Nepomniachtchi wins Aeroflot Open 2008

by ChessBase
2/22/2008 – We are going to have to learn to pronounce his name. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia scored 7.0/9 to finish clear first in the 2008 Aeroflot Open in Moscow. His performance was a resounding 2822. Behind him we find Russian GMs Alexander Motylev and Alexey Dreev, each with 6.5 points. We bring you the final standings, games, pictures and videos.

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The Aeroflot Open 2008 is taking place from February 13th to 22nd. The venue and official hotel is the "Gamma-Delta" Hotel, which can accomodate 3,500 guests. The festival consists of four tournaments, each a nine rounds Swiss Tournament. The total prize fund of the four tournaments is US $200,000 – $30,000 first place and $100,000 total in the top group.

The event was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi, 17-year-old Russian Grandmaster, half a point ahead of the field. The youngster could have made it even more convincing, had he not accepted a draw in a winning position in round eight (details at the end of this report).

Final top standings (after nine rounds)

# Player FED Rtng Pts. Perf.
1 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2600 7.0 2822
2 GM Motylev, Alexander RUS 2644 6.5 2761
3 GM Dreev, Alexey RUS 2633 6.5 2767
4 GM Rodshtein, Maxim ISR 2614 6.0 2717
5 GM Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2674 6.0 2706
6 GM Grachev, Boris RUS 2601 6.0 2736
7 GM Guseinov, Gadir AZE 2617 6.0 2727
8 GM Amonatov, Farrukh TJK 2649 6.0 2701
9 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2583 5.5 2694
10 GM Bologan, Viktor MDA 2663 5.5 2655
11 GM Asrian, Karen ARM 2621 5.5 2677
12 GM Predojevic, Borki BIH 2641 5.5 2659
13 GM Sutovsky, Emil ISR 2642 5.5 2653
14 GM Azarov, Sergei BLR 2594 5.5 2611
15 GM Khismatullin, Denis RUS 2564 5.0 2648
16 GM Le, Quang Liem VIE 2540 5.0 2650
17 GM Kotanjian, Tigran ARM 2545 5.0 2647
18 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2637 5.0 2599
19 GM Volkov, Sergey RUS 2623 5.0 2598
20 GM Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2551 5.0 2673
21 GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN 2551 5.0 2669
22 GM Minasian, Artashes ARM 2578 5.0 2647
23 GM Timofeev, Artyom RUS 2664 5.0 2643
24 GM Grigoriants, Sergey RUS 2583 5.0 2638
25 GM Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2634 5.0 2616
26 GM Akopian, Vladimir ARM 2700 5.0 2602
27 GM Jobava, Baadur GEO 2643 5.0 2609
28 GM Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2628 5.0 2587

Picture gallery

By Özgür Akman, Türkish Chess Federation


Play under way in the Aeroflot Open 2008


The tournament was held in four groups, all played as nine-round Swisses


The winner: GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, RUS, 2600, 7.0 points, 2822 performance


Second: GM Alexander Motylev, Russia, 2644, 6.5 points, performance 2761


Third: GM Alexey Dreev, Russia, 2633, 6.5 points, 2767 performance


Fourth: GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel, 2614, 6.0 points, perfomance 2717


Fifth: GM Andrei Volokitin, Ukraine, 2674, 6.0 points, performance 2706


Tenth: GM Viktor Bologan, Moldova, 2663, 5.5 points, performance 2655


11th: GM Karen Asrian, Armenia, 2621, 5.5 points, performance 2677


31st: Chinese wonder: 13-year-old WGM Hou Yifan, rated 2527, 4.5 points, 2605 performance


27th: Baadur Jobava, the winner of the Aeroflot Open in 2006, rated 2643, perf. 2609


Elena Tairova


Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Marie Sebag, two young stars of French chess


Alexander Khalifman and Vladimir Akopian


Veteran Russian GM Yuri Balashov

A missed chance


Farrukh Amonatov, 2649, and Ian Nepomnaichtchi, 2600, analysing their round seven game


The ultimate tournament winner examining his game


The two players decide to consult the computer on the final position


The computer proves: Black missed a clear win

Amonatov,F (2649) - Nepomniachtchi,I (2600) [C12]
Aeroflot Open Moscow RUS (7), 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

Draw agreed. But ChessBase running the Junior engine brings clarity: 25...Ne3 wins for Black! Nepomniachtchi missed an opportunity to clinch the tournament and win a full point ahead of the field.

All pictures by Özgür Akman, Türkish Chess Federation

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