Aeroflot Open R7: Sasi loses to Tabatabaei, Vidit's draw streak continues

It was -21 degrees in Moscow yesterday morning and the cold outside was in stark contrast to the heat of the competition inside. I had tons of questions in my head walking into the playing hall: will Kovalev keep up his lead or would Artemiev make a comeback? More importantly, the player who has been on the rise since his first-round loss, IM Amin Tabatabaei, will he, after having defeated the top-seeded Fedoseev in the previous round, be able to bring down Sasikiran today? Anyway, amid these questions, I had to occupy myself taking pictures as soon as I got in.

Let me take you through the happenings quickly before we start | ChessBase India YouTube

Some of the best talents from around the world have gathered here at this tournament hall in Moscow!

Vladislav Kovalev and Igor Lysyj had a fierce battle on the top board | Photo: Niklesh Jain

On the top board, tournament leader, Vladislav Kovalev chose the aggressive King's Indian Defence to counter his opponent, Igor Lysyj's queen pawn opening. As is typical for the King's Indian, Kovalev directed all of his forces towards the white king but his weak pawns in the centre and the queenside gave his opponent good counter-chances. After 30 moves, the players decided to sign the truce.

On board two, Russian youngster, Vladislav Artemiev and the former world champion's namesake Tigran Petrosian wrapped up their game in merely 23 moves. The game, even though it was a draw, was quite a sharp theoretical battle. Had either side made one false move, the outcome might have been completely different.

Indian number four, Krishnan Sasikiran essayed the Slav Defence with the black pieces against IM Amin Tabatabaei. Quite early in the game, Tabatabaei was able to inflict pawn weaknesses on Sasikiran's kingside. With his active queen, however, Sasikiran enough counterplay to keep balance in the position. There were several opportunities for the Indian to drift the game towards a draw but he had more ambitious intentions. In an attempt to create winning chances, Sasikiran mishandled the position and ended up losing the full point.

With this vicotry, Tabatabaei has joined Vladislav Kovalev as the joint tournament leader. His rating performance as of round 7 is 2785 and his live rating has jumped up to 2595. More importantly, this young Iranian IM has also scored a GM norm with not one but two rounds to spare! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Victor Bologan tried hard to win in his game against Maxim Matlakov but had to settle for a draw in the end. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Board five saw another decisive game of the round. Armenian GM Gabriel Sargissian defeated Russia's Kirill Alekseenko in this game. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The best game of the day was clearly Anton Korobov's bout against Parham Maghsoodloo | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Korobov's game against Maghsoodloo was an absolute treat for all spectators. From the white side of a Gruenfeld defence, Korobov dominated the board on all corners. Almost stepping into the middlegame, he gave up the right to castle and did not fear marching his king up the board to retain his advantage. Just one move after the first time control, Maghsoodloo resigned as his opponent's far advanced pawns and active pieces were too much for him to handle.

Former world champion, Alexander Khalifman was quite comfortably held to a draw by SP Sethuraman. The game lasted merely 17 moves. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

After his draw against Dmitry Gordievsky, Murali Karthikeyan has amassed 4.5/7 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Aravindh Chithambaram defeated the Armenian GM Arman Mikaelyan and has moved up to 4.0/7 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Aryan Chopra, after his loss against Sethuraman in the previous round, has bounced back strongly with a win against Svane Rasmus and is up to 4.0/7. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vidit's drawing spree continues

India's biggest hope at the tournament, Vidit Gujrathi continued his struggle with form in round seven as well. For the seventh consecutive time in the tournament, Vidit was unable to win his game and had to settle for a draw. Whether this string of draws has something to do with his work with his close friend Anish Giri is quite amusing to think about. Nevertheless, we hope he breaks the shackles of bad form and comes back with a bang.

Star of the first four rounds, Eesha Karavade suffered her third consecutive loss in round 7 to the Norwegian GM Aryan Tari. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Battle of the Prodigies is coming up!

Nihal Sarin, who is quite close to achieving a GM norm at the event is going to be pitted against a very special opponent in the penultimate round. Any guesses who that opponent is? | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Well, you guessed it right. He'll be playing his close friend R Praggnanandhaa! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Performance of team India (Group A)

