The traditional Aeroflot Open has started immediately after the International Chess Festival Moscow Open-2013, from 11-18 February in Moscow, Russia.

The first event is the Qualifying Rapid tournament on 12-13th February. The 32 top finishers qualify for the knock-out tournament, which will be held on 15th February, and thus secure themselves a minimal prize of 1 000 USD.

Six players have finished the first day with a perfect 4/4 score: GM Anton Korobov, GM Rauf Mamedov, GM Shekhar Ganguly, GM Ernesto Inarkiev, GM Pavel Eljanov and GM Sanan Sjugirov.

The first seed, American GM Gata Kamsky, signed a rather quick draw in the third round against a lower rated opponent, GM Zaven Andriasian from Armenia (2569 Elo).

Kamsky bounced back in the 4th round with a victory and stayed well within the 32 players field that will qualify to the Final stage of the tournament. Even though this might seem like an easy task for a player of Kamsky’s level, it’s enough to take a look at the list of participants to see that this is not so simple. The 32nd seed is precisely the recent winner of the Moscow Open, GM Boris Savchenko.

Another player who is a favorite but didn’t get 4 straight wins was Le Quang Liem. Le had a not so difficult first three rounds, getting his 3 wins in less than 30 moves. He showed once again that his opening preparation is first-class; thanks to this, he defeated his lower rated opponents in the early middlegame.

However, the 4th round game was slightly different. Guseinov got the initiative on the kingside in a French Defense where black chose tho take out his “bad light-squared bishop” to b7. With his king’s protection diminished, Le started to look for simplifications and, when it was clear that white’s position was preferable, Guseinov decided to make a three-fold repetition, showing respect for his strong opponent.

The new format of the Aeroflot Open has attracted a lot of Russian players to participate, probably because they feel they have quite a big chance to have good results in a rapid tournament. Will the Russians dominate the field against the foreigners?

Out of the 100 first seeds – the players that seem to have a realistic chance to qualify -, 55 are Russian. With this almost symmetric rate of international and local players, we should expect about the same amount of participants qualified from each “camp”.

Until the 4th round, out of the 19 players that managed to score 3.5 points or more, only 7 are Russian. However, there’s still a lot to play for with five more rounds to go.

Standings after 4 rounds:

 

