Aeroflot Open To Return In 2015

In 2013, one of the strongest open tournaments sadly disappeared from the chess calendar.

In 2015, it will be back: the Aeroflot Open.

Tournaments come and go, but few of them return. It's great to see a big, strong event with a long tradition like the Aeroflot Open returning next year.

In early 2012 it was held for the last time, but today the Russian Chess Federation reported that a new edition is scheduled for 2015. Not in February, when it used to be held, but from March 27 to April 7.

The format seems to be similar to previous years, with rating groups A, B and C. The total prize fund is 140,000 Euro. 

More details and the regulations will be provided “not later than the 6th of January at the official website of the Russian Chess Federation.”

Sponsored by Russia's airline Aeroflot, the tournament has been held 11 times, all between 2002 and 2012. It was one of the strongest open tournaments of the calendar.

Usually there were more than 100 grandmasters participating. The top group used to have a rating threshold of 2550, so you can imagine how strong it was!

Between 2002 and 2005 the tournament was held in the famous Rossiya Hotel on Red Square, which doesn't exist anymore. After that, it moved outside the city center, in the hotel "Gamma-Delta" of the tourist complex, “Izmailovo."

In 2015 it will be held in Hotel Cosmos, in northeast Moscow.

The former winners are Gregory Kaidanov, Viorel Bologan, Sergei Rublevsky, Emil Sutovsky, Baadur Jobava, Evgeny Alekseev, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Etienne Bacrot, Le Quang Liem (twice, in two consecutive years!) and Mateusz Bartel.

Here's a full table (taken from Wikipedia):

Aeroflot Open Winners