bb4 22.Re2 Rxf3 23.gxf3 Ng5 24.Re3 Nxh3+ 25.Kg2 Bf5 26.f4 Qh4 27.Rg3 Bd6 28.Bxd6 Re8 29.Ne3 cxd6 30.Nxf5 Nxf4+ 31.Kf3 Qh5+ 32.Rg4 Ne6 33.Nh6+ Kh8 34.Kg3 gxh6 35.Rc8 Ng5 36.Rxe8+ Qxe8 37.Qf4 Qe7 38.Qf5 Kg7 39.Kg2 Qf7 40.Qxf7+ Kxf7 41.Rh4 Kg6 42.f3 h5 43.Kf2 Ne6 44.Ke3 Ng7 45.Rh1 Nf5+ 46.Kf2 Kg5 47.Ra1 Kf4 48.Rxa5 Nxd4 49.Ra7 h6 50.Rh7 Nf5 51.Rb7 h4 52.Rxb5 h3 53.Kg1 Kxf3 54.Rxd5 Ke4 55.Rd1 d5 56.b4 d4 57.b5 h2+ 58.Kxh2 d3 59.b6 Nd6 60.Kg3 Ke3 61.Re1+ Kd4 62.Re6 Kd5 63.Rxh6 d2 64.Rh1 Kc6 65.Kf3 Nc4 66.Ke2 Nxb2 67.b7 Kxb7 68.Rb1 d1=Q+ 69.Rxd1 Nxd1 70.Kxd1 1/2-1/2

Position after 29….cxd6




30.Rxg7+ very good
30.Nxf5 very bad

• I think Kulaots must want to cry just about now and Chigaev will cry when someone shows him 32…Ne2

Round 6, Feb. 24
Antipov, Mikhail – Wei Yi
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 g6 4.h4 Nf6 5.Bb5 Qe7 6.Nf3 e4 7.Ng5 Bg7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.h5 d5 10.hxg6 fxg6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Qe2 Bg4 13.Qa6 Nh5 14.Nh3 Qe6 15.Rf1 Be5 16.Na4 Bxb2 17.Nxb2 Qe5 18.c3 Qh2 19.Nf4 Rxf4 20.exf4 Nxf4 21.f3 exf3 22.gxf3 Bc8 0-1

Round 6, Feb. 24
Esipenko, Andrey – Maghsoodloo, Parham
D24 QGA

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nxb5 Nb6 8.Be2 Nc6 9.O-O Be7 10.Qd2 O-O 11.Qf4 Rb8 12.Qg3 Kh8 13.Rd1 Nb4 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Rb1 N4d5 16.Ne4 f5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Nc5 Bc8 19.Ne4 Qe8 20.Bd2 Rg8 21.Qh4 e5 22.h3 Qg6 23.Ng3 Bf5 24.Rbc1 e4 25.Nh2 e3 26.Be1 Bd3 27.Qg4 Bxe2 28.Nxe2 Na4 29.Qf3 Nxb2 30.Qxd5 Nxd1 31.Rxd1 Qc2 32.Nc3 exf2+ 33.Bxf2 Qxc3 34.Ng4 Qc2 35.Re1 Bb4 36.Bh4 Rbf8 37.Bxf6+ Rxf6 38.Nxf6 Rxg2+ 39.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 40.Kxg2 Bxe1 41.Nd5 c3 42.Nb4 Bh4 43.Kf3 Be7 44.Nc2 Kg7 45.Ne3 Kg6 46.Ke4 Kg5 47.Kf3 Kh4 48.Kg2 Bg5 49.Nc2 Bf6 50.Kh2 Be7 51.Kg2 c5 52.dxc5 Bxc5 53.Ne1 Bb6 54.Nc2 Kg5 55.Kf3 Kf5 56.Nb4 Bc5 57.Nc2 Ke5 58.Na1 Be7 59.Nc2 Bg5 60.Nb4 Kd4 61.Ke2 Ke4 62.Nc2 Bf4 63.Nb4 Be3 64.Nc2 Bb6 65.Nb4 Be3 66.Nc2 Bc5 67.Ne1 Bb6 68.Nd3 h5 69.Nb4 Bc5 70.Nd3 Be3 71.Nb4 Bb6 72.Nd3 c2 73.Kd2 Kf3 74.Kxc2 Kg3 75.Kd2 Kxh3 76.Ke2 Kg3 77.Kf1 h4 78.Nc1 h3 79.Ne2+ Kf3 80.Ng1+ Kg4 81.Ne2 a5 82.a4 Kf3 83.Ng1+ Kg3 84.Ne2+ Kg4 85.Nc1 Kf3 86.Nd3 Kg3 0-1

Round 6, Feb. 24
Gordievsky, Dmitry – Fedoseev, Vladimir
A22 English, Bellon Gambit