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Rk.	Rp	Group
2	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2723	IND	½	½	½	½	½	½	½			3,5	52	2531	Open A
11	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2671	IND	½	½	½	½	1	1	0			4,0	25	2598	Open A
15	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2646	IND	1	1	0	½	½	1	½			4,5	10	2664	Open A
25	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2617	IND	½	1	½	½	0	½	1			4,0	26	2559	Open A
36	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2598	IND	½	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,5	91	0	Open A
43	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2585	IND	1	0	1	1	½	½	½			4,5	13	2720	Open A
48	GM	Narayanan.S.L	2573	IND	½	0	1	0	0	1	½			3,0	62	2524	Open A
57	IM	Nihal Sarin	2532	IND	½	½	½	½	½	½	0			3,0	66	2599	Open A
67	GM	Aryan Chopra	2509	IND	½	1	½	0	1	0	1			4,0	29	2675	Open A
68	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2507	IND	½	0	½	½	½	½	½			3,0	61	2524	Open A
70	GM	Debashis Das	2501	IND	½	0	0	1	0	½	0			2,0	86	2402	Open A
72	GM	Gagare Shardul	2494	IND	½	0	1	0	½	0	0			2,0	85	2420	Open A
87	IM	Iniyan P	2460	IND	½	½	0	1	½	1	0			3,5	42	2595	Open A
88	FM	Erigaisi Arjun	2458	IND	½	0	1	½	½	½	½			3,5	48	2604	Open A
91	IM	Raja Harshit	2448	IND	½	½	½	½	0	½	0			2,5	79	2475	Open A
92	IM	Karavade Eesha	2386	IND	1	½	½	1	0	0	0			3,0	60	2577	Open A

Pairings of Round 8 ( Group A )

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	16	GM	Kovalev Vladislav	BLR	2641	5½		5½	IM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	IRI	2577	46
2	12	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2664	5		5	GM	Artemiev Vladislav	RUS	2697	6
3	24	GM	Lysyj Igor	RUS	2618	5		5	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2677	10
4	5	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2709	4½		5	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	ARM	2589	40
5	54	GM	Xu Xiangyu	CHN	2545	4½		4½	GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2709	4
6	33	GM	Bologan Victor	MDA	2600	4½		4½	GM	Najer Evgeniy	RUS	2683	8
7	15	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2646	4½		4½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2585	43
8	19	GM	Gordievsky Dmitry	RUS	2630	4½		4½	GM	Romanov Evgeny	RUS	2621	22
9	3	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	RUS	2712	4		4½	GM	Khalifman Alexander	RUS	2614	27
10	7	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2684	4		4	GM	Tari Aryan	NOR	2597	37
11	9	GM	Kamsky Gata	USA	2677	4		4	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	RUS	2598	35
12	11	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2671	4		4	GM	Predke Alexandr	RUS	2595	38
13	13	GM	Piorun Kacper	POL	2659	4		4	GM	Yuffa Daniil	RUS	2521	63
14	39	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2594	4		4	GM	Mareco Sandro	ARG	2632	18
15	23	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2618	4		4	IM	Xu Yi	CHN	2490	75
16	25	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2617	4		4	IM	Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe	COL	2461	86
17	84	IM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	UZB	2462	4		4	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2614	26
18	29	GM	Alekseenko Kirill	RUS	2609	4		4	GM	Aryan Chopra	IND	2509	67
19	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	RUS	2724	3½		3½	GM	Chigaev Maksim	RUS	2560	51
20	66	FM	Sorokin Aleksey	RUS	2511	3½		3½	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2723	2

Round 8 on 2018/02/27 at 15:00

An exciting game of the B group between IM Nubairshah Shaikh and Padmini Rout concluded in a draw. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Performance of Team India (Group B)

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Rk.	Group
5	GM	Kunte Abhijit	2499	IND	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	5,0	10	Open B
20	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2443	IND	1	0	0	½	0	½	1	3,0	94	Open B
26	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2427	IND	1	½	½	1	½	0	1	4,5	31	Open B
36	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2413	IND	1	1	1	½	0	½	½	4,5	28	Open B
39		Rahul Srivatshav P	2408	IND	0	1	1	½	0	0	1	3,5	57	Open B
53	IM	Krishna Teja N	2371	IND	½	1	1	0	0	½	½	3,5	53	Open B
54	IM	Abhishek Kelkar	2370	IND	1	0	1	0	0	1	½	3,5	75	Open B
63	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2349	IND	1	½	½	0	1	0	½	3,5	54	Open B
67	FM	Fenil Shah	2346	IND	½	0	1	1	1	1	0	4,5	17	Open B
69	WIM	Vaishali R	2342	IND	0	1	0	1	½	½	0	3,0	87	Open B
71	FM	Sadhwani Raunak	2339	IND	½	½	1	0	0	0	1	3,0	80	Open B
75	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2329	IND	½	0	0	1	½	0	0	2,0	113	Open B
76	IM	Padmini Rout	2325	IND	1	½	½	0	1	1	½	4,5	23	Open B
77		Muthaiah Al	2325	IND	0	1	½	½	½	1	½	4,0	34	Open B
79	IM	Kathmale Sameer	2320	IND	0	½	0	1	½	1	½	3,5	61	Open B
80	CM	Gukesh D	2320	IND	½	0	0	0	1	1	1	3,5	78	Open B
85		Raahul V S	2305	IND	0	0	½	1	0	1	0	2,5	109	Open B
86	FM	Mitrabha Guha	2303	IND	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	4,0	38	Open B
90		Pranav V	2284	IND	0	1	0	0	0	1	½	2,5	106	Open B
92	WIM	Monnisha G K	2281	IND	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	4,0	44	Open B
95		Navalgund Niranjan	2270	IND	0	0	½	1	0	½	0	2,0	112	Open B
96	FM	Anand Nadar	2262	IND	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	3,5	67	Open B
100	IM	Mohota Nisha	2256	IND	1	0	0	0	0	½	0	1,5	124	Open B
101	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2252	IND	0	½	½	0	½	0	0	1,5	117	Open B
102	FM	Shailesh Dravid	2246	IND	1	1	0	0	1	0	½	3,5	65	Open B
103	WIM	Nandhidhaa Pv	2241	IND	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	1,5	118	Open B
107	IM	Praveen Kumar C	2228	IND	0	½	1	0	0	0	1	2,5	100	Open B
108	FM	Raja Rithvik R	2227	IND	1	0	0	½	½	½	1	3,5	72	Open B
109		Moksh Amit Doshi	2221	IND	½	0	1	½	0	0	1	3,0	90	Open B
110		Kulkarni Chinmay	2215	IND	0	0	½	1	0	1	0	2,5	99	Open B
114	CM	Aditya Mittal	2206	IND	1	½	0	0	1	0	½	3,0	89	Open B
116		Manush Shah	2202	IND	½	1	½	½	½	0	½	3,5	68	Open B
121	WIM	Pujari Rucha	2171	IND	0	1	0	0	0	½	1	2,5	104	Open B
122		Narendran Gouthaman	2165	IND	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	1,5	121	Open B
124	WFM	Divya Deshmukh	2138	IND	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	1,5	120	Open B
125		Pranav Anand	2024	IND	½	0	½	1	½	½	0	3,0	82	Open B
126	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	2001	IND	0	1	½	0	0	0	½	2,0	116	Open B

