International Event Roundup: February 2020

Gibraltar

David Paravyan and Tan Zhongyi (Niki Riga)

22nd ranked GM David Paravyan was the surprise winner of the 2020 Gibraltar Masters, winning a tiebreak against 2020 Candidate GM Wang Hao to claim the £30,000 first prize and the trophy.

Top finishers, Gibraltar 2020

Paravyan and Hao were two of seven who finished with 7.5/9. Others tied for first were GMs Andrey Esipenko, David Navara, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Mustafa Yilmaz, and Daniil Yuffa. Each earned £10,500 for their efforts. GM Tan Zhongyi took home £20,000 as the best women’s finisher, while her countrywoman GM Lei Tingjie received £10,000 as the second place woman.

Anna Muzychuk (photo Niki Riga)

The best game award went to GM Anna Muzychuk, who earned every penny of the £1,000 prize for this lovely final round demolition of GM Ori Kobo.

[pgn] [Event "Gibraltar Masters 2020"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2020.01.30"] [Round "10.39"] [White "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Black "Kobo, Ori"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2539"] [BlackElo "2445"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2020.01.21"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. f4 a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. a3 Ne7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. h4 f5 14. g4 d5 15. gxf5 exf5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Rhe1 Qf7 19. Bc3 Rfe8 20. Be5 Re6 21. Qf1 Rf8 22. Qh3 Rh6 23. Bxf5 Qxf5 24. Rd7 Rg6 25. Qb3+ Kh8 26. Rxb7 Bf2 27. h5 Rg3 28. Qd5 h6 29. Re2 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Bh4 31. Qd4 Rc8 32. Bxg7+ Kg8 33. Qxg1 Rxc2+ 34. Ke3 Qh3+ 35. Kd4 Bf2+ 36. Rxf2 Rc4+ 37. Kd5 1-0 [/pgn]

Prague Masters

Sam Shankland (photo Vladimir Jagr)

GM Sam Shankland used a final round victory over GM Nikita Vitiugov to claim a share of first place at the 2020 Prague Masters.

[pgn] [Event "2nd Prague Masters 2020"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2020.02.21"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A10"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "2731"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2020.02.12"] 1. c4 b6 2. e4 Bb7 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 c5 5. Nge2 e6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nc6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. f4 Neg4 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Be2 f5 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Bd3 Qc8 17. Bxe4 Nxe4 18. Qc2 Nd6 19. b3 Qb7 20. Kb1 Rac8 21. Rhe1 Rc7 22. Bc1 b5 23. c5 Nf5 24. Nxf5 Rxf5 25. Rxd7 Rfxc5 26. Rxc7 Rxc7 27. Qe2 Rc6 28. f5 Bb4 29. Rd1 exf5 30. Qe8+ Bf8 31. Rd7 Qc8 32. Qf7+ Kh8 33. Bb2 Rg6 34. g3 f4 35. Qxf4 Re6 36. a3 Re2 37. Rc7 Qe8 38. Qf5 Kg8 39. Rxa7 Qe4+ 40. Qxe4 Rxe4 41. Rb7 Re1+ 42. Ka2 Re2 43. Rxb5 Be7 44. Kb1 Re1+ 45. Kc2 Re2+ 46. Kc1 Rxh2 47. b4 h5 48. a4 Rh1+ 49. Kc2 Rh2+ 50. Kb3 Rh3 51. Bc3 Rxg3 52. Rxh5 g5 53. Rh6 Bf8 54. Rc6 g4 55. a5 1-0 [/pgn]

Alireza Firouzja (photo courtesy of organizers)

A last-minute replacement for GM Wei Yi, who was forced to withdraw due to fears over the coronavirus, GM Alireza Firouzja was named the winner of the Prague Masters after defeating Vidit in a two game blitz tiebreak.