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 b5 5.cxb5 d5 6.d4 Bd6 7.Nh3 a6 8.e3 Bxh3 9.gxh3 axb5 10.Nxb5 Be7 11.Bg2 O-O 12.Bd2 c6 13.Nc3 Nbd7 14.f3 exf3 15.Qxf3 Bd6 16.O-O Qb8 17.Rab1 Re8 18.b4 Nb6 19.b5 c5 20.a4 Qc7 21.Qf5 cxd4 22.exd4 Qc4 23.Qf2 Qd3 24.Rbd1 Qc4 25.Rc1 Qd3 26.Rcd1 Qg6 27.Qf5 Bb4 28.Qxg6 hxg6 29.Nxd5 Nfxd5 30.Bxb4 Nxb4 31.Bxa8 Rxa8 32.Ra1 Rxa4 33.Rxa4 Nxa4 34.Ra1 Nb6 35.h4 Kf8 36.Ra7 Ke8 37.Kg2 N4d5 38.Kf3 Nc8 39.Rb7 Nd6 40.Rb8+ Kd7 41.b6 Kc6 42.Kg4 Nxb6 43.Rg8 Nf5 44.Kg5 Nxd4 45.Rxg7 Ne6+ 46.Kf6 Nxg7 47.Kxf7 Ne6 48.Kxe6 1/2-1/2

Position after 44.Kg5 Can Black mate with two knights?

[Hans Jung]

re two knights finish in diagram above. I dont have a tablebase, maybe some one else could feed in position after 47...Nh5. However in diagram position isnt 44...Nd5 a much better move? and doesnt it lead to much easier winning chances?

[Kerry Liles]

Hans, there are too many pieces in that position for tablebase lookup... best idea is to feed it into Stockfish or something and see what it finds.

FEN: 6R1/5pp1/1nk3p1/5nK1/3P3P/8/7P/8 b - - 0 1

I looked at website:

https://lichess.org/analysis/standar...7P/8_b_-_-_0_1

the evaluation there was -2.3 and this line in particular:

[FEN "6R1/5pp1/1nk3p1/5nK1/3P3P/8/7P/8 b - - 0 1"]

1... Nxd4 2. h5 Ne6+ 3. Kh4 gxh5 4. Kxh5 Nd7 5. Rc8+
Kd5 6. Ra8 Ne5 7. Ra1 f6 8. Kh4 f5

[Hans Jung]

Hi Kerry, Thanks for the input. I was referring to game continuation and 47...Ne6 48.Kxe6 was played. Instead logically 47...Nh5 (and the knight remains on the board) 48.Kxg6 Nf4+ and we now have a position with 2 black knights and two kings and 3 white pawns, which is seven pieces in total. Is that still too many pieces for the tablebase? It would be very instructive to know if there is still a win there for black.

[Hans Jung]

Poor Sasikiran. Looked like he was running away with the tournament and then in rd 7 he got a tough position as black and then misassessed. Chess is sometimes so hard and painful.

[Wayne Komer]

Aeroflot Open 2019

February 25, 2019

Round Seven

Results

Bo. Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name FED Rtg

1 GM Martirosyan Haik M. ARM 2616 4½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2678
2 GM Wei Yi CHN 2733 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2542
3 GM Chigaev Maksim RUS 2613 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2590
4 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2603 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Wang Hao CHN 2714
5 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2595 4 1 - 0 4 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2688
6 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2610
7 GM Sarana Alexey RUS 2630 4 1 - 0 4 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2593
8 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2561 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2615
9 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2715 3½ ½ - ½ 4 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2575
10 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2604 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2703
11 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2600 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2692
12 IM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2569 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Korobov Anton UKR 2687
13 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2666 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Gordievsky Dmitry RUS 2603
14 IM Sychev Klementy RUS 2545 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2663
15 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2642 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ IM Xu Yi CHN 2520
16 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2574 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Paravyan David RUS 2627
17 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2626 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2589
18 GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2538 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2621
19 GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2618 3½ 1 - 0 3½ IM Sargsyan Shant ARM 2488
20 IM Sadhwani Raunak IND 2448 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Van Foreest Jorden NED 2618
21 GM Xu Yinglun CHN 2512 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Idani Pouya IRI 2604
22 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2703 3 ½ - ½ 3½ GM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2564
23 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2703 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2560
24 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2560 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2651
25 FM Afanasiev Nikita RUS 2508 3 1 - 0 3 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2640
26 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2636 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2554
27 GM Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2630 3 0 - 1 3 GM Hakobyan Aram ARM 2545
28 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2627 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Aryan Chopra IND 2540
29 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2599 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Stupak Kirill BLR 2537
30 GM Nihal Sarin IND 2578 3 1 - 0 3 GM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2532

Ranking after Round Seven

1-3 Kulaots, Sasikiran, Martirosyan 5.5
4-7 Tabatabaei, Petrosian, Sarana, Chigaev 5
8-20 Wang Hao, Korobov, Inarkiev, Zhou, Vaibhav, Khismatullin, Fier, Deac, Lupulescu, Wei Yi, Anton, Maghsoodloo, Firouzja 4.5

They say that Sasikiran committed suicide here. The knight is stuck over on a5

Round 7, Feb. 25
Martirosyan, Haik – Sasikiran, Krishnan
E66 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O c5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 a6 10.Rb1 b5 11.b3 Ng4 12.Qc2 Ne5 13.Nd1 Rb8 14.Bb2 bxc4 15.bxc4 Rb4 16.Ne3 Bd7 17.f4 Rxb2 18.Rxb2 Ng4 19.Nxg4 Bxg4 20.e4 Bd4+ 21.Kh1 e5 22.Rbb1 exf4 23.gxf4 Re8 24.Qd3 f5 25.Qg3 Bf6 26.Bf3 Bxf3+ 27.Qxf3 Bd4 28.exf5 Re3 29.Qg2 Qe8 30.fxg6 Qxg6 31.Rfe1 Kf7 32.Rxe3 Bxe3 33.Ne4 Nxc4 34.Rb7+ Kf8 35.f5 1-0

Position after 21.Kh1



How can the relatively unknown Kulaots beat Wei Yi?

