Kovalev, Surprise Winner Of Aeroflot, Qualifies For Dortmund

The winner of the 2018 Aeroflot Open, and thus the qualifier for this year's super-tournament in Dortmund, is Vladislav Kovalev. The 24-year-old grandmaster from Belarus left players such as Vladimir Fedoseev, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Dmitry Andreikin behind.

The annual open tournament sponsored by Russian airline Aeroflot was held for the 16th time this year. The festival took place February 20-28 in Hotel Cosmos in the Alexeyevsky district in northern Moscow.

The A group, for players rated 2549 or higher, had a first prize of €18,000 ($22,000). The value is even higher since the winner is always invited to Dortmund later in the year!

None of the favorites managed to clinch it. It was 16th-seeded Kovalev who took over the 2017 title from Fedoseev, as the only player to score 7/9. Last year the same score was also good for clear first; back then Kovalev had finished on 6.5/9 but his performance rating was exactly the same this year: 2791.

The Belarusian grandmaster scored a stunning 5/5 with the white pieces and 4/4 as Black (that is, holding all four to a draw!). That's what you call perfection!

A big win was his round-six game vs Vladislav Artemiev, who grabbed just enough Elo points in Moscow to break the 2700 barrier. In this game, however, he got into a passive position in an endgame and was duly outplayed: 

You could see similarities with an airplane in this Aeroflot playing hall. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Kovalev's fifth White win was scored in a sideline of the French. This 3.Bd3 move might be more venomous than it looks at first sight—isn't Black just going to win at least one tempo attacking that bishop with a knight? Yes, he is, but on f3 that bishop is very strong in fact and trying to win another tempo against White's other bishop is a dubious idea that several players have fallen for.

Kovalev's opponent Tabatabaei had scored a spectacular win over last year's winner Fedoseev in round six. Something had gone terribly wrong with Fedoseev's preparation as he was dead lost out of the opening. With the brilliant-looking 17...Re2!!?? his opponent allowed him back into the game but eventually White's king didn't manage to get into safety.

A key game for the tournament: Kovalev vs Tabatabaei. | Boris Dolmatovsky/Russian Chess Federation.

There was a nice "mirror" of Tabatabaei's rook move by Fedoseev himself the very next day. His 26...Rd2+!! deserved more—the move equalized the game, but Fedoseev slipped soon after.

Kovalev giving a speech at the closing ceremony, in between S.P. Sethuraman (left, second place) and Dmitry Gordievsky (third place). | Photo: Vladimir Barsky/Russian Chess Federation.

2018 Aeroflot Open | Group A Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Games via TWIC.