Le Quang Liem to defend title at Aeroflot Chess Open from Feb 7

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012


Hi everyone,

The Aeroflot Chess tournament takes place 7-17 February 2012 in Moscow, the city where the RSSU Cup has just finished and where the 2012 World Chess Championship will be played.


Top rated players are Tomashevsky, Caruana, Le Quang Liem, Vallejo Pons, Jobava, Sasikiran, Eljanov, Inarkiev, Andreikin, Zvjagnisev, Akopian, Kobalia, Alekseev, Bu Xiangzhi, Csaba Balogh, Khismatullin, Korobov, Bartel, Zhigalko, Ragger, Gupta, etc. see the full list below. Here is a list of the top participants in Group A of the tournament this year:


Participants Aeroflot 2012 A

• Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2740 g
• Caruana Fabiano ITA 2736 g
• Le Quang Liem VIE 2714 g
• Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2705 g
• Jobava Baadur GEO 2704 g
• Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2700 g
• Eljanov Pavel UKR 2690 g
• Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2689 g
• Andreikin Dmitry RUS 2688 g
• Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2688 g
• Akopian Vladimir ARM 2685 g
• Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2673 g
• Alekseev Evgeny RUS 2670 g
• Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2670 g
• Balogh Csaba HUN 2665 g
• Khismatullin Denis RUS 2664 g
• Korobov Anton UKR 2660 g
• Bartel Mateusz POL 2658 g
• Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2658 g
• Ragger Markus AUT 2655 g
• Gupta Abhijeet IND 2652 g
• Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2651 g
• Iturrizaga Eduardo VEN 2649 g
• Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2647 g
• Negi Parimarjan IND 2641 g
• Ni Hua CHN 2641 g
• Sokolov Ivan NED 2641 g
• Khairullin Ildar RUS 2638 g
• Safarli Eltaj AZE 2638 g
• Mamedov Rauf AZE 2636 g
• Socko Bartosz POL 2636 g
• Guseinov Gadir AZE 2634 g
• Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2634 g
• Khalifman Alexander RUS 2632 g
• Yu Yangyi CHN 2631 g
• Sandipan Chanda IND 2628 g
• Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2622 g
• Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2620 g
• Zhou Jianchao CHN 2619 g
• Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2618 g
• Gajewski Grzegorz POL 2616 g
• Solak Dragan TUR 2613 g
• Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2612 g
• Bocharov Dmitry RUS 2611 g

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
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Moscow Chess Open 2012 from Jan 27

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hello everyone,


The latest chess tournament news for those looking for a great chessy start to 2012 - here's a cool update.

The international chess festival 'Moscow Open 2012' takes place in Moscow on January 27 (date of arrival) - February 6 (date of departure), 2012. The venue is Russian State Social University (RSSU), located at V. Pika Street, 4 ("Botanichesky Sad" metro station). You can access the official website – www.open.moschess.ru – for more information.

There is something for everyone.
The International Cup of RSSU "Moscow Open 2012" consists of 9 separate tournaments:

• Tournament A "Russian Cup stage for men", 
• Tournament B "Russian Cup stage for women",
• Tournament C "Cup for chess amateurs”,
• Tournament D "Cup for university student grandmasters - men",
• Tournament E "Cup for university student grandmasters - women",
• Tournament F "Cup for university students",
• Tournament G "Cup for school champions" (26.01 to 05.02),
• Tournament H "Cup for school-leavers" (26.01 to 05.02),
• Tournament I "Fifth World Cup on solving".
• The total guaranteed prize fund of the Festival is 3 150 000 roubles.

REGULATIONS of the "Moscow Open 2012" chess festival.

Of course there is also the Aeroflot Open Chess Festival beginning right after from February 6 to 17, 2012 at a new venue in Moscow: the Hotel Cosmos, one of the largest in Moscow, located in a beautiful park area 20 travelling minutes from Red Square. The total prize fund is 150,000 Euros, and it includes qualification places for the Dortmund Super Tournament. You can register now.

