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The Fourth International Open Chess Festival «Moscow Open 2008» took place in the Russian State Social University (RSSU) from the 2nd to the 10th of February 2008. The Festival consisted of four tournaments: Open A, Tournament B, the Women's Open C and a Children Tournament D. Each of these tournaments was a nine-round Swiss. The total guaranteed prize fund was 5,000,000 rubels = US $205,760.
After eight rounds the leader by half a point was Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev, who had lost his first-round game to an FM, but who had then gone on to win seven games in a row! Here's an entertaining example of how things had gone:
Inarkiev,E (2681) - Kazhgaleyev,M (2594) [C79]
4th Open Moscow RUS (6), 07.02.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bd7 6.c3 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.Re1
b5 9.Bb3 Nf6 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.h3 Re8 12.a3 h6 13.Bc2 Nh5 14.Nf1 Nf4 15.Bxf4 exf4
16.Qd2 g5 17.Rad1 Qe7 18.Qd3 Kf8 19.Bb3 Rad8 20.Ba2 Qf6 21.N3h2 h5 22.Qf3 Qh6
23.g4 hxg4 24.Nxg4 Qg6 25.Nfh2 Ne7 26.Qg2 Bc6 27.d5 Bd7 28.Nf3 Qh5 29.e5 dxe5
30.Ngxe5 Bxe5 31.Nxe5 Bxh3 32.Qh1 Nf5 33.Rd3 g4 34.Qe4 f6 35.d6 Rxe5 36.dxc7
Rde8 37.Qb4+ Ne7 38.Red1? (38.Rxe5 was required if White is to put
up any kind of defence)
38...Bg2 39.Kxg2 f3+ 40.Kg3 Rf5?? Black had a mate in seven: 40...Qh3+ 41.Kf4 Qh2+ 42.Kxg4 Qg2+ 43.Kf4 Rf5+ 44.Ke4 Qg4+ 45.Ke3 Qg5+ 46.Kd4 Qf4#.
41.Qxe7+ Kxe7 42.Rd7+ Kf8 43.Rh1 Qxh1 44.Rf7+ Kg8 45.Re7+ Kh8 46.Rxe8+ Kg7 47.Rg8+ Kh7 48.Rh8+ Kxh8 49.c8Q+ Kg7 50.Qg8+ 1-0.
Half a point behind the leader were GMs Artyom Timofeev, 2664 and Alexander Lastin, 2604, both from Russia. The showdown came in the final round.
Timofeev,Arty (2664) - Inarkiev,E (2681) [C92]
4th Open Moscow RUS (9), 10.02.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3
Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.c3 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.Nbd2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bh4 Be7
16.Ne3 g6 17.Nh2 Nc6 18.Bb3 Nh7 19.Bxe7 Nxe7 20.Neg4 Kg7 21.Qd2 Ng8 22.Ne3 Ngf6
23.Rad1 h5 24.Nf3 Bc8 25.Nf1 Ra7 26.Bc2 d5 27.exd5 Qxd5 28.Bb3 Qd6 29.d4 exd4
30.Rxe8 Nxe8 31.cxd4 c4 32.Bc2 Nhf6 33.Ne5 Re7 34.Qg5 Nh7 35.Qg3 Qf6 36.Ne3
h4 37.Qh2 Qd6 38.Qf4 Qf6 39.Qh2 Qd6 40.b3 c3 41.Qf4 Qf6 42.Qe4 Bb7 43.Qd3 b4
44.N3g4 Qf4 45.Qc4 Nhf6 46.Qxb4 Nxg4 47.Nxg4 Rc7 48.Qa5 Nf6 49.Nxf6 Kxf6 50.d5
Qe5 51.Qb6+ Kg7 52.Qd4 Qxd4 53.Rxd4 Kf6 54.d6 Rd7 55.Rc4 Rxd6 56.Rxc3 Rd2 57.Kf1
Rd7 58.Rc4 Kg5 59.Rg4+ Kh5 60.a4 f5 61.Rc4 Bd5 62.Rc3 Kg5 63.g3 hxg3 64.fxg3
Bf7 65.Ke2 Rb7 66.Kd2 Bd5 67.Bd1 Rb4 68.Rc5
68...Bxb3 69.Kc3 Bxa4 70.h4+ Kh6 71.Kxb4 Bxd1 72.Kc3 Bf3 73.Kd2 Kh5 74.Ke3 Kg4 75.Kf2 Be4 76.Rc4 g5 77.hxg5 Kxg5 78.Rc7
Now Black can force a theoretical draw, 78...f4 and Black cannot avoid the exchange of pawns. After 79.gxf4+ Kxf4 80.Ra7 Ke4 81.Rxa6 White can no longer win the pawnless rook vs bishop ending. However Inarkiev left the kingside pawns on the board and was outplayed by Timofeev. 78...Kf6? 79.Ra7 Bd3 80.Ke3 Bf1 81.Kf4 Ke6 82.Ra8 Bb5 83.Rb8 Bd3 84.Rb3 Bc4 85.Re3+ Kd6 86.Kxf5 Kc5
