Grischuk & Galliamova are the new Russian Champions

Finishing with a victory and a draw, Alexander Grischuk won the the Superfinal of the Russian Championship with 6.5/9. He ended half a point ahead of Peter Svidler. In the women's section, Alisa Galliamova finished with two draws and this was enough for clear first because the Kosintseva sisters quickly drew against each other in the last round.

At Moscow’s Central Chess Club the 62nd Russian Championship Superfinal for men and the 59th Russian Championship Superfinal for women took place December 19-30. The time control in the men's section was 1 hour and 40 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 10 minutes to end the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the first. In the women's section it was 1 hour and 30 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes to end the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the first. The prize fund was US $100,000 for the men and US $40,000 for the women.

Rounds 8-9

After our last report, seven rounds had been played in Moscow and in both sections still anything could happen - however not much changed in the standings. Both Grischuk and Svidler ended with 1.5/2 and so Grischuk finished half a point ahead of his closest rival. His game against Jakovenko in round 8 was yet another fine 1.e4 victory, this time against a Berlin Wall. Grischuk showed excellent preparation: thanks to a novelty on move 20, his opponent had problems from the start which he failed to solve.

Peter Svidler won an exchange against Alekseev's Petroff, but not the game, and so he saw the gap with Grischuk increase till a full point. He did win his last game though, in an English Opening against Tomashevsky. But Grischuk, who needed a draw for clear first today, quickly equalized in a Najdorf against Alekseev, who accepted the draw offer on move 19.



Also in the women's section nothing was decided yet after seven rounds. Galliamova's superb 6.5/7 meant she was leading by a full point, but she had to play reigning European Champion Tatiana Kosintseva in round 8. Galliamova came under pressure, but she held the draw. Nadezhda Kosintseva defeated Bodnaruk and so she was half a point behind with one round to go.

However in this last round the Kosintseva sisters were paired against each other. Normally the two give a quick draw whenever they meet in a tournament, and this time it wasn't different. Galliamova also drew quickly against Gunina and so the women's tournament was decided in less than half an hour.





Photos by Mark Gluhovsky and Misha Savinov - more at the official website.

Update: As was mentioned in the comments and on the official website, Natalia Pogonina, who became a mother just two months ago, had to withdraw from the tournament after 7 rounds because of illness.

Russian Championship 2009 | Superfinal, Men | Round 9 (Final) Standings

Russian Championship 2009 | Superfinal, Women | Round 9 (Final) Standings

Selection of games rounds 8-9

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN: Men | Women