It’s Heating Up @ Aeroflot Open: Nepo, Niemann, Dubov in Action

Posted on March 3, 2025 BY Rachit Wadhwa

The Aeroflot Open is Russia’s prime annual Open tournament which is played in Moscow. With the likes of Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hans Niemann, Daniil Dubov, Rapport, Artemiev, etc., the tournament is poised to be an action-packed 9-round Swiss. Apart from one of the strongest players around the world, Aeroflot gives the Russian players an opportunity to compete in a strong open. The tournament has an attendance of as many as 140 players in its 2025 edition.

3 ROUNDS IN
After 3 rounds, all the top seeds have already bled points except for the First Seed, Ian Nepomniachtchi. 14-year-old Russian prodigy Ivan Zemlyanskii (2550) saw a dream start of 3/3, beating India’s Raunak Sadhwani in the previous round. The young boy will be up against the “shark” himself, Ian Nepomniachtchi, in Round 4.

Standings after 3 rounds

A pack of 16 players follows the 3 leaders on a 100% score. Hans, Dubov, Rapport, and Artemiev are all trailing in the pack of players setting up fireworks as soon as halfway through the Swiss. Already in round 4, Artemiev will be seen battling against the wonder kid from Belarus, Denis Lazavik.

Round 4 top pairings

UPSET MANIA
Just like any other open, Aeroflot has witnessed many upsets till now. Russian players Grischuk (2687) and Esipenko (2691) conceded two draws each against players rated roughly 300 points below them. In a major upset, Iranian Amin Tabatabaei (2669) lost his Round 1 game to an IM. Uzbek prodigy Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2670) only managed a 50% score against opposition with an average rating of 2391.

Hans Niemann and Daniil Dubov are amongst the top seeds, who interestingly have also signed up for an 18-game Blitz match for a lie detector test right after the tournament at the Levitov Chess Studio. The match came together after the controversy that erupted at the New York World Blitz Championship, where Dubov supposedly decided to forfeit his game against Hans.

A poetic shot of Hans Niemann at the board with Daniil Dubov lurking in the background, credit: Aeroflot Open/Russian Chess Federation


It will be interesting to witness the scenario where Daniil Dubov is potentially paired against Hans in this tournament. Would Dubov show up to the board?

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