Round 7, Feb. 25
Wei Yi – Kulaots, Kaido
B23 Sicilian, Closed

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 g6 6.d3 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bg5 Bd7 9.Qd2 Nd4 10.Nxd4 cxd4 11.Ne2 e5 12.c3 dxc3 13.Nxc3 a5 14.f4 Bc6 15.f5 b5 16.Rac1 b4 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Qb5 20.Rc6 Rad8 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Be4 g5 23.Rfc1 Kg7 24.Qd1 Rd7 25.Kg2 Rh8 26.Qh5 Qb7 27.Kf3 Qa7 28.R6c4 Qb6 29.Ke2 Qa7 30.Kf3 Qb6 31.Ke2 Qa7 32.h4 h6 33.Qf3 Rg8 34.hxg5 hxg5 35.Rh1 Rh8 36.Rxh8 Kxh8 37.Qh1+ Kg7 38.Qc1 Qb6 39.Rc6 Qd4 40.Rc4 Qb6 41.Rc6 Qd4 42.Ra6 Rd8 43.Kf1 Rd7 44.Kg2 b3 45.axb3 Rb7 46.Ra8 Ra7 47.Rb8 Rd7 48.Ra8 Rd8 49.Rxa5 Qb6 50.Ra3 Rh8 51.Qd2 Rb8 52.Qf2 Qc7 53.Qd2 Qc5 54.Bf3 Rb7 55.Ra5 Qb6 56.Bd1 Qd4 57.Qc3 Qe3 58.Ra4 Rb8 59.Re4 Qa7 60.b4 Rh8 61.Bb3 Qd7 62.g4 Qa7 63.Qd2 Rh4 64.Qe1 Qb8 65.Qg3 Qa7 66.Qe1 Qb8 67.Bc4 Qh8 68.Qg3 Bd8 69.d4 exd4 70.Rxd4 Bf6 71.Re4 Qb8 72.Be2 Be5 73.Rxe5 dxe5 74.b5 Qd6 75.Qe3 Kf6 76.b6 Qxd5+ 77.Bf3 Qd4 78.Qxd4 exd4 79.b7 Rh8 80.Bc6 Ke5 81.Bd7 Rb8 82.Bc8 Ke4 83.Kf2 0-1

Round 7, Feb. 25
Donchenko, Alexander – Inarkiev, Ernesto
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c5 4.dxc5 Qa5+ 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bd2 Qxc5 7.Rc1 O-O 8.Bg2 d6 9.b3 Nc6 10.Nd5 Qa3 11.Nc3 Rd8 12.Nh3 Bxh3 13.Bxh3 d5 14.Nb5 Qc5 15.Nc7 Ne4 16.O-O Nxd2 17.Qxd2 dxc4 18.Qe1 Qh5 19.Nxa8 Qxh3 20.Nc7 Rd7 21.Ne8 Bd4 22.e3 Ne5 23.f3 Nd3 24.Qd2 Bb6 25.Qc3 Bxe3+ 26.Kh1 Rd4 27.Rb1 Nf2+ 28.Rxf2 Bxf2 29.Qb2 Bxg3 30.bxc4 Bxh2 31.Qg2 Qxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Rd2+ 33.Kh1 b6 0-1

Round 7, Feb. 25
Yakubboev, Nodirbek – Korobov, Anton
D12 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.Nh4 Be4 8.f3 Bg6 9.O-O Bd6 10.g3 O-O 11.a3 Bc7 12.Qb3 Rb8 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Qa2 Nb6 15.Rd1 e5 16.cxd5 Nbxd5 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Qb3 Qe7 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Rd3 g5 21.Bd2 Rfe8 22.Re1 Bc7 23.Bc3 Bb6 24.Bd1 Rbd8 25.Kg2 Qe6 26.a4 Ne4 27.Bd4 Nc5 28.Bxc5 Bxc5 29.e4 Bb6 30.Re2 dxe4 31.Rxe4 Qf6 32.Bc2 Rc8 33.Rd2 g6 34.Rxe8+ Rxe8 35.Qc3 Qe7 36.Bb3 Kh7 37.Qc4 Kg7 38.Ba2 f5 39.Qc3+ Kh6 40.Rc2 g4 41.h4 f4 42.Bd5 Qd8 43.Qc4 gxf3+ 44.Bxf3 Rf8 45.Qd5 fxg3 46.Kxg3 Qb8+ 47.Kg2 Qf4 48.Qg5+ Qxg5+ 49.hxg5+ Kxg5 50.Bxb7 a5 51.b3 Rf4 52.Bf3 Rb4 53.Rc3 Rd4 54.Be2 Rd2 55.Kf3 Rd6 56.Bc4 Kh4 57.Rd3 Rf6+ 58.Ke4 g5 59.Ke5 Rf8 60.Rd7 g4 61.Be6 Be3 62.Rg7 Rf4 63.Kd5 Kg3 64.Kc6 Bd2 65.Rg6 Kf3 66.Kc5 g3 67.Bd5+ Kf2 68.Bb7 Be3+ 69.Kd6 Rb4 70.Bc6 Rxb3 71.Rf6+ Ke1 72.Kd5 g2 0-1

