Letter From Grandmaster Igor Kurnosov

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Letter From Grandmaster Igor Kurnosov

Response to the letter published by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (sent to e3e5.com)

Grandmaster Igor Kurnosov sent a letter to the popular chess portal e3e5.com as a response to the letter published by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov:

"Dear colleagues and chess fans! In response to the letter circulated in the press by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, I have to clarify the situation. I suggest you take a look at the game Mamedyarov-Kurnosov from round six of the Aeroflot Open, together with my brief comments. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 f5 10. h4 fxe4 11.h5 gxh5 - A well-known theoretical position, which I believe, favors black. Here my opponent made a move that was new to me - 12.d5 Ne5 13.Bh6 Nec4. I have also considered Rf7, but I did not like that, after taking Rh5, the Knight loses tempo [13 ... Rf7?! 14.Bxg7 Rxg7 15.Rxh5] 14.Qg5 Rf7. The only move 15.Bxc4. This seemed questionable to me, even though objectively it is not bad. 15 ... Nxc4. After the 40-minute thought on the previous move, my opponent offered a draw. But I felt that I had serious advantage and didn't see the grounds to accept the draw.

16.Rd4? - I thought that Qd6 would give me strong initiative. It turned out that Nb2 led to decisive advantage, but this move I had not considered. Imagine what would be the story had I previously analysed this variation at home!? 16 ... Qd6?! 17.Bxg7 Rxg7 - The only move! 18.Qxh5 Qf4 + - Also unique, the checkmate was threatening and the Knight was in danger. Now I invite all qualified chess players to set this position and withing three minutes find the next three simple moves for Black! I believe most if will be forced! 19.Kb1 Bf5 20.fxe4 Bg4 21.Nge2? loses immediately! [21.Qh6 Qf2] 21 ... Qd2! 0-1.

Black is in winning position. Here the opponent stopped the clock and, without shaking my hand or signing the formular, reached out to the arbiter's table. The rest of the story you already know... I believe that all players, regardless of title or rating, should respect themselves and their colleagues, instead of blaming them on computer assistance without reason. At the same time playing relatively weak!

Mamedyarov's claim that I took the coat and went to the toilet after each move, does not correspond to reality. On the first 12 moves, which we played relatively fast, I did get up from the table. When my opponent thought for 40 minutes on the move 15, I went twice to the smoking area which is only 2 meters from the hall entrance, and always full of players, arbiters, there was also a guard. And on few occasions I went to wash my face with cold water, but I never talked to anybody while doing so. The arbiters had no pretensions towards me, either before or after the protest.

Thereat, I simply did what I always do. While opponent thinks, it is much easier for me to contemplate about the position while walking and not looking at the board. As far as I know, most players do the same. Unfortunately, all this negativity affected my play later in the tournament ... I would also like to thank all those who supported me on the Internet or in private conversation!

I would suggest: 1. Organizers of major tournaments to equip the entrance of the playing area with metal detectors and other means which would exclude the possibility of assistance, and would eliminate all baseless accusations and insults, which affect the image of the player. 2. International chess organizations to develop a set of rules that would execute serious sanctions for those who use assistance, as well as for those who unjustly accuse the others of receiving the aid!

GM Igor Kurnosov, 28.02.2009

Aeroflot Open 2009 - Latest Update & Big Scandal at Aeroflot in Moscow

Round 9 (tournaments A1 and A2) will start at 12.00 February, 25. Qualification Blitz Tournament will start at 12.00 February, 26.