1	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2733	4.0
2	GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2651	4.0
	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2626	4.0
4	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2628	4.0
5	GM	Eljanov Pavel	UKR	2678	4.0
	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	RUS	2633	4.0
7	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2686	3.5
8	GM	Riazantsev Alexander	RUS	2674	3.5
9	GM	Guseinov Gadir	AZE	2623	3.5
	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	TUR	2547	3.5
11	GM	Fressinet Laurent	FRA	2750	3.5
12	GM	Kamsky Gata	USA	2760	3.5
13	GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2670	3.5
14	GM	Kokarev Dmitry	RUS	2637	3.5
	GM	Nyzhnyk Illya	UKR	2605	3.5
	GM	Chadaev Nikolai	RUS	2590	3.5
17	GM	Popov Ivan	RUS	2634	3.5
	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	RUS	2608	3.5
	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2583	3.5
20	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E.	RUS	2568	3.0
21	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	RUS	2662	3.0
22	GM	Maletin Pavel	RUS	2585	3.0
23	GM	Andriasian Zaven	ARM	2569	3.0
	GM	Kunin Vitaly	GER	2468	3.0
25	FM	Apryshko Gleb	RUS	2335	3.0
26	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2612	3.0
	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	RUS	2592	3.0
28	GM	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	UZB	2709	3.0
29	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	KAZ	2549	3.0
	GM	Zhukova Natalia	UKR	2428	3.0
31	GM	Evdokimov Alexander A.	RUS	2584	3.0
	GM	Ipatov Alexander	TUR	2569	3.0
	GM	Tregubov Pavel V.	RUS	2564	3.0
34	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	VEN	2646	3.0
35	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2714	3.0
36	GM	Smagin Sergey	RUS	2551	3.0
	GM	Gabrielian Artur	RUS	2546	3.0
38	GM	Frolyanov Dmitry	RUS	2591	3.0
39	GM	Khismatullin Denis	RUS	2685	3.0
	GM	Savchenko Boris	RUS	2622	3.0
41	GM	Bukavshin Ivan	RUS	2551	3.0
	GM	Gabuzyan Hovhannes	ARM	2517	3.0
43	GM	Deviatkin Andrei	RUS	2549	3.0
44	GM	Vaisser Anatoly	FRA	2548	3.0
	IM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	RUS	2523	3.0
	IM	Potapov Pavel	RUS	2492	3.0
47	GM	Smirnov Pavel	RUS	2619	3.0
48	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	RUS	2625	3.0
	GM	Bryzgalin Kirill	RUS	2566	3.0
50	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2697	3.0
	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2677	3.0
52	GM	Shomoev Anton	RUS	2543	3.0
53	GM	Tukhaev Adam	UKR	2634	3.0
54	GM	Naumkin Igor	RUS	2495	3.0
	IM	Firat Burak	TUR	2375	3.0
56	GM	Domogaev Sergey	RUS	2510	3.0
57	GM	Kazhgaleyev Murtas	KAZ	2586	3.0
58	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	RUS	2630	3.0
59	GM	Smirin Ilia	ISR	2654	3.0
	GM	Lintchevski Daniil	RUS	2563	3.0
	IM	Kovalev Vladislav	BLR	2533	3.0
62	FM	Pasiev Rakhim	RUS	2368	3.0
63	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	ARM	2657	3.0
64	GM	Vorotnikov Vladislav V	RUS	2433	3.0
	IM	Airapetian Gor	RUS	2432	3.0
66	GM	Zlochevskij Alexander	ITA	2489	2.5
67	IM	Savina Anastasia	RUS	2290	2.5
68	GM	Yandemirov Valeri	RUS	2470	2.5
69	GM	Belov Vladimir	RUS	2641	2.5
70	IM	Reshetnikov Alexey	RUS	2499	2.5
71	GM	Volkov Sergey	RUS	2582	2.5
72	GM	Dubov Daniil	RUS	2578	2.5
73	GM	Pridorozhni Aleksei	RUS	2523	2.5