Round 7, Feb. 25
Maghsoodloo, Parham – Gordievsky, Dmitry
A48 King’s Indian, Torre Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 O-O 5.e3 d6 6.Bc4 Nbd7 7.O-O Qe8 8.a4 a5 9.e4 e5 10.c3 h6 11.Bh4 Nh5 12.Re1 Ndf6 13.Bf1 Nf4 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Nc4 N6h5 16.Nfd2 Bd7 17.f3 Bc6 18.Qc2 Kh8 19.b3 Ne6 20.Rad1 b5 21.axb5 Bxb5 22.Ra1 a4 23.b4 Qb8 24.Bf2 Rd8 25.Nb1 Be8 26.Nba3 Qc8 27.Nb2 Nhf4 28.Nac4 Ng5 29.Be3 f5 30.h4 Nge6 31.Bf2 fxe4 32.Qxe4 g5 33.Nxe5 a3 34.Nbc4 a2 35.Ne3 Nf8 36.Nf5 1-0

Sasikiran to play White against Kulaots in Round Eight

[Wayne Komer]

Aeroflot Open 2019

February 26, 2019

Round Eight

Results

Bo. Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name FED Rtg

1 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2678 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2542
2 GM Martirosyan Haik M. ARM 2616 5½ ½ - ½ 5 GM Sarana Alexey RUS 2630
3 GM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2590 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2595
4 GM Chigaev Maksim RUS 2613 5 ½ - ½ 4½ GM Wei Yi CHN 2733
5 GM Wang Hao CHN 2714 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2618
6 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2692 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2610
7 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2687 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2603
8 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2615 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2666
9 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2575 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642
10 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2621 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2561
11 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2589 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2715
12 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2703 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Nihal Sarin IND 2578
13 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2578 4 1 - 0 4 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2688
14 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2663 4 1 - 0 4 GM Xu Yinglun CHN 2512
15 GM Hakobyan Aram ARM 2545 4 1 - 0 4 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2642
16 GM Paravyan David RUS 2627 4 1 - 0 4 FM Afanasiev Nikita RUS 2508
17 IM Sadhwani Raunak IND 2448 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2626
18 GM Van Foreest Jorden NED 2618 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2574
19 GM Idani Pouya IRI 2604 4 ½ - ½ 4 IM Sychev Klementy RUS 2545
20 GM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2564 4 1 - 0 4 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2604
21 IM Xu Yi CHN 2520 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2593
22 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2599 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2703
23 GM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2554 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2703
24 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2560 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2681
25 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2651 3½ 0 - 1 3½ IM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2569
26 GM Aryan Chopra IND 2540 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2636
27 GM Stupak Kirill BLR 2537 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2627
28 GM Gordievsky Dmitry RUS 2603 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2560
29 IM Sargsyan Shant ARM 2488 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2601
30 IM Iniyan P IND 2480 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2600
31 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2612 3 1 - 0 3½ GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2538
32 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2640 3 1 - 0 3 GM Karthik Venkataraman IND 2494
33 GM Alekseenko Kirill RUS 2634 3 1 - 0 3 GM Liu Yan CHN 2498
34 GM Gagare Shardul IND 2495 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2630
35 IM Lobanov Sergei RUS 2526 3 ½ - ½ 3 GM Esipenko Andrey RUS 2603

Ranking after Round Eight

1-3 Kulaots, Sasikiran, Martirosyan 6
4-9 Tabatabaei, Wang Hao, Petrosian, Sarana, Khismatullin, Chigaev 5.5
10-23 Deac, Lupulescu, Petrosyan, Wei Yi, Zhou, Korobov, Inarkiev, Vaibhav, Maghsoodloo, Anton, Sjugirov, Paravyan, Hakobyan, Yuffa

Round Nine Pairings

Sasikiran-Wang Hao
Petrosian-Martirosyan
Kulaots-Khismatullin
Sarana-Chigaev
Inarkiev-Tabatabaei
Wei Yi-Yuffa
Zhou-Korobov
Maghsoodloo-Vaibhav