Pairings round 7 (Monday, 23 February 2009) Download Games PGN

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating
1	GM Kurnosov, Igor		5.0	RUS	2602	GM Zhou, Jianchao		4.5	CHN	2612
2	GM Moiseenko, Alexander		4.5	UKR	2676	GM Pashikian, Arman		4.5	ARM	2621
3	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim		4.0	RUS	2636	GM Bacrot, Etienne		4.0	FRA	2722
4	GM Sargissian, Gabriel		4.0	ARM	2677	GM Potkin, Vladimir		4.0	RUS	2613
5	GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny		4.0	RUS	2664	GM Grigoriants, Sergey		4.0	RUS	2565
6	GM Zhigalko, Andrey		4.0	BLR	2572	GM Predojevic, Borki		4.0	BIH	2650
7	GM Vitiugov, Nikita		3.5	RUS	2687	GM Zhigalko, Sergei		4.0	BLR	2587
8	GM Minasian, Artashes		3.5	ARM	2557	GM Amonatov, Farrukh		3.5	TJK	2647
9	GM Dyachkov, Sergej		3.5	RUS	2553	GM Smirin, Ilia		3.5	ISR	2647
10	GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej		3.5	BLR	2636	GM Safarli, Eltaj	j	3.5	AZE	2564
11	GM Riazantsev, Alexander		3.5	RUS	2634	GM Kotsur, Pavel		3.5	KAZ	2563
12	GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas		3.5	KAZ	2630	GM Filippov, Anton		3.5	UZB	2556
13	GM Landa, Konstantin		3.5	RUS	2626	GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy		3.5	UKR	2490
14	GM Petrosian, Tigran L.		3.5	ARM	2623	GM Zhou, Weiqi		3.5	CHN	2542
15	GM Wen, Yang		3.5	CHN	2504	GM Ehlvest, Jaan		3.5	USA	2595
16	GM Romanov, Evgeny		3.5	RUS	2576	IM Kosintseva, Tatiana	w	3.5	RUS	2497
17	IM Robson, Ray	j	3.5	USA	2455	GM Khairullin, Ildar		3.5	RUS	2574
18	IM Yudin, Sergei		3.0	RUS	2562	GM Onischuk, Alexander		3.0	USA	2659
19	GM Grachev, Boris		3.0	RUS	2655	GM Andriasian, Zaven		3.0	ARM	2564
20	GM Bareev, Evgeny		3.0	RUS	2645	GM Maslak, Konstantin		3.0	RUS	2541
21	GM Melkumyan, Hrant		3.0	ARM	2519	GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian		3.0	RUS	2628
22	GM So, Wesley	j	3.0	PHI	2627	WGM Shen, Yang	w	3.0	CHN	2448
23	IM Ponkratov, Pavel		3.0	RUS	2557	GM Huzman, Alexander		3.0	ISR	2602
24	GM Smirnov, Pavel		3.0	RUS	2579	GM Sjugirov, Sanan	j	3.0	RUS	2562
25	GM Naiditsch, Arkadij		2.5	GER	2693	GM Akobian, Varuzhan		2.5	USA	2619
26	GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan		2.5	IRI	2604	GM Dreev, Alexey		2.5	RUS	2688
27	GM Vaganian, Rafael A		2.5	ARM	2596	GM Milov, Vadim		2.5	SUI	2669
28	GM Dziuba, Marcin		2.5	POL	2556	GM Mamedov, Rauf		2.5	AZE	2638
29	GM Li, Chao b		2.5	CHN	2628	IM Chadaev, Nikolai		2.5	RUS	2568
30	GM Lysyj, Igor		2.5	RUS	2620	GM Li, Shilong		2.5	CHN	2559
31	GM Rodshtein, Maxim		2.0	ISR	2650	GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav	j	2.0	UKR	2558
32	GM Maze, Sebastien		2.0	FRA	2578	GM Bocharov, Dmitry		2.0	RUS	2647
33	GM Shomoev, Anton		2.0	RUS	2567	GM Volkov, Sergey		2.0	RUS	2627
34	GM Van Wely, Loek		2.0	NED	2625	GM Ragger, Markus		2.0	AUT	2540
35	IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda	w	2.0	RUS	2486	GM Bartel, Mateusz		2.0	POL	2594
36	GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier		1.5	ESP	2558	GM Grigoryan, Avetik		2.0	ARM	2506
37	IM Salem, A.R. Saleh	j	1.0	UAE	2473	IM Ipatov, Alexander	j	1.5	ESP	2493

Bye	Gajewski, Grzegorz
Absent	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar; Chuprov, Dmitry; Kotanjian, Tigran

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Big Scandal at Aeroflot in Moscow

To: The organizer of the AEROFLOT-OPEN tournament Alexander Grigorievich Bakh From: GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Explanation of my protest Dear Alexander Grigorievich, On 22.09.2009 the game between myself and Igor Kurnosov was played. During the game my opponent went out of the playing hall after each move, took his coat and withdrew himself on the toilet. After suspicion of unfair play on move 14 I offered a draw, he refused. We quickly played 11 moves, on the 12th move I played a move which confused my opponent. The next moves from him were given as first choice by Rybka, which quickly allowed him to win the game. Due to this series of suspicions, having to do with the unusual behaviour of my opponent, Igor Kurnosov, I hereby lodge a protest and refuse to continue participation in the tournament. I hope that this kind of situation will not occur in the future. Sincerely, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov I have been receiving a number of emails and messages about this incident today. Chessvibes now has just confirmed it. GM Mamedyarov withdrew in protest from the Aeroflot Open as the top seed. According to the famous International Arbiter Gijssen, Mamedyarov had his suspicion during the game. He requested to have the game removed from the website and to have an arbiter keep an eye on his opponent. The arbiter tried to do that but in a playing hall with 160 players it is not easy. However, the arbiter did notice that Kurnosov took his jacket with him every time he left the board. After the game he asked Kurnosov to show the contents of his pockets. All that he could find was a pack of cigarettes, a lighter and a pen.”