Now Timofeev missed a simple win: 87.Rc3! White will take the bishop and win the pawn race, e.g.: 87...Kd4 88.Rxc4+ Kxc4 89.g4 a5 90.g5 a4 91.g6 a3 92.g7 a2 93.g8Q+ (yes, with check, since the recapture by the black king was on c4. 87.Re8 and now Timofeev has a more laborious win. 87...a5 88.Ra8 Kb4 89.Ke5 a4 90.Kd4 Be2 91.Ke3 Bb5 92.Kd2 a3 93.Kc2 Bd7 94.Kb1 Be6 95.Re8 Bd7 96.Re4+ Kc5 97.Ka2 Kd5 98.Re3 Kd4 99.Re7 Bf5 100.Kxa3 Kd5 101.Kb4 Be6 102.Kc3 Ke5 103.Kd3 Kf6 104.Ra7 Kg5 105.Ke3 Kf5 106.Kf3 Bd5+ 107.Kf2 Be6 108.Ra5+ Kg4 109.Rc5 Bb3 110.Re5 Bg8 111.Re4+ Kg5 112.g4 Kh4 113.Ke3 Kg5 114.Rd4 Be6 115.Kf3 Kh4 116.Kf4 Bxg4
117.Rd8. This time the theoretical bishop vs rook ending is not a draw since Black loses the bishop by force, e.g. 117...Kh5 118.Rh8+ Kg6 119.Kxg4 or 117...Be2 118.Rh8+ Bh5 119.Rh7 Kh3 120.Rxh5+. Inarkiev resigned Timofeev was the sole winner of the tournament. 1-0.
So Artyom Timofeev (picture) won the Open A tournament with 7.5/9 points, half a point ahead of a group of nine grandmasters with seven points each. The following table shows all players who scored 6.5 or more points.
| Rk. | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | GM | Timofeev Artyom | RUS | 2664 | 7.5 | 38.0 | 6 | 50.0 |
| 2 | GM | Riazantsev Alexander | RUS | 2628 | 7.0 | 37.5 | 6 | 49.5 |
| 3 | GM | Volkov Sergey | RUS | 2623 | 7.0 | 37.5 | 5 | 47.5 |
| 4 | GM | Efimenko Zahar | UKR | 2638 | 7.0 | 37.0 | 6 | 47.5 |
| 5 | GM | Lastin Alexander | RUS | 2604 | 7.0 | 37.0 | 5 | 47.0 |
| 6 | GM | Jobava Baadur | GEO | 2643 | 7.0 | 36.5 | 5 | 46.5 |
| 7 | GM | Inarkiev Ernesto | RUS | 2681 | 7.0 | 35.0 | 7 | 47.0 |
| 8 | GM | Kazhgaleyev Murtas | KAZ | 2594 | 7.0 | 34.5 | 6 | 41.0 |
| 9 | GM | Moiseenko Alexander | UKR | 2643 | 7.0 | 34.5 | 5 | 45.0 |
| 10 | GM | Kurnosov Igor | RUS | 2577 | 7.0 | 32.5 | 6 | 40.5 |
| 11 | GM | Motylev Alexander | RUS | 2644 | 6.5 | 34.5 | 4 | 46.0 |
| 12 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | GER | 2638 | 6.5 | 34.0 | 5 | 44.0 |
| 13 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | RUS | 2623 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 5 | 46.5 |
| 14 | GM | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2573 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 4 | 44.5 |
| 15 | GM | Potkin Vladimir | RUS | 2609 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 4 | 43.5 |
| 16 | GM | Khairullin Ildar | RUS | 2544 | 6.5 | 32.0 | 5 | 42.0 |
| 17 | FM | Zabotin Alexander | RUS | 2495 | 6.5 | 32.0 | 4 | 42.0 |
| 18 | GM | Malakhov Vladimir | RUS | 2689 | 6.5 | 31.5 | 5 | 43.0 |
| 19 | GM | Areshchenko Alexander | UKR | 2645 | 6.5 | 31.0 | 6 | 43.0 |
| 20 | GM | Aleksandrov Aleksej | BLR | 2618 | 6.5 | 30.5 | 4 | 42.5 |
| 21 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | ISR | 2614 | 6.5 | 27.5 | 5 | 37.0 |
The sole winner in this tournament was 17-year-old Ukrainian IM Anna Muzschuk (she currently plays for Slovenia), who had been leading most of the time and finished with a sterling 8.0/9 points. She was followed by the other Ukrainian Anna, Ushenina, the top seed in this section. Behind them a group of three international well-known players: WGM Natalia Zhukova, who happens to be the wife of Alexander Grischuk, IM Harika Dronavalli, one of the rising stars in India, and Kateryna Lahno, who is already a full ("male") grandmaster.