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News flash: Le Quang Liem wins Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 for the second time in row

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Double strike in Moscow: Grandmaster Le Quang Liem

Hello everyone,

Congratulations to Grandmaster Le Quang Liem for winning the Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 for the second time in a row. Going into the last round on Wednesday, he was tied with Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov for the first place with 6 points each.
In the final round Liem drew with Rauf Mamedov but Cheparinov went down fighting to GM Nikita Vitiugov. Incidentally, the only game Liem lost in the Open was to Cheparinov! You can find more details at the official tournament website at www.aeroflotchess.com.

Tomorrow is the qualification event for the World Blitz Chess Championship. Stay tuned more updates to follow.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 set for photo finish in last round on Wednesday

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

GM Quang Liem Le - Very close to a successful title defense

Hi everyone,

It's the last round at the Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 in Moscow on Wednesday and the tournament is set for a photo finish.

Here are the last round pairings in the A Group. You can watch the games online at www.aeroflotchess.com. Don't miss the excitement. Enjoy. Here are the Group A last round pairings.

Pairings round 9 (Wednesday, 16 February 2011)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	GM Cheparinov, Ivan		6.0	BUL	2665	GM Vitiugov, Nikita		5.5	RUS	2709
2	GM Mamedov, Rauf		5.5	AZE	2660	GM Le, Quang Liem		6.0	VIE	2664
3	GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny		5.5	RUS	2695	GM Sjugirov, Sanan	j	5.5	RUS	2626
4	GM Kasimdzhanov, Rustam		5.5	UZB	2681	GM Yu, Yangyi	j	5.5	CHN	2607
5	GM Rodshtein, Maxim		5.5	ISR	2625	GM Khismatullin, Denis		5.5	RUS	2649
6	GM Vuckovic, Bojan		5.0	SRB	2623	GM Kamsky, Gata		5.0	USA	2730
7	GM Jakovenko, Dmitry		5.0	RUS	2718	GM Sandipan, Chanda		5.0	IND	2641
8	GM Kobalia, Mikhail		5.0	RUS	2666	GM Bocharov, Dmitry		5.0	RUS	2605
9	GM Petrosian, Tigran L.		5.0	ARM	2604	GM Grachev, Boris		5.0	RUS	2660
10	GM Ding, Liren		5.0	CHN	2628	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim		5.0	RUS	2660
11	GM Lysyj, Igor		4.5	RUS	2635	GM Movsesian, Sergei		4.5	ARM	2721
12	GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime		4.5	FRA	2715	GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan		4.5	ESP	2626
13	GM Lenic, Luka		4.5	SLO	2613	GM Sutovsky, Emil		4.5	ISR	2695
14	GM Romanov, Evgeny		4.5	RUS	2606	GM Andreikin, Dmitry		4.5	RUS	2689
15	IM Kovalenko, Igor		4.5	UKR	2515	GM Motylev, Alexander		4.5	RUS	2687
16	GM Volokitin, Andrei		4.5	UKR	2678	GM Ni, Hua		4.5	CHN	2645
17	GM Zhou, Jianchao		4.5	CHN	2655	GM Maletin, Pavel		4.5	RUS	2621
18	GM Khalifman, Alexander		4.5	RUS	2638	FM Bukavshin, Ivan	j	4.5	RUS	2458
19	IM Dubov, Daniil	j	4.5	RUS	2459	GM Timofeev, Artyom		4.0	RUS	2681
20	GM Bologan, Viktor		4.0	MDA	2693	GM Kotsur, Pavel		4.0	KAZ	2559
21	GM Riazantsev, Alexander		4.0	RUS	2689	GM Hess, Robert L		4.0	USA	2572
22	GM Kurnosov, Igor		4.0	RUS	2662	GM Fier, Alexandr		4.0	BRA	2571
23	GM Shomoev, Anton		4.0	RUS	2557	GM Khairullin, Ildar		4.0	RUS	2640
24	GM Predojevic, Borki		4.0	BIH	2626	GM Felgaer, Ruben		4.0	ARG	2585
25	GM Ragger, Markus		4.0	AUT	2615	GM Grigoryan, Avetik		4.0	ARM	2595
26	FM Nechepurenko, Roman V.		4.0	RUS	2546	GM Deviatkin, Andrei		3.5	RUS	2573
27	GM Korobov, Anton		3.5	UKR	2670	GM Oleksienko, Mikhailo		3.5	UKR	2552
28	GM Jumabayev, Rinat		3.5	KAZ	2555	GM Savchenko, Boris		3.5	RUS	2637
29	IM Fedoseev, Vladimir	j	3.5	RUS	2505	GM Edouard, Romain		3.5	FRA	2634
30	GM Iturrizaga, Eduardo		3.5	VEN	2611	IM Papin, Vasily		3.5	RUS	2568
31	GM Kotronias, Vasilios		3.5	GRE	2599	GM Vorobiov, Evgeny E.		3.5	RUS	2556
32	GM Zhao, Jun		3.5	CHN	2599	GM Alsina Leal, Daniel		3.5	ESP	2531
33	GM Bluvshtein, Mark		3.5	CAN	2590	IM Sethuraman, S.P.	j	3.5	IND	2545
34	GM Hammer, Jon Ludvig		3.0	NOR	2647	GM Zhigalko, Andrey		3.0	BLR	2566
35	GM Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag		3.0	BRA	2528	GM Mareco, Sandro		3.0	ARG	2627
36	Xiu, Deshun		3.0	CHN	2508	GM Mamedov, Nidjat		3.0	AZE	2580
37	WGM Ju, Wenjun	w	3.0	CHN	2514	GM Zhou, Weiqi		3.0	CHN	2573
38	GM Novikov, Stanislav		3.0	RUS	2568	GM El Debs, Felipe de Cresce		3.0	BRA	2499
39	IM Danin, Alexandre		2.5	RUS	2538	GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra	w	3.0	RUS	2498
40	GM Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas		2.5	CAN	2500	GM Vocaturo, Daniele		2.5	ITA	2570
41	IM Geller, Jakov		2.0	RUS	2544	WGM Paikidze, Nazi	w	2.0	GEO	2455
42	IM Khader, Sami		2.0	JOR	2450	IM Huschenbeth, Niclas		2.0	GER	2450

