Bartel And Eljanov Lead In Aeroflot
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After seven completed rounds out of nine at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Pavel Eljanov (pictured) of the Ukraine and Mateusz Bartel of Poland share the lead on 5½ points. They will now meet in a crucial showdown in round eight.
Former leader Anton Korobov lost to Eljanov in round 7 and now lies half a point behind on 5 points, together with Viorel Iordachescu and Hrant Melkumyan.
Le Quang Liem's hopes of repeating his Aeroflot successes in 2010 and 2011 are in tatters after 3 consecutive losses to Alexander Khalifman, Ray Robson and Daniel Alsina Leal.
Ray Robson has 3½ points; the same score as 2 struggling 2700+ GMs, Paco Vallejo and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
The Aeroflot Open is one of the strongest Open tournaments in the world, and the winner will earn an invitation to compete at the Dortmund Super-Tournament in July.
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.
All rounds start at 15:00 local time (11:00 UTC). For the latest news see the official website.
The top standings after seven rounds:
| Name | Nat | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts | |
| 1 | GM Bartel, Mateusz | POL | 2658 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 2 | GM Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2690 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 3 | GM Korobov, Anton | UKR | 2660 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 5.0 |
| 4 | GM Melkumyan, Hrant | ARM | 2620 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 |
| 5 | GM Iordachescu, Viorel | MDA | 2651 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0 |
| 6 | GM Sokolov, Ivan | NED | 2641 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 7 | GM Khalifman, Alexander | RUS | 2632 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 8 | GM Socko, Bartosz | POL | 2636 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5 |
| 9 | GM Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2670 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 10 | GM Jobava, Baadur | GEO | 2704 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 |
| 11 | GM Fedoseev, Vladimir | RUS | 2525 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 4.5 |
| 12 | GM Zhigalko, Sergei | BLR | 2658 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 |
| 13 | GM Popov, Ivan | RUS | 2599 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 |
| 14 | GM Bu, Xiangzhi | CHN | 2670 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 15 | GM Andreikin, Dmitry | RUS | 2688 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 16 | GM Safarli, Eltaj | AZE | 2638 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 17 | GM Zhou, Jianchao | CHN | 2619 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.5 |
| 18 | GM Rodshtein, Maxim | ISR | 2634 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4.5 |
| 19 | GM Gajewski, Grzegorz | POL | 2616 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5 |
| 20 | GM Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2736 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 |
| 21 | GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny | RUS | 2740 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 22 | IM Grigoryan, Karen H. | ARM | 2482 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | + | ½ | 1 | 4.5 |
Picture from Chessbase.
