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Matlakov & Moiseenko Very Equal First at Moscow Open

Matlakov & Moiseenko Very Equal First at Moscow Open

PeterDoggers
| 6 | Chess Event Coverage

Top seeds Maxim Matlakov of Russia and Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine tied for first place at the Moscow Open on Sunday. The two GMs scored 7.0/9 and their tiebreaks turned out to be exactly the same. Polish grandmasters Mateusz Bartel and Mikhail Krasenkow came third and fourth respectively on Buchholz.

The Moscow Open & the 10th RSSU Cup took place 30 January - 9 February at the Russian State Social University (RSCU) in the Russian capital. The big, annual festival consisted of nine different tournaments:

  • Tournament A "Cup of Russia among men 2014" 
  • Tournament B "Cup of Russia Women 2014" 
  • Tournament C "Cup RSSU chess lovers' 
  • Tournament D "RSSU Veterans Cup Chess" 
  • tournament E "RSSU Cup - World Cup of Chess Composition" 
  • Tournament F "Cup RSSU students - Grandmasters"
  • Tournament G "Cup RSSU students (girls) - Grandmasters" 
  • Tournament H "Champions Cup RSSU schools"
  • Moscow Rapid Championship Super Final

Let's start with the latter, which was held at the start: 30-31 January. Alexander Grischuk edged out Evgeny Najer on tiebreak; both finished on 6.5/9. According to the tournament website this two-day rapid event had an impressive prize fund: the two winners each took home 6,056 Euros (US $8,270)! Three players scored 5.5 points: Boris Grachev, Alexander Morozevich and Ivan Popov. Ian Nepomniachtchi followed with 5 points.

Alexander Grischuk
Evgeniy Najer

The strong open ("group A") was a nine-round Swiss played February 1-9. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. 

After seven rounds there was a group of nine players with 5.5 points: Boris Grachev, Ivan Popov, Pavel Ponkratov, Dmitry Kokarev, Ildar Khairullin, Artur Gabrielian (all Russia) Mateusz Bartel (Poland), Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan) and Alexander Moiseenko (Ukraine). In the penultimate round the top four boards ended in draws, and so it was Ponkratov who grabbed sole lead with the following win:

Pavel Ponkratov

Ponkratov's reign was short-lived; in the final round he played Alexander Moiseenko on board one and went down in an ending:

European Champion Alexander Moiseenko

Maxim Matlakov also won in the last round to join Moiseenko in first place.


Maxim Matlakov

Matlakov and Moiseenko won 8323 Euros each (US $11,363)

Olga Girya, who beat Alexandra Goryachkina in the last round, was the top female player. Yury Balashov won the veterans event, edging out Evgeny Kalegin on tiebreak after both finished on 7.5/9. With a score of 8.0/9 Vladislav Artemyev was clearly the strongest in a round robin tournament for students. Meri Arabidze won the female students’ tournament.

The venue: the Russian State Social University (RSCU)

Moscow Open 2014 | Group A | Final Standings (Top 30)

Rk. SNo Title Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rp
1-2 1 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2710 7 50,5 5 35 2719
1-2 2 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2690 7 50,5 5 35 2730
3 7 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2651 7 50 5 37 2740
4 11 GM Krasenkow Michal POL 2638 7 44,5 6 32,5 2646
5 3 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2669 6,5 53,5 4 37,5 2713
6 6 GM Popov Ivan RUS 2653 6,5 52 4 36 2676
7 17 GM Ponkratov Pavel RUS 2611 6,5 51,5 5 37 2682
8 8 GM Khairullin Ildar RUS 2651 6,5 49,5 4 37,5 2675
9 23 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2564 6,5 47,5 4 34,5 2607
10 24 IM Mozharov Mikhail RUS 2564 6,5 47 5 32,5 2571
11 22 GM Shomoev Anton RUS 2568 6,5 46,5 4 33,5 2595
12 20 GM Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2581 6,5 46 4 31,5 2571
13 28 GM Geller Jakov RUS 2536 6,5 45,5 5 34 2632
14 21 GM Frolyanov Dmitry RUS 2577 6,5 45,5 4 33,5 2576
15 34 GM Kabanov Nikolai RUS 2501 6,5 43,5 5 33 2605
16 25 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2556 6,5 42 5 30,5 2544
17 16 GM Amonatov Farrukh TJK 2613 6,5 42 5 29,5 2562
18 15 GM Demchenko Anton RUS 2617 6,5 41,5 6 28,5 2543
19 14 GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2627 6,5 40,5 6 29 2552
20 19 GM Grigoryan Karen H. ARM 2584 6,5 36,5 6 25 2435
21 13 GM Kokarev Dmitry RUS 2628 6 51 4 35 2605
22 12 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2630 6 50 5 34,5 2627
23 32 IM Sivuk Vitaly UKR 2507 6 50 4 33,5 2650
24 45 FM Aghasaryan Robert ARM 2467 6 48,5 3 32,5 2614
25 26 GM Gabrielian Artur RUS 2555 6 47,5 5 33 2568
26 36 GM Khusnutdinov Rustam KAZ 2491 6 47 4 30,5 2521
27 35 GM Ajrapetjan Yuriy UKR 2495 6 45,5 5 32 2550
28 4 GM Socko Bartosz POL 2663 6 44 4 30 2526
29 27 GM Kornev Alexei RUS 2539 6 43,5 4 30,5 2506
30 78 GM Yandemirov Valeri RUS 2378 5,5 51,5 5 31,5 2584

All photos © Galina Popova courtesy of open.moscowchess.org

PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.

Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.

Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013.

As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!


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