Aeroflot Open 04-06: GM Vladislav Kovalev in sole lead

GM Vladislav Kovalev of Bulgaria

Photos: Niklesh Jain

Moscow, Russia: The Aeroflot Open 2018 international chess festival is being held from 19 February to 1 March at the Cosmos Hotel. The competition is one of the world’s oldest and most popular and is traditionally held with support from Aeroflot.

As a part of the exposure trip, the selected Indian team consisting of 39 members (18 men + 17 women + 4 coaches) are being sponsored at full cost by the Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Here you can find the team list.

After six rounds, Bulgarian Grandmaster Vladislav Kovalev is in sole lead with 5.0/6 points.  Grandmasters Sasikiran Krishnan,  Sethuraman S.P and Karthikeyan Murali are three Indians trailing behind the leader with 4.0/6 points.

GM Sasikiran Krishnan is having a solid campaign in the Masters Category. In sixth round, he brilliantly outplayed Norway’s GM Aryan Tari, the current World Junior Champion, in 37 moves.

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GM S.P Sethuraman outwitted compatriot GM Aryan Chopra in a complex King’s Indian game.

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Two-time Indian Champion Karthikeyan Murali is in a great form. He defeated extremely strong Azerbaijani Grandmaster Mamedov Rauf and held  GM Matlakov Maxim of Russia to a draw. His performance rating stands at 2741!

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IM Iniyan.P is having a smooth run. His victory against higher rated Russian IM Vavulin Maksim pushed him to 3.5/6 points.

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India rated no. 3 GM Vidit Gujrathi is having a hard time breaking draw spell in this tournament. All six rounds ended in a draw. His score stands at 3.0/6 points.

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13-year-old IM Nihal Sarin (2532) is giving a tough fight to his +2600 rated opponents. His 80-move battle against Russian Grandmaster Sjugirov Sanan (2652) ended after gruelling 7 hours of play.

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IM Eesha Karavade won against GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakstan in the fourth round but lost two successive rounds to GM Vladislav Kovalev (BLR) and GM Vadim Zvjaginsev (RUS) respectively. Despite the losses, her score stands solidly with 3.0/6 points.

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Pairings/Results

Round 7 on 2018/02/26 at 15:00