Bye	Pogonina, Natalija
Absent	So, Wesley

General info

The 10th Aeroflot Open chess festival takes place February 7-18, 2011 in the capital of Russia. Venue is the Izmailovo hotel in eastern Moscow. The organizers are the “Aeroflot-Russian Airlines”, the Association of Chess Federations and the Russian Chess Federation.

Three sections play nine rounds Swiss for a a total prizefund of 160,000 Euros, including the prizes for the qualifier for the World Blitz Championship on February 17th.

A tournament, rating >2550, first prize 20,000 Euros, top seeded players GMs Kamsky, Movsesian, Jakovenko, Vachier-Lagrave, Vitiugov (live here)

B tournament, rating 2300-2549, first prize 10,000 Euros, top seeded players GMs Lenderman, Shaposhnikov, Kunin, Ulibin, Gabrielian.

C tournament, rating <2300, first prize 3,500 Euros, top seeded players WIM Kharashuta, WGM Burtasova.

Qualifier for the World Blitz Championship, first prize 10,000 Euros.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

Aeroflot Chess R6: Quang Liem leads, Wesley So withdraws

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Filipino grandmaster Wesley So withdrew from the Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 saying he was too tired and was not getting his rhythm right after the hectic Wijk aan Zee tournament recently. He said he wanted to go home and rest ... and train.

Wesley So - You gotta go when you gotta go...

So drew for the fifth time in the tournament, this time against FM Roman Nechepurenko of Russia in only 28 moves of the Queen’s Indian. The 17-year-old Filipino champion had 2.5 points on five draws and one loss in the nine-round Swiss system tournament, which attracted 86 players from 31 countries. “I can’t think very well right now. I’m just too tired from the last tournament (Tata Steel Chess)," said So. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Le Liem Quang and defending champion maintained his half point lead in Group A ahead of the others. Here are the standings after Round 6:
You can find more details at the official tournament website www.aeroflotchess.com.

