Aeroflot Set For A Close Finish
Co-leaders Pavel Eljanov and Mateusz Bartel faced each other in the penultimate round of the 2012 Aeroflot Open, but neither could land a decisive blow and the game ended in a draw.
That allowed early leader Anton Korobov to join them at the top of the standings on 6/8 after beating Viorel Iordachescu with the black pieces.
Fabiano Caruana recovered from his loss in the previous round to beat Bartosz Socko, leaving him in a tie on 5½ points with Alexander Khalifman, Hrant Melkumyan and Dmitry Adreikin. A total of 15 competitors lie half a point further back on 5/8.
The first tie-break is the number of games played with black, and the second tie-break is the average opponent rating (excluding the highest and lowest).
The top pairings in the final round look like this:
| White | Pts | Nat | Elo | Black | Pts | Nat | Elo | ||
| 1 |
Korobov, Anton | 6.0 | UKR | 2660 | v | Bartel, Mateusz | 6.0 | POL | 2658 |
| 2 | Andreikin, Dmitry | 5.5 | RUS | 2688 | v | Eljanov, Pavel | 6.0 | UKR | 2690 |
| 3 | Melkumyan, Hrant | 5.5 | ARM | 2620 | v | Khalifman, Alexander | 5.5 | RUS | 2632 |
| 4 | Jobava, Baadur | 5.0 | GEO | 2704 | v | Caruana, Fabiano | 5.5 | ITA | 2736 |
If tie-breaks are required then Mateusz Bartel and Alexander Khalifman will have played one more game with black than their closest rivals (5 blacks and 4 whites) which gives them the advantage. Bartel will also have the best score on the second tie-break measure, so if he can hold Korobov to a draw then only a win by Eljanov would deprive him of the tournament victory, and an invite to the Dortmund Super-Tournament in July.
All of which augurs well for an exciting final round!
The top standings going into the final round (with final tie-break scores shown)
| Name | Nat | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | |
| 1 | Bartel, Mateusz | POL | 2658 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.0 | -1 | 2656.7 |
| 2 |
Korobov, Anton | UKR | 2660 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.0 | 1 | 2657.1 |
| 3 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2690 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.0 | 1 | 2642.4 |
| 4 | Khalifman, Alexander | RUS | 2632 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5 | -1 | 2650.9 |
| 5 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2736 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.5 | 1 | 2644.6 |
| 6 | Melkumyan, Hrant | ARM | 2620 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5.5 | 1 | 2637.3 |
| 7 | Andreikin, Dmitry | RUS | 2688 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5 | 1 | 2619.3 |
| 8 | Bu, Xiangzhi | CHN | 2670 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | -1 | 2613.4 |
| 9 | Shomoev, Anton | RUS | 2570 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | -1 | 2592.0 |
| 10 | Iordachescu, Viorel | MDA | 2651 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | -1 | 2590.0 |
| 11 | Ragger, Markus | AUT | 2655 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0 | -1 | 2572.9 |
| 12 | Rodshtein, Maxim | ISR | 2634 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2670.7 |
| 13 | Sokolov, Ivan | NED | 2641 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2640.0 |
| 14 | Tomashevsky, Evgeny | RUS | 2740 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2638.1 |
| 15 | Fedoseev, Vladimir | RUS | 2525 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2629.4 |
| 16 | Jobava, Baadur | GEO | 2704 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2629.1 |
| 17 | Popov, Ivan | RUS | 2599 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2628.4 |
| 18 | Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2670 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2623.1 |
| 19 | Grigoryan, Karen H. | ARM | 2482 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | + | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2618.6 |
| 20 | Safarli, Eltaj | AZE | 2638 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2616.9 |
| 21 | Zvjaginsev, Vadim | RUS | 2688 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0 | 1 | 2611.0 |
| 22 | Zhou, Jianchao | CHN | 2619 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 1 | 2583.4 |
The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes to a finish with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the start.
The final round starts at the usual time of 15:00 (11:00 UTC). Live coverage is available via the official website, either here or here.