Round 8, Feb. 26
Sasikiran, Krishnan – Kulaots, Kaido
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 11.h4 Nc6 12.Nb3 gxh4 13.Bxh4 Be6 14.Qd2 Rc8 15.f3 Bh6 16.Bg5 Bxg5 17.Qxg5 Nf6 18.Bf1 Rg8 19.Qd2 Bxb3 20.cxb3 Qa5 21.O-O-O Qg5 22.Kb1 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Ne5 24.a3 Ng6 25.b4 Nf4 26.Rh4 Ng6 27.Rh1 Nf4 28.b5 a5 29.Na4 Rg5 30.Nb6 Rb8 31.Rh4 Ng6 32.Rh1 Nf4 33.Nc4 b6 34.Rh4 Ng6 35.Rh1 Nf4 36.Rc2 d5 37.exd5 N6xd5 38.g4 Kd7 39.gxh5 Nxh5 40.Bd3 Nhf4 41.Be4 e6 42.Rh7 Ke7 43.Rh4 Rc8 44.Nxb6 Nxb6 45.Rxc8 Nxc8 46.Rxf4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Feb. 26
Wang, Hao – Firouzja, Alireza
E75 King’s Indian, Averbakh, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 h6 9.Bh4 exd5 10.cxd5 g5 11.Bg3 Nh5 12.Nd2 Nxg3 13.hxg3 f5 14.Nc4 Na6 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.O-O Nc7 17.Ne3 Bg6 18.Bd3 Qf6 19.Qc2 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 h5 21.Ne4 Qd4 22.Rad1 b5 23.Qxd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd6 Rad8 25.Ndf5 Bxb2 26.d6 Ne8 27.Rd5 Bd4 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.Nf5 Nf6 30.Rxb5 d3 31.Rd1 Ne4 32.Rxd3 Rfe8 33.f3 Nf6 34.Rb7 Re1+ 35.Kf2 Ra1 36.Nh6+ 1-0

Round 8, Feb. 26
Antipov, Mikhail – Fedoseev, Vladimir
A13 English Opening

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 b6 4.Be2 Bb7 5.b3 g6 6.Bb2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.d4 d5 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 a6 12.a4 c6 13.b5 axb5 14.axb5 c5 15.Rxa8 Qxa8 16.Qb3 Re8 17.Ra1 Qb8 18.Bf1 c4 19.Qd1 Ng4 20.g3 f5 21.Bg2 Ngf6 22.Ba3 Ne4 23.Nxe4 fxe4 24.Nd2 Qc7 25.Bb4 h5 26.Nb1 Bf8 27.Bxf8 Rxf8 28.Nc3 Nf6 29.Qe2 Qe7 30.f3 exf3 31.Bxf3 Re8 32.Ra7 Qxe3+ 33.Qxe3 Rxe3 34.Kf2 Rxc3 35.Rxb7 Rb3 36.Rxb6 Kf7 37.h3 Rd3 38.Rc6 Rxd4 39.b6 Rd2+ 40.Ke3 Rd3+ 41.Ke2 Rb3 42.g4 hxg4 43.Bxg4 Ne4 44.Bf3 Nc3+ 45.Ke1 g5 46.Rh6 Rb2 47.h4 gxh4 48.b7 Kg7 49.Rxh4 Rxb7 50.Bxd5 Nxd5 51.Rxc4 Rb2 52.Rd4 Nc3 53.Rd3 Re2+ 54.Kf1 Rc2 55.Rd6 Kf7 56.Ra6 Ke7 57.Rg6 Nd5 58.Ra6 Nf4 59.Ke1 Ne6 60.Kd1 Rh2 61.Rc6 Nd4 62.Rc4 Nb3 63.Rc3 Rb2 64.Re3+ Kd6 65.Re2 Rxe2 66.Kxe2 1/2-1/2

Position after 51.Rxc4 Is this a win for Black or just a draw? See end note



Round 8, Feb. 26
Khismatullin, Denis – Fier, Alexandr
A30 English, symmetrical

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.e4 Qc7 9.Qxf3 Bd6 10.g3 Be5 11.Bg2 O-O 12.O-O Ba6 13.Qd3 Rab8 14.Rb1 Rb4 15.b3 Bxc4 16.bxc4 Bxc3 17.Bf4 Be5 18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.f4 Qe6 20.e5 Ne8 21.Rbd1 Rb7 22.Qc3 f5 23.Rb1 Rc7 24.Rb8 d6 25.Qa5 Qf7 26.Re1 Re7 27.Bxc6 Qxc4 28.Qd2 Nc7 29.Rc1 Qa6 30.Bb7 Qa3 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.exd6 Rd7 33.dxc7 1-0

Round 8, Feb. 26
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek – Safarli, Eltaj
B01 Scandinavian Defence

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nf6 5.h3 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.O-O b6 9.Qe2 Bb7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Nc6 12.Rad1 Na5 13.Bd3 e6 14.Ne4 Rc8 15.b4 Nc6 16.c3 Nb8 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Bg3 Bg7 19.Rfe1 Nd7 20.Ba6 Bxa6 21.Qxa6 c6 22.c4 Ra8 23.Bd6 Qc8 24.Qa3 Rd8 25.Ne5 Nxe5 26.dxe5 a5 27.Rb1 axb4 28.Qxb4 Ra6 29.Re3 Qd7 30.Reb3 Rda8 31.Qe1 c5 32.Rxb6 Rxb6 33.Rxb6 Rxa2 34.Qe4 Ra7 35.Rb5 h5 36.Kh2 f5 37.Qe3 Kh7 38.Rxc5 Qa4 39.Rc8 Rb7 40.Qd4 Rb1 41.Rc7 Rd1 42.Qb2 Kh6 43.Rxg7 Kxg7 44.Qb7+ Kg8 45.Qc8+ Kh7 46.Qc7+ Kg8 47.Qd8+ Kh7 48.Qe7+ Kh6 49.Qf8+ 1-0