[pgn] [Event "2nd Prague Masters TB"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2020.02.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2726"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2020.02.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. b3 b6 10. Bc3 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Rfd1 c5 13. Rac1 dxc4 14. Nxc4 b5 15. Ba5 Qb8 16. Nce5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Nd5 18. Bd2 h6 19. g4 Qe8 20. h4 f5 21. exf6 Nxf6 22. g5 Be4 23. Qb2 Ng4 24. Bc3 Qg6 25. Rd7 Rf7 26. Qd2 hxg5 27. hxg5 Qh5 28. Rxe7 Rxe7 29. Qd6 Rf7 30. Qxe6 Bf5 31. Qc6 Rc8 32. Qd5 Re8 33. Qc6 Rxe2 34. Rd1 Rxf2 35. Rd8+ Kh7 36. Qe8 Rxf3 37. Qh8+ Kg6 38. Qxh5+ Kxh5 39. Bxf3 Kxg5 40. Rd5 Kf4 41. Bxg4 Kxg4 42. Rxc5 Bd3 43. Bd2 Kf3 44. Re5 Be4 45. Rxb5 Rd7 46. Bb4 Rd1+ 47. Kh2 Kg4 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "2nd Prague Masters TB"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2020.02.21"] [Round "2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2721"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2020.02.21"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 e6 6. Na3 a6 7. Nc4 Qd8 8. Bg5 Nf6 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Rd1+ Ke7 12. Nfe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 h6 14. Bf4 Ne4 15. Nd3 Ba7 16. f3 Nf6 17. Ne5 Nd5 18. Bg3 Re8 19. Bf2 f6 20. Bxa7 Rxa7 21. Nc4 b5 22. Na5 Bd7 23. Kf2 Rc7 24. Bd3 Nb6 25. Rhe1 Na4 26. Rd2 Rd8 27. Bg6 Bc8 28. Rxd8 Kxd8 29. Re2 e5 30. Rd2+ Rd7 31. Re2 Rd6 32. c4 b4 33. c5 Rd5 34. Nc6+ Kc7 35. Nxb4 Rxc5 36. Be8 Nb6 37. Bf7 a5 38. Rc2 Kd6 39. Rd2+ Ke7 40. Nd5+ Kxf7 41. Nxb6 Be6 42. b3 g5 43. Na4 Rc7 44. Nb2 h5 45. Nd1 f5 46. Nb2 Rc6 47. Nd3 Kf6 48. Re2 e4 1-0 [/pgn]

Aeroflot Open

In 2018 13-year old IM Vincent Keymer shocked the world by winning the Grenke Chess Open as the 99th seed.

Aydin Suleymanli (photo Eteri Kublashvili)

Now lightning has struck twice. 14-year old IM Aydin Suleymanli took first place at the 2020 Aeroflot Open on tiebreaks over GMs Aravihdn Chithambaram, Rinat Jumabayev, and Rauf Mamedov. Suleymanli, rated 2474 and 71st in the field coming into the event, faced 2600+ opposition in every round and finished with a score of 6.5/9 and a performance rating of nearly 2800. Two of his most impressive victories came against GM Ilya Smirin in Round 7 and GM Parham Maghsoodloo in Round 8.

[pgn] [Event "Aeroflot Open A 2020"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2020.02.25"] [Round "7.10"] [White "Suleymanli, Aydin"] [Black "Smirin, Ilia"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A41"] [WhiteElo "2474"] [BlackElo "2615"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2020.02.19"] 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. e3 Nd7 4. Nc3 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Ne7 7. Nge2 O-O 8. O-O f5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. e4 c6 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Qd2 Nb6 13. b3 f4 14. gxf4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Rxf4 17. Rad1 Be6 18. c5 Rh4 19. Rd6 Nd7 20. f4 Bh3 21. Qc4+ Kf8 22. Bxh3 Rxh3 23. Qe6 Rxe3 24. Rxd7 Qxd7 25. Qxd7 Rxe4 26. Qd3 Re6 27. Qd7 Re4 28. f5 gxf5 29. Rxf5+ Kg7 30. Rg5+ Kf6 31. Rg3 b5 32. Qd6+ Kf7 33. Qh6 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Aeroflot Open A 2020"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2020.02.26"] [Round "8.5"] [White "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Black "Suleymanli, Aydin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2674"] [BlackElo "2474"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2020.02.19"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. Qxb7 Nb4 9. Rc1 O-O 10. Qxc7 Qxc7 11. Bxc7 Rfc8 12. Bf4 Ne4 13. f3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 g5 15. Bg3 a5 16. a4 Na2 17. Ra1 Nxc3 18. Ne2 Bb4 19. Kf2 Bc2 20. Nxc3 Bxc3 21. Ra2 Bb1 22. Re2 Rc4 23. Rc2 Be1+ 24. Kxe1 Rxc2 25. h4 Rac8 26. Bd6 R8c3 27. hxg5 Rb2 0-1 [/pgn]