74	GM	Oleksienko Mikhailo	UKR	2568	2.5
75	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2509	2.5
76	FM	Gordievsky Dmitry	RUS	2494	2.5
	GM	Kharlov Andrei	RUS	2448	2.5
78	GM	Lagno Kateryna	UKR	2616	2.5
	GM	Svetushkin Dmitry	MDA	2612	2.5
80	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	UKR	2597	2.5
	GM	Durarbayli Vasif	AZE	2594	2.5
82	IM	Tarlev Konstantin	UKR	2442	2.5
83	GM	Novikov Maxim	RUS	2511	2.5
	WGM	Shaydullina Sandugach	RUS	2246	2.5
85	GM	Rychagov Andrey	RUS	2498	2.5
86	IM	Eraschenkov Denis	RUS	2451	2.5
87	FM	Seliverstov Vladimir	RUS	2459	2.5
		Ustinov Alexey	RUS	2214	2.5
		Gharagyozian Artur	ARM	2210	2.5
90	IM	Battaglini Gabriel	FRA	2440	2.5
91	GM	Ovetchkin Roman	RUS	2539	2.5
92	FM	Tologontegin Semetey	KGZ	2326	2.5
93	FM	Aghasaryan Robert	ARM	2425	2.5
94	GM	Krapivin Alexander	RUS	2435	2.5
95		Mukhitdinov Akmalkhon	RUS	1954	2.5
96	GM	Ibragimov Ildar	USA	2555	2.5
97		Anokhin Vladimir	RUS	2298	2.5
98	IM	Galliamova Alisa	RUS	2485	2.0
	GM	Krylov Mikhail	RUS	2478	2.0
100	FM	Palachev Petr	RUS	2326	2.0
101		Kukhmazov Arsen	RUS	2159	2.0
102	GM	Kotanjian Tigran	ARM	2526	2.0
103	WGM	Charochkina Daria	RUS	2384	2.0
		Mikhailov Dmitry	RUS	2290	2.0
105	GM	Papin Vasily	RUS	2577	2.0
106	GM	Tkachiev Vladislav	FRA	2663	2.0
		Kapov Albert	RUS	2240	2.0
108	IM	Ulko Jaroslav	RUS	2466	2.0
	IM	Sharafiev Azat	RUS	2461	2.0
110	IM	Gorbatov Alexej	RUS	2360	2.0
111	GM	Dlugy Maxim	USA	2543	2.0
112	GM	Yakovich Yuri	RUS	2561	2.0
113	IM	Kalegin Evgenij	RUS	2493	2.0
114	IM	Badmatsyrenov Oleg	RUS	2472	2.0
115	GM	Levin Evgeny A.	RUS	2548	2.0
	GM	Danielian Oganes	ARM	2530	2.0
	GM	Zagrebelny Sergey	UZB	2484	2.0
		Prokopchuk Yury	RUS	2332	2.0
119		Gevorgyan David	ARM	2369	2.0
120		Tsarev Valery	RUS	2251	2.0
121	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2507	2.0
		Yaksin Oleg	RUS	2416	2.0
	FM	Rozhko Dmitry	RUS	2390	2.0
124	IM	Skripchenko Almira	FRA	2432	2.0
125	GM	Kabanov Nikolai	RUS	2470	2.0
	GM	Glek Igor	GER	2463	2.0
	IM	Oparin Grigoriy	RUS	2455	2.0
	IM	Zaitsev Alexander	RUS	2386	2.0
	FM	Ganzhurov Roman	RUS	2290	2.0
130	GM	Kovalenko Igor	UKR	2635	2.0
131		Golubov Saveliy	RUS	2284	2.0
132		Nazaretyan Tigran	RUS	2198	2.0
133	FM	Tsydypov Zhamsaran	RUS	2433	2.0
134	IM	Pavlov Sergey	UKR	2467	2.0
		Vavulin Maksim	RUS	2356	2.0
	FM	Volkov Sergei	RUS	2275	2.0
		Kozionov Kirill	RUS	2266	2.0
138	GM	Motylev Alexander	RUS	2694	2.0
139	IM	Goganov Aleksey	RUS	2550	2.0
140	FM	Pustovoitova Daria	RUS	2361	2.0
	FM	Pisakov Ilia	RUS	2310	2.0
		Churikov Kirill	RUS	2243	2.0
143	IM	Shvedchikov Anatoli I.	RUS	2434	2.0
	IM	Mesropov Konstantin	RUS	2429	2.0
145		Paravyan David	RUS	2253	2.0
146	GM	Gavrilov Alexei	RUS	2450	2.0
	WGM	Girya Olga	RUS	2389	2.0
	FM	Vlassow Valentin	RUS	2356	2.0
	IM	Reprintsev Alexander	UKR	2319	2.0
150		Bronnikov Konstantin	RUS	2241	2.0
151	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	RUS	2410	2.0
		Trikin Ilia	RUS	2213	2.0
	IM	Archangelsky Mikhail	RUS	2196	2.0
154	GM	Stupak Kirill	BLR	2512	2.0
	IM	Mozharov Mikhail	RUS	2488	2.0
		Dusenov Ruslan	RUS	2263	2.0
		Oganisjn Roman	RUS	2254	2.0
158	FM	Bakin Alexander	RUS	2155	2.0
159	GM	Khruschiov Alexey	MDA	2439	2.0
	FM	Tilicheev Viacheslav	RUS	2436	2.0
161		Mitlashevsky Oleg	RUS	2203	2.0
		Dogodkina Julia	RUS	2136	2.0
163		Shuvalov Evgenij	RUS	2246	2.0