Pairings of Round 8 (Group B)

Round 8 on 2018/02/27 at 15:00

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	3	IM	Moskalenko Alexander	RUS	2533	5½		6	GM	Mozharov Mikhail	RUS	2539	2
2	19	IM	Asadli Vugar	AZE	2449	5½		5½	GM	Potapov Pavel	RUS	2479	10
3	11	GM	Rogozenco Dorian	ROU	2479	5½		5½	IM	Faizrakhmanov Ramil	RUS	2423	28
4	14	IM	Zakhartsov Vladimir	RUS	2472	5½		5½	GM	Kotanjian Tigran	ARM	2466	16
5	21	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	UZB	2439	5½		5	IM	Kozionov Kirill	RUS	2423	29
6	5	GM	Kunte Abhijit	IND	2499	5		5		Bykov Oleg	RUS	2353	61
7	17	IM	Seliverstov Vladimir	RUS	2464	5		5	IM	Flom Gabriel	FRA	2485	9
8	25		Dai Changren	CHN	2430	5		4½		Sviridov Valery	RUS	2515	4
9	1	IM	Moiseenko Vadim	RUS	2547	4½		4½	IM	Kazakovskiy Valeriy	BLR	2397	41
10	46	WIM	Shuvalova Polina	RUS	2388	4½		4½	IM	Jarmula Lukasz	POL	2498	6
11	7	GM	Gasanov Eldar	UKR	2490	4½		4½	IM	Morchiashvili Bachana	GEO	2393	44
12	40	IM	Gorbatov Alexej	RUS	2397	4½		4½	IM	Harutyunian Tigran K.	ARM	2488	8
13	67	FM	Fenil Shah	IND	2346	4½		4½	GM	Balashov Yuri S	RUS	2431	24
14	76	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2325	4½		4½	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	IND	2427	26
15	35	IM	Savitskiy Sergey	RUS	2415	4½		4½		Bazeev German	RUS	2385	47
16	72	WFM	Xiao Yiyi	CHN	2334	4½		4½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	IND	2413	36
17	12	GM	Papin Vasily	RUS	2476	4		4	FM	Nigmatov Ortik	UZB	2361	56
18	13	GM	Vorotnikov Vladislav V	RUS	2472	4		4	IM	Tran Minh Thang	VIE	2359	58
19	60		Chen Qi B	CHN	2359	4		4	GM	Baghdasaryan Vahe	ARM	2436	22
20	77		Muthaiah Al	IND	2325	4		4	IM	Nechaeva Marina	RUS	2421	30
21	62	FM	Mirzoyan David	ARM	2350	4		4		Vastrukhin Oleg	RUS	2409	38

About the Author

FIDE Instructor Niklesh Kumar Jain Jain is an international chess player who has participated in tournaments in almost in 20 different countries, winning the international tournament in Sri Lanka in 2010. He also worked for a television network as an anchor and news writer for two years, and reported in Hindi during World Chess Championship 2013 and 2014. Niklesh loves to write about tournaments and do interviews with chess champions. He has ambitions to become a grandmaster, but at the same time loves to train young talent. He strongly believes chess should be the part of every school curriculum, to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Previous reports on Aeroflot Open

Last seed Eesha Karavade is the best performing Indian at the Aeroflot Open 2018

Eesha Karavade strikes again!

Aeroflot Open R 5+6: Tournament lead changes hands