| Rk. | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | IM | Muzychuk Anna | SLO | 2460 | 8.0 | 41.0 | 7 | 48.0 |
| 2 | IM | Ushenina Anna | UKR | 2484 | 7.5 | 39.5 | 7 | 50.0 |
| 3 | WGM | Zhukova Natalia | UKR | 2443 | 7.0 | 36.0 | 5 | 48.0 |
| 4 | IM | Harika Dronavalli | IND | 2455 | 7.0 | 35.5 | 6 | 46.0 |
| 5 | GM | Lahno Kateryna | UKR | 2475 | 7.0 | 34.5 | 6 | 47.0 |
| 6 | IM | Tairova Elena | RUS | 2386 | 6.5 | 37.5 | 6 | 48.5 |
| 7 | WFM | Girya Olga | RUS | 2342 | 6.5 | 35.5 | 6 | 49.0 |
| 8 | WGM | Melia Salome | GEO | 2362 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 5 | 46.0 |
| 9 | IM | Turova Irina | RUS | 2377 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 5 | 41.5 |
| 10 | IM | Danielian Elina | ARM | 2480 | 6.5 | 33.0 | 5 | 43.5 |
| 11 | WFM | Ambartsumova Karina | RUS | 2228 | 6.5 | 27.5 | 6 | 41.0 |
| 12 | WFM | Bodnaruk Anastasia | RUS | 2317 | 6.0 | 36.0 | 6 | 48.0 |
| 13 | IM | Krush Irina | USA | 2473 | 6.0 | 34.0 | 4 | 46.5 |
| 14 | WFM | Severiukhina Zoja | RUS | 2199 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 4 | 45.5 |
| 15 | IM | Gvetadze Sopio | GEO | 2352 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 4 | 44.0 |
| 16 | WGM | Mongontuul Bathuyag | MGL | 2389 | 6.0 | 32.0 | 4 | 42.5 |
| 17 | WFM | Fominykh Maria | RUS | 2305 | 6.0 | 31.5 | 5 | 46.0 |
| 18 | IM | Matveeva Svetlana | RUS | 2433 | 6.0 | 31.5 | 5 | 44.0 |
| 19 | IM | Vasilevich Irina | RUS | 2378 | 6.0 | 31.0 | 6 | 42.0 |
| 20 | WGM | Pogonina Natalija | RUS | 2476 | 6.0 | 31.0 | 4 | 43.0 |
| 21 | IM | Javakhishvili Lela | GEO | 2470 | 6.0 | 29.5 | 4 | 39.0 |
| 22 | WFM | Paikidze Nazi | GEO | 2311 | 6.0 | 29.0 | 4 | 42.0 |
| 23 | WGM | Shaidullina Sandugach | RUS | 2306 | 6.0 | 29.0 | 4 | 39.0 |
| 24 | WIM | Burtasova Anna | RUS | 2345 | 6.0 | 27.5 | 5 | 38.0 |
| 25 | WIM | Dolgova Olga | RUS | 2217 | 6.0 | 27.0 | 6 | 42.0 |
The winner of the women's section Anna Muzychuk
Round eight under way, with Motylev vs Timofeev in the foreground
Draw in 41 moves: Alexander Motylev, 2644 vs Artyom Timofeev, RUS, 2664
Timofeev faces three GMs in the postgame analysis: Vladimir Potkin, 2609,
Alexander Motylev, 2644 and Mikhail Kobalia, 2623
GM Ernesto Inarkiev, RUS, 2681, had a remarkable winning streak
Ernesto Inarkiev vs Ivan Popov: a seventh victory in succession for Inarkiev
Fifth: GM Alexander Lastin, RUS, 2604
Anna Muzychuk, winner of the women's section [photo by Oxana Kosteniuk]
Fifth: GM Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine, rated 2475 [photo by Oxana Kosteniuk]
WGM Natalija Pogonina, RUS, 2476 [photo by Oxana Kosteniuk]
Unless otherwise specified all pictures by Eugene Atarov
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