Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Yakuboev secured third place at the international chess festival "Aeroflot Open" held from March 3-7 in Moscow. The competition, known for its strong lineup, saw Iranian Grandmaster Tabatabaei Amin emerge as the winner after nine rounds. A notable achievement in the 23-year-old chess player's career, Amin overcame an initial loss to claim victory with 7.5/9, including seven wins and one draw.
Yakuboev, along with Grandmasters Aik Martirosyan (Armenia) and Denis Lazavik (Belarus), shared the second to fifth positions. An additional criterion for determining the winners was the number of games played as Black pieces, a rare method for major tournaments. Yakuboev and Esipenko played five Black games each out of nine, one more than their competitors.
Andrey Esipenko outperformed Yakuboev by 20 rating points in the average opponent rating, showcasing a nearly identical strength of play between the two chess players. Yakuboev received a prize of 1.6 million rubles for his third-place finish, equivalent to 220 million Uzbek sum (as per the Central Bank exchange rate on March 11).
Among other Uzbek representatives, 22-year-old Grandmaster Abdimalik Abdisalimov achieved the best result with 5.5/9, securing the 24th position. Meanwhile, Javokhir Sindarov, scoring three points in the first six rounds, decided to withdraw from the tournament. In the FIDE rankings for March, Nodirbek Yakuboev holds the 75th position globally with a rating of 2661.