Round 8, Feb. 26
Sethuraan, S. – Yakubboev, Nodirbek
B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nf3 h6 8.Bg2 Be6 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Nh4 b5 11.a4 b4 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 g6 14.Be3 a5 15.h3 Bg7 16.Qd2 Nb6 17.b3 Rc8 18.Rfe1 Kf8 19.Rad1 Kg8 20.Qe2 Nbd7 21.Qa6 Nc5 22.Qb5 Kh7 23.Bd2 Re8 24.Qe2 e4 25.Be3 Nfd7 26.f4 exf3 27.Qxf3 f5 28.Qf2 Qf6 29.Kh2 Qf7 30.g4 f4 31.Bd4 Bxd4 32.Qxd4 Ne5 33.Rf1 Qf6 34.Qf2 Ncd7 35.Rde1 Rc3 36.Be4 Rf8 37.Ng2 f3 38.Qa7 Rf7 39.Qxa5 f2 40.Re2 Nxg4+ 0-1

___________

A note from chess.com - Efim Umnov has published a thick book (320 pages) on R+N vs R endings, some thirty-something years ago (I own the 1983 print). About 30 pages of the book are about pawnless R+B vs R endings.

The ending is a draw, and easier than R+B vs R, but certainly quite more diffucult than most people think.

[Wayne Komer]

Aeroflot Open 2019

February 27, 2019

Round Nine

Results

Bo. Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name FED Rtg

1 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2678 6 ½ - ½ 5½ GM Wang Hao CHN 2714
2 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2595 5½ 0 - 1 6 GM Martirosyan Haik M. ARM 2616
3 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2542 6 1 - 0 5½ GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2621
4 GM Sarana Alexey RUS 2630 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Chigaev Maksim RUS 2613
5 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2692 5 1 - 0 5½ GM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2590
6 GM Wei Yi CHN 2733 5 1 - 0 5 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2578
7 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2615 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2687
8 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2666 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2575
9 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2610 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2663
10 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642 5 1 - 0 5 GM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2564
11 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2603 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Paravyan David RUS 2627
12 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2636 4½ ½ - ½ 5 GM Hakobyan Aram ARM 2545
13 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2715 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Nihal Sarin IND 2578
14 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2574 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2703
15 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2703 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2589
16 IM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2569 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2627
17 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2561 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Grachev Boris RUS 2626
18 GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2618 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2560
19 IM Sychev Klementy RUS 2545 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Van Foreest Jorden NED 2618
20 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2560 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Idani Pouya IRI 2604
21 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2601 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ IM Xu Yi CHN 2520
22 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2593 4½ 1 - 0 4½ IM Sadhwani Raunak IND 2448
23 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2703 4 1 - 0 4 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2556
24 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2688 4 1 - 0 4 IM Iniyan P IND 2480
25 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2642 4 1 - 0 4 GM Santos Ruiz Miguel ESP 2554
26 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2600 4 0 - 1 4 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2640
27 FM Afanasiev Nikita RUS 2508 4 0 - 1 4 GM Alekseenko Kirill RUS 2634
28 IM Tsydypov Zhamsaran RUS 2547 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2612
29 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2604 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2532
30 GM Xu Yinglun CHN 2512 4 1 - 0 3½ GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2651
31 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2681 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Pourramezanali Amirreza IRI 2529
32 GM Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2630 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2524
33 GM Esipenko Andrey RUS 2603 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Gagare Shardul IND 2495
34 IM Lobanov Sergei RUS 2526 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Gordievsky Dmitry RUS 2603
35 FM Gavrilescu David ROU 2479 3½ 0 - 1 3½ GM Svane Rasmus GER 2599

Final Standings

Rk. Name Typ FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2

1 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2542 7 5 2647
2 GM Martirosyan Haik M. ARM 2616 7 4 2563
3 GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2678 6.5 4 2607
4 GM Wang Hao CHN 2714 6 5 2600
5 GM Wei Yi CHN 2733 6 4 2589
6 GM Chigaev Maksim RUS 2613 6 4 2586
7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2692 6 4 2580
8 GM Sarana Alexey RUS 2630 6 4 2573
9 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642 6 4 2557
10 GM Tabatabaei M.Amin U18 IRI 2590 5.5 5 2613
11 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2687 5.5 5 2585
12 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2575 5.5 5 2577
13 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2663 5.5 5 2558
14 GM Paravyan David RUS 2627 5.5 5 2536
GM Hakobyan Aram U18 ARM 2545 5.5 5 2536
16 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2621 5.5 5 2526
17 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel U18 ROU 2603 5.5 4 2647
18 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2610 5.5 4 2640
19 IM Sychev Klementy RUS 2545 5.5 4 2609
20 GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2615 5.5 4 2601
21 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2595 5.5 4 2597
22 GM Narayanan.S.L IND 2593 5.5 4 2593
23 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2666 5.5 4 2562
24 IM Yakubboev Nodirbek U18 UZB 2569 5.5 4 2558
25 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek U18 UZB 2560 5 5 2673
26 GM Nihal Sarin U18 IND 2578 5 5 2638
27 GM Petrosyan Manuel ARM 2564 5 5 2618

Sam Shankland - Age is just a number, and rating is just a number. Congrats to Kaido Kulaots (42 y/o, 2542 FIDE) on the biggest upset tournament win I have ever seen! Winning the Aeroflot A group as the 62nd seed ahead of 6 2700+ guys is no joke.

[Wayne Komer]

Aeroflot Open 2019

February 27, 2019

Round Nine

Round 9, Feb. 27
Sasikiran, Krishnan – Wang Hao
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.c3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.Bf4 d5 14.Nd2 Nd6 15.Qe3 Nf5 16.Qe2 c6 17.Re1 Be6 18.Nf3 Nh4 19.Ne5 Ng6 20.Nd3 Nxf4 21.Nxf4 Bd7 22.Nh5 g6 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 24.Qd1 Qd6 25.Qa4 a5 26.Qb3 b5 27.Qd1 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Feb. 27
Petrosian, Tigran – Martirosyan, Haik
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 a6 7.a4 d6 8.c3 Ba7 9.O-O Qe7 10.Nbd2 g5 11.Bg3 Nd7 12.Bd5 h5 13.h4 g4 14.Ne1 Nf8 15.d4 Ng6 16.Nc4 exd4 17.Nd3 Nce5 18.cxd4 Nxc4 19.Bxc4 Bxd4 20.Nf4 c5 21.Nxg6 fxg6 22.b4 Be6 23.bxc5 dxc5 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Rb1 b6 26.Qb3 c4 27.Qb4 Bc5 28.Qc3 O-O 29.Rfc1 Rad8 30.Rc2 Rd4 31.Re1 b5 32.axb5 axb5 33.Qa5 Qc6 34.Rb1 b4 35.Rxb4 Bxb4 36.Qxb4 Qxe4 37.Ra2 Qe6 38.Kh2 Rd7 39.Rc2 Rc8 40.Qc3 Rd3 41.Qa5 Rd1 42.Qg5 c3 43.Qh6 Qf5 44.Re2 c2 45.Be5 Rh1+ 46.Kg3 Rh3+ 0-1

Round 9, Feb. 27
Kulaots, Kaido – Khismatullin, Denis
C41 Philidor, improved Hanham variation

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 c6 8.a4 h6 9.h3 Re8 10.Be3 Qc7 11.Ba2 Nf8 12.Nh4 exd4 13.Bxd4 N6h7 14.Nf3 Be6 15.Bxe6 Nxe6 16.Be3 Bf6 17.Qd2 Nhg5 18.Nxg5 hxg5 19.a5 Qe7 20.Rad1 Be5 21.b3 Qf6 22.Ne2 c5 23.Qd3 Rad8 24.Qc4 Nf4 25.Bxf4 gxf4 26.Rd3 d5 27.exd5 Bc7 28.a6 Rxe2 29.Rxe2 Qa1+ 30.Kh2 f3+ 31.d6 fxe2 32.dxc7 Qe5+ 33.f4 Qxc7 34.Rxd8+ Qxd8 35.Qxe2 bxa6 36.Qxa6 Qd4 37.Qc8+ Kh7 38.Qf5+ Kg8 39.Qc8+ Kh7 40.Qf5+ Kg8 41.Qe5 Qf2 42.Qe8+ Kh7 43.Qxf7 Qxc2 44.Qxa7 Qxb3 45.Qxc5 Qb8 46.Kg3 Qd8 47.Qh5+ Kg8 48.Qe5 Kh7 49.Qf5+ Kg8 50.Kg4 Qd1+ 51.Kg5 Qd8+ 52.Kh5 Qe8+ 53.Qg6 Qe2+ 54.Kh4 Qe1+ 55.g3 Qe7+ 56.Qg5 Qe4 57.Qd8+ Kh7 58.Qd6 Qe1 59.f5 Qf2 60.Qe6 Kh8 61.Kg4 Kh7 62.h4 Kh8 63.Qe8+ Kh7 64.Qg6+ Kh8 65.Kh5 Qe2+ 66.g4 Qf3 67.Qe6 Kh7 68.Kg5 Qc3 69.Kh5 Qf3 70.Qe5 Qd3 71.Qe8 Qf3 72.Qg6+ Kh8 73.f6 gxf6 74.Qf7 Qf4 75.Qe8+ Kg7 76.Qg6+ 1-0

Position after 71.Qe8



- black is toasted
- fried
- So if Kulaots wins he will become the champion?
- if, yes
- Has there ever been an Aeroflot Open A champion who had a rating of less that 2550?
- probably not
- doesn’t matter, if he wins, he deserves...
- he is in his way, getting closer
- there it is
- f6 finally
- almost done
- f6! finally
- Qf7 is actually very cute
- putting a sort of zugzwang on it
- I have to go congratulations Kaido!
- congrats Kaido
- queen trade is forced and after that it is easy win

Anish Giri - Interesting endgame that will decide the outcome of Aeroflot open. Wonder what my colleagues @viditchess and @erwinlami think here? #chesspatternrecognition

Round 9, Feb. 27
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Tabatabaei, M. amin
B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Rauzer Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f4 Be7 10.Nf3 b5 11.e5 b4 12.exf6 bxc3 13.Qxc3 gxf6 14.Kb1 a5 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Rb8 17.Bh4 Rb4 18.c4 Rg8 19.Rd2 h5 20.Qd3 Rg4 21.g3 Bc6 22.Bg2 Qa8 23.Bxc6+ Qxc6 24.Rc1 f5 25.a3 Rb7 26.Bxe7 Kxe7 27.Re1 Rg6 28.Qxf5 h4 29.Qd3 hxg3 30.hxg3 Rc7 31.f5 Rf6 32.g4 Qc5 33.Re4 Kd7 34.Qc3 exf5 35.Qxf6 fxe4 36.Qxf7+ Kd8 37.Qe6 Rc6 38.Qxe4 Kc7 39.Rg2 Qg5 40.Qf5 Qxf5+ 41.gxf5 Kd7 42.Rg7+ Ke8 43.Ra7 Rc5 44.f6 Rxc4 45.Rxa5 Rf4 46.Ra8+ Kf7 47.a4 Rf1+ 48.Kc2 Ra1 49.b4 Kxf6 50.b5 Ra2+ 51.Kb3 Ra1 52.Kb2 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 27
Wei Yi – Yuffa, Daniil
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 e5 8.d5 O-O 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 Nc5 11.Bc2 a5 12.O-O Bg4 13.Be3 Bh5 14.h3 Ra6 15.b3 Bg6 16.Nxe5 Bxe4 17.Nxe4 Ncxe4 18.Qf3 Nc5 19.Bd4 Ncd7 20.Nxd7 Nxd7 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Bf6 23.Rxa6 Bxd4+ 24.Kh1 bxa6 25.Qe4 Re8 26.Qxh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qh4+ Bf6 29.Re1+ Kd6 30.c5+ Nxc5 31.Qf4+ Kd7 32.Bf5+ Ne6 33.dxe6+ Ke7 34.Qg4 Kf8 35.Rd1 Qb8 36.exf7 Re5 37.Bg6 Rg5 38.Re1 1-0

Olimpiu G. Urcan - Wei Yi ends the Aeroflot Open with another masterful attack. He's not AlphaZero but the aplomb and energy are simply mesmerizing.

Round 9, Feb. 27
Yakubboev, Nodirbek – Kobalia, Mikhail
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.Nh4 Be6 7.b3 g6 8.Bd3 Bg7 9.Bb2 O-O 10.O-O Nbd7 11.a4 Ne8 12.Qc2 f5 13.Nhf3 Kh8 14.b4 Nd6 15.c5 Ne4 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.dxe5 a5 18.Nb3 axb4 19.f3 Nc3 20.Bxc3 bxc3 21.Qxc3 b6 22.a5 bxa5 23.Nd4 Bg8 24.Nxc6 Qc7 25.e6+ Nf6 26.Nd4 Rfc8 27.Rfc1 a4 28.f4 Qa5 29.c6 Ne8 30.Qa3 Ng7 31.Rc5 Qd2 32.Bf1 Rab8 33.Rc2 Qb4 34.Ba6 Rc7 35.Qxa4 Qb6 36.Rc3 Ra8 37.Qb5 Qxb5 38.Nxb5 Nxe6 39.Nxc7 Nxc7 40.Rca3 Kg7 41.Bd3 Rc8 42.Ra7 d4 43.exd4 Bd5 44.Ba6 Nxa6 45.R1xa6 Kf7 46.c7 Ke8 47.Ra5 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 27
Esipenko, Andrey – Gagare, Shardul
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bg4 9.c3 O-O 10.h3 Bh5 11.d3 Na5 12.Bc2 b4 13.Nbd2 Nd7 14.g4 Bg6 15.Nf1 Rb8 16.Ng3 bxc3 17.bxc3 Nc5 18.Be3 Ne6 19.Nf5 c5 20.Kg2 Re8 21.Rb1 Qc7 22.h4 f6 23.d4 cxd4 24.cxd4 Bf8 25.h5 Bf7 26.d5 Nc5 27.Qe2 Rxb1 28.Rxb1 Nab7 29.Ng3 h6 30.Nh4 Rc8 31.Ng6 Be8 32.Nf5 Ra8 33.Qf3 Nxa4 34.Nxf8 Kxf8 35.g5 hxg5 36.h6 gxh6 37.Nxh6 Qg7 38.Nf5 g4 39.Qg3 Qh7 40.Bh6+ Kg8 41.Qxg4+ Bg6 42.Rxb7 1-0

Nihal Sarin – Congratulations Kaido Kulaots on winning the Aeroflot Open 2019! Absolutely fantastic!

Magnus Carlsen – Congrats to Kaido Kulaots for an absolutely amazing underdog victory at the Aeroflot open! 19 years ago, he shared a flat with my father and I at the Gausdal tournament, and inspired an unrated 9-year-old by predicting that he would one day be rated 2650

[Hans Jung]

Passed pawn madness earlier on in the Kulaots game and what an amazing win of the tournament for Kulaots! Definitely a huge dark horse winner.

[Hans Jung]

GM Martirosyan also had an amazing tournament and especially a fine checkmating finish in the last round against GM Petrosian