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Rublesvsky Tops At Aerosvit

Sergei Rublevsky quickly drew his final game against Alexander Grischuk to take first place at the 2006 Aerosvit tournament in Ukraine. Rublevsky finished with 7.5 points in 11 rounds, a half-point ahead of Vassily Ivanchuk. Viktor Bologan finished 3rd with 6.5 points.

The Aerosvit tournament featured 12 grandmasters, all of whom feature ratings above 2600. Other participands include Alexei Shirov, young star Sergey Karjakin, former FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and Indian GM Pentela Harikrishna.

The tournament was a difficult one for the young stars in attendance. Karjakin finished in a tie for 9th with just 4.5 points. Harikrishna was even more disappointing, scoring just 4 points and finishing last. Both players scored just one win during the event.

Ivanchuk was the only player to finish the tournament without a single loss, but recorded just three wins, and his steady play was not enough to catch Rublevsky. Going into the final round, Ivanchuk did have an opportunity to claim a share of first, but was unable to secure more than a draw against his old rival Shirov despite winning the exchange.

Amazingly, after a relatively lively tournament, there was just one decisive game in the final two rounds. Here is that game - Kararkin's only win of the tournament, over Andrei Volokitin:

White: Karjakin, S (2661)
Black: Volokitin, A (2660)
Aerosvit 2006, Round 11
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nd7 10. d4 Bf6 11. a4 Bb7 12. d5 Ne7 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. Na3 c6 16. dxc6 Bxc6 17. Qxd6 Nc8 18. Qd1 Nc5 19. Bc2 Rd8 20. Qe2 Nd6 21. Nd2 Bg5 22. Nab1 Qa2 23. g3 h6 24. h4 Bxd2 25. Nxd2 Nc4 26. Bb1 Qa1 27. Nxc4 bxc4 28. Qxc4 Qxb1 29. Qxc5 Rd1 30. Rxd1 Qxe4 31. Rd8+ Kh7 32. Kf1 Qh1+ 33. Ke2 Bf3+ 34. Ke3 Bg4 35. Qxe5 Qxc1+ 36. Rd2 Qe1+ 37. Kf4 Qxd2+ 38. Kxg4 Qxb2 39. Kf3 Qa1 40. Qe4+ g6 41. c4 Qh1+ 42. Kf4 Qc1+ 43. Ke5 Qb2+ 44. Qd4 Qb8+ 45. Ke4 Qb7+ 46. Qd5 Qb1+ 47. Kf3 Qb3+ 48. Kg2 Kg8 49. Qd8+ Kh7 50. Qd4 h5 51. Qe4 Qb4 52. Qd5 Kg8 53. c5 Qb5 54. Kf3 Qf1 55. Qd8+ Kh7 56. Qd4 Qh1+ 57. Kf4 Qc6 58. Qd6 Qg2 59. Ke3 Qh1 60. c6 Qe1+ 61. Kf3 Qh1+ 62. Ke2 Qe4+ 63. Kd2 Qf3 64. Qc5 Qb3 65. c7 Qa2+ 66. Kc3 Qa1+ 67. Kb4 Qb2+ 68. Ka5 Qa2+ 69. Kb6 Qb3+ 70. Qb5 Qe6+ 71. Kb7 Qe7 72. Qb6 1-0