164		Taalaibekov Tagir	KGZ	1946	2.0
165		Sukhareva Evgeniya	RUS	2205	2.0
		Ofitserian Boris	RUS	2048	2.0
		Tsukanov Boris	KAZ	2010	2.0
168	IM	Vasilevich Irina	RUS	2367	1.5
169	IM	Gorovets Andrey	BLR	2516	1.5
170		Dobrovolsky Konstantin	RUS	2326	1.5
171	GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2631	1.5
172	FM	Grishchenko Sergey	RUS	2485	1.5
173	IM	Meshkov Yuri A.	RUS	2391	1.5
	IM	Ageichenko Genadi A	RUS	2367	1.5
	FM	Minko Vladimir	RUS	2281	1.5
176	IM	Rjabzev Konstantin	RUS	2254	1.5
177	FM	Startsev Vladimir	RUS	2170	1.5
178		Vdovin Vadim	RUS	2197	1.5
179	IM	Dragomarezkij Evgeni	RUS	2447	1.5
180		Kuzmichev Alexandr	RUS	2090	1.5
181	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2186	1.5
182		Pasalic Harun	BIH	2155	1.5
183		Maslov Ivan	RUS	2013	1.5
184		Popelyshev Igor V.	RUS	2138	1.5
185		Gilev Sergey	RUS	2248	1.5
186		Lebedev Mikhail S.	RUS	2134	1.5
187		Polyantsev Radzh	RUS	2012	1.5
188	WFM	Sazonova Anastasia	RUS	1977	1.5
189	WFM	Rjanova Valery	RUS	2183	1.5
190	IM	Gagarin Vasilij	RUS	2349	1.0
191	GM	Vul Arkadi Eremeevich	RUS	2310	1.0
192		Kovtunenko Alexandr	RUS	2191	1.0
		Romanov Stanislav	RUS	2139	1.0
194	FM	Kurdakov Yuri	RUS	2159	1.0
		Sakhvadze Georgy	RUS	2093	1.0
		Basiev V P	RUS	2030	1.0
197	IM	Abdulov Orkhan	AZE	2371	1.0
198		Gurevich Alexander Y.	RUS	2074	1.0
199		Piskov Vladimir	RUS	2014	1.0
200		Kobozeva Viktoria	RUS	1868	1.0
201	FM	Kostin Konstantin	RUS	2367	1.0
		Litvinov Maxim	RUS	1947	1.0
		Bukanov Yury	RUS	0	1.0
204	FM	Velikanov Igor	RUS	2253	1.0
205		Ivenin Vladimir	RUS	2050	1.0
206		Lukashov Evgeny	RUS	2169	1.0
207	GM	Kalugin Sergey G.	RUS	2377	1.0
		Vinogradov Anatoly	RUS	2046	1.0
	WCM	Egorova Ayyyna	RUS	1849	1.0
210		Dzhavathanov Magomed	RUS	1791	1.0
211	WFM	Bivol Alina	RUS	2193	1.0
		Vasilyev Vasily	RUS	2184	1.0
		Rettore Ludwig	ITA	2141	1.0
		Tugarin Anton	RUS	2069	1.0
		Agbabishvili Lali	CAN	1958	1.0
216		Gurvich Vitaly	RUS	1879	1.0
217		Tagirov Kajum K	RUS	1917	1.0
		Pechonkin Oleg	UKR	1913	1.0
		Isakjanov Kelsinbek	KGZ	1876	1.0
220		Hallay Axel	FRA	1983	1.0
221		Kuzmin Mikhail	RUS	2154	1.0
		Nogaev Gennadiy	RUS	1557	1.0
223		Bitman Alexander R	RUS	2178	1.0
		Slesarev I.	RUS	2026	1.0
		Dunaev Oleg	RUS	1972	1.0
		Egorov Vladimir	RUS	1893	1.0
227		Baskakov Nikolay	RUS	1966	1.0
		Savchenko Andrey	RUS	1965	1.0
		Smirnov Timofey	RUS	1930	1.0
		Lomasov Semen	RUS	1905	1.0
		Radkov Bazhen D.	RUS	1896	1.0
	WFM	Obolentseva Alexandra	RUS	1854	1.0
		Potemkin Evgeny	RUS	1827	1.0
234		Konaplev Anton	RUS	1896	1.0
		German Nikita	RUS	1857	1.0
236		Rajapaksa Miyuni Kavinya	SRI	0	1.0
237		Khelemendik Viktor	RUS	0	1.0
238		Bykova Anastasia	RUS	2130	0.5
239		Gorelov Kirill	RUS	0	0.5
240		Kharitonov Ivan	RUS	1821	0.5
241		Zavialov Vladimir	RUS	2184	0.5
		Drachev Oleg	RUS	2129	0.5
		Matafonova Yulia	RUS	1776	0.5
244		Galkin Alexandr A.	RUS	0	0.5
245		Bystritskiy Daniil	RUS	1813	0.5
		Zotin Alexander	RUS	0	0.5
247	IM	Bajarani Ilgar	AZE	2302	0.0
248		Absoliamov Javday	RUS	1836	0.0
		Starshov Lev	RUS	1593	0.0
250		Kashpur Mark	RUS	1675	0.0
251		Lyubokhiner Leonid M.	RUS	1761	0.0
		Khmelev Mikhail	RUS	1681	0.0
		Chistyakova Daria	RUS	1651	0.0
254		Vasilieva Aisena	RUS	1721	0.0
		Khelemendik Roman	RUS	0	0.0
256		Bykov Oleg	RUS	0	0.0
		Leonov Viacheslav	RUS	0	0.0

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili