Aeroflot Open

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  • Aeroflot Open

    I read here some interesting posts about my performance at Aeroflot Open. Thank you, guys for your attention. I just want to share few points about this tournament.

    1. It was my 7-th Aeroflot Open. First one was in 2005 and was my first rated chess tournament ever. Since 2005 I missed only one tournament.

    2. This year I was only Canadian at Aeroflot Open. Among Canadians who played since 2005 I could mention M. Bluvshtein, T. Roussel-Roozmon, L. Gerzhoy, E. Hansen, A. Samsonkin, R. Sapozhnikov (twice), N. Kraiouchkine (few times), L. Yee, L. Orlova and many others.

    3. I really hope to be wrong, but may be this year was the last one for Aeroflot Open. I spoke about this with organizers and they were pretty pessimistic about the future of this tournament. They have problems with the main sponsor (Aeroflot). Organizers even gave some small gifts to players who participate at all 11 tournaments.

    4. Now little bit about my statistics. I played 7 times.
    a. 4 times in U2200 section - each time finished with 6/9 points.
    b. twice in U2300 section - 5.5 and 6 (this year) points.
    c. once in 2200-2400 section - 4 points.

    These numbers show very low volatility. I didn't have any really great performance, nor disasterous results.

    5. I usually lose rating at this tournament. Probably Russia is not the best place in the world to gain some rating points. I played few times in USA and, believe me, it's a huge difference between, let say, 2200 FIDE from Russia and from USA. IMHO I play stronger than 2200 player from USA and worse than 2200 from Russia.

    6. 6 out of 9 my opponents were kids (3 from India, Russia, China and Kazakhstan). Sometimes I felt like I play at WYCC. Really, a lot of my opponents were playing there.
    At round 7 I played with world champion for U12 girls from Kazakhstan. Rating 2100 +, performance almost 2300, finished with 6 points. Probably it was my only and last opportunity to beat her.

    7. Last few years I played in different tournaments in different countries and can compare Aeroflot Open with, for example, World Open or Canadian Open. May be GM can find a better deal in Canadian Open or bigger prize in World Open, but for chess amateur like me Aeroflot Open is the best one. Only here amateurs can get 60% discount for hotel price, 80% for airtickets, 35 prizes in the lowest section, free bus from and to airport...

    Sure, February isn't the best time for visiting Russia. This time it was very cold (about -20 C), but personally I like -20 more than +35.

    8. One suggestion for organizers and players of week-end tournaments.
    Time control in my section was 90 min + 30 sec/move. Here in Canada in tournaments like Hart House or Annex we usually have 90 + 30 + 30 min after move 40. On week-end tournaments we play 2 games per day and can spend 10 hours playing chess - to much for me.
    Section 2300-2550 had 90 + 30 + 30 time conrol, but it was much stronger event. How many 2300+ FIDE-rated players we have in week-end tornaments? 5-7 usually. And what about other 100+?

    I don't mind to play with slower time control in strong tournaments with usually 1 game/day schedule (like Canadian Closed and may be Canadian Open), but in week-end tournaments with 2 games/day 90+30 is ehough.

    9. Now Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world. I left Russia (USSR) in 1991 and remember some prices from that time. Currency rate was about the same - 30 RUB/USD (Russia had denomination 1000/1 in 90-es).

    1 dollar lost 99 % of it's value in Russia since 1991!!

    Here some examples.
    Subway tickets - was 0.05 RUB, now 28 RUB (500 times)
    Restourant - was about 10 RUB, now 1000 RUB (100 times)
    Taxi to airport - was about 25 RUB, now 2500 RUB (100 times)
    Gas - was 0.40/litre, now 30 RUB/litre (70 times)
    Average salary - was about 200 RUB (7 USD/month), now about 25.000 RUB (800 USD)/month.

  • #2
    Re: Aeroflot Open

    Originally posted by Victor Plotkin View Post
    I just want to share few points about this tournament.
    Did you play in the blitz event this year?

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    • #3
      Re: Aeroflot Open

      On our Soviet "chess tour" in 1987 (organized by Jonathan Berry) I remember that the "official" exchange rate was about $2 for 1 ruble. A 5-kopek coin (about 10 cents) got you a metro ride, and a 3-kopek coin got you a tram ride (in a crowded tram, your coin got passed - person to person - until someone put it in a ticket machine, and the ticket was finally passed back to you). Amazing the different denominations of coins they had back then (1,2,3,5,10,15, etc. kopeks), and the small 1-ruble note with 15 (or so) languages on it.

      http://static5.depositphotos.com/101...sian-coins.jpg
      http://cdn8.wn.com/pd/54/b7/12ef0db2...c6d_grande.jpg

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      • #4
        Re: Aeroflot Open

        Unfortunately, I didn't play blitz this year. It was a long week-end here in Canada and my wife wanted to spend it in Europe... I was forced to leave Moscow 1 day earlier.

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        • #5
          Re: Aeroflot Open

          Originally posted by Hugh Brodie View Post
          On our Soviet "chess tour" in 1987 (organized by Jonathan Berry)
          It was organized by Les Kovács of Finnair. I was the accompanist. It helped that I could understand and speak some Russian. Street signs, subway stations ... In those days, Intourist guides were closely involved with the groups, so adventure and disorientation were optional. Our Intourist guide was surprised to discover my knowledge of Russian near the end of the tour (which took in Moscow, Leningrad (as it then was) and Tbilisi). I guess I had reserved it for those times when she was absent. I remember that I played a cassette tape of The Beatles' "Back In the USSR", which she had never heard. The lyrics were not seditious, but I suppose that the tone of the music indicated an attitude towards the USSR that was too light for the authorities.

          Reykjavik looks good this year, with attractive rates. In Iceland, they're avid for foreign currency, even the loonie.

          I'm grateful to tournament organizers in Canada, but would like to point out one thing. The rare one game a day tournaments in Canada tend to be events where you meet a wide variety of skill levels (exception, the Quebec Open). There are tournaments where you meet skill peers, but they tend to be two games a day. I think it should be the other way around: the rare one-game-a-day events should be peer tournaments.

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          • #6
            Re: Aeroflot Open

            Originally posted by Jonathan Berry View Post
            There are tournaments where you meet skill peers, but they tend to be two games a day. I think it should be the other way around: the rare one-game-a-day events should be peer tournaments.
            One more think to add: 5 vs 9 (10) rounds in tournaments. (This maybe contributes to elevated ratings too)

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