Leaders after 6 rounds

Rk	Name	Score	Fed.	Rating	TPR	W-We
1	GM Le, Quang Liem	5.0	VIE	2664	2905	+1.74
2	GM Khismatullin, Denis	4.5	RUS	2649	2841	+1.50
3	GM Kobalia, Mikhail	4.5	RUS	2666	2827	+1.24
4	GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny	4.5	RUS	2695	2809	+0.86
5	GM Vitiugov, Nikita	4.5	RUS	2709	2808	+0.73
6	GM Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	4.5	UZB	2681	2768	+0.66
7	GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan	4.0	ESP	2626	2780	+1.25
8	FM Bukavshin, Ivan	4.0	RUS	2458	2784	+2.54
9	GM Jakovenko, Dmitry	4.0	RUS	2718	2761	+0.33
10	GM Yu, Yangyi	4.0	CHN	2607	2744	+1.10
11	GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	4.0	FRA	2715	2737	+0.16
12	GM Mamedov, Rauf	4.0	AZE	2660	2730	+0.56
13	GM Sandipan, Chanda	4.0	IND	2641	2727	+0.69
14	GM Zhou, Jianchao	4.0	CHN	2655	2717	+0.51
15	GM Sjugirov, Sanan	4.0	RUS	2626	2710	+0.69
16	GM Ding, Liren	4.0	CHN	2628	2720	+0.72
17	GM Grachev, Boris	4.0	RUS	2660	2688	+0.21
18	GM Volokitin, Andrei	4.0	UKR	2678	2689	+0.09
19	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim	4.0	RUS	2660	2699	+0.31
20	GM Cheparinov, Ivan	4.0	BUL	2665	2679	+0.11

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
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Aeroflot Chess 2011 R5 - Le Quang leads with nice win over Kamsky

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

Defending champion Liem Le Quang is on a roll at the Aeroflot Chess Open 2011 in the A group. He has already notched up a good 4.5/5 to lead which includes a nice point scored off American Grandmaster and top seed Gata Kamsky.

As you know Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk is also playing in the Group A and has notched up interesting wins. The 10th edition of the International Chess Festival 'Aeroflot Open 2011' is underway in Moscow, and runs February 7 to 18 February 2011. The event includes three nine-round opens, which encompass all ratings together, and have a total prize fund of 125 thousand Euros. The A event is reserved for players rated 2550 and above, and boasts 20 thousand Euros for first prize, Furthermore the winner of the A tournament will be entitled to participate in the round-robin Super Tournament in Dortmund in the second half of July 2011. The B event is reserved for players rated between 2300 and 2549, and has a first prize of ten thousand Euros. The C event is for players rated under 2300, or unrated players, and has a first prize of 3500 Euros. Finally there will also be a qualifier for the World Blitz Championship.

You can keep track of the tournament also at the official website of www.aeroflotchess.com.

Here are the top standings after five rounds:

Rk.	Name	Pts	Fed.	Rtg	Perf
1	Quang Liem	4.5	VIE	2664	2988
2	Kobalia, Mikhail	4.0	RUS	2666	2862
3	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	4.0	RUS	2695	2846
4	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	4.0	UZB	2681	2797
5	Zhou, Jianchao	4.0	CHN	2655	2808
6	Salgado Lopez, Ivan	3.5	ESP	2626	2803
7	Khismatullin, Denis	3.5	RUS	2649	2794
8	Vitiugov, Nikita	3.5	RUS	2709	2756
9	Zvjaginsev, Vadim	3.5	RUS	2660	2695
10	Jakovenko, Dmitry	3.5	RUS	2718	2780
11	Mamedov, Rauf	3.5	AZE	2660	2750
12	Kurnosov, Igor	3.5	RUS	2662	2724
13	Hess, Robert L	3.0	USA	2572	2741
14	Papin, Vasily	3.0	RUS	2568	2730
15	Fedoseev, Vladimir	3.0	RUS	2505	2730
16	Bukavshin, Ivan	3.0	RUS	2458	2725
17	Kamsky, Gata	3.0	USA	2730	2715
18	Kotsur, Pavel	3.0	KAZ	2559	2714
19	Sandipan, Chanda	3.0	IND	2641	2693
20	Yu, Yangyi	3.0	CHN	2607	2676

Here is the nice Liem-Kamsky game from Round 4.




From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
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