Russian Championship Superfinal Takes Off This Sunday
The Superfinal of the Russian Championship is just around the corner with the first round scheduled for this Sunday. GMs Dmitry Jakovenko, Sergey Karjakin, Evgeny Tomashevsky and Peter Svidler are the top seeds.
This month will be dominated by two top events. We have to wait a bit for the big one: the Sinquefield Cup, which starts August 22 (Chess.com will be on-site with daily reports and exclusive video interviews).
Meanwhile, chess fans can enjoy some more high-level chess starting this Sunday: the Superfinals of the Russian Championship and Russian Women's Championship.
Chess.com will also be streaming the official live commentary of all rounds at www.chess.com/tv.
The games themselves will be played at the Megapolis-Sport Youth Palace and will begin daily at 15:00 local time (10:00 Moscow, 08:00 London, 03:00 New York, midnight Los Angeles). The last round will begin two hours earlier. Games will be played August 9-21 with the lone rest day on Aug. 15.
Unfortunately the men's tournament will see neither Vladimir Kramnik nor Alexander Grischuk, and familiar names such as Dmitry Andreikin, Alexander Morozevich or Ian Nepomniachtchi aren't there either.
The participants are Dmitry Jakovenko (2759), Sergey Karjakin (2753), Evgeny Tomashevsky (2747), Peter Svidler (2739), Nikita Vitiugov (2719), Igor Lysyj (2673), Vladislav Artemiev (2671), Ildar Khairullin (2662), Alexander Motylev (2658), Ivan Bukavshin (2655), Daniil Dubov (2654) and Denis Khismatullin (2642). Even the bottom seed is dangerous -- look no further than 44. Kg1!! earlier this year.
Peter Svidler will try to win his eighth(!) national title in a field scattered with young talents as well as more experienced players — who are nonetheless still looking for their first title. One exception is Igor Lysyj, who is in fact the defending champion.
Jakovenko tied for first place nine years ago, when he lost the playoff to Evgney Alekseev. The same happened to Sergey Karjakin, who lost a playoff to Nepomniachtchi in 2010. Former European champion and Tbilisi Grand Prix winner Tomashevsky will go for his first title as well.
Dubov, Artemiev, Khairullin, Motylev and Bukavshin qualified from the tough Higher League tournament that was held June 22- July 1 in Kaliningrad. This event was won by 17-year-old Artemiev, one of Russia's biggest talents today.
(in yellow) on tiebreak. | Photo Ekaterina Shermazanova.
Artemiev won three games as Black against lower-rated players and drew five. Here's his only White win, but against a strong 2600-opponent: GM Mikhail Kobalia, who has served as Artemiev's coach for many years. At some point White completely dominated the board.
From the final standings you can see how tough the tournament was. Many big names failed to qualify:
2015 Higher League | Final Standings (Top 30)
| Rk. | SNo | Title | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | 8 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | 2660 | 6,5 | 46,5 | 43 |
| 2 | 16 | GM | Motylev Alexander | 2643 | 6,5 | 45,5 | 42 |
| 3 | 14 | GM | Bukavshin Ivan | 2647 | 6,5 | 45,5 | 41,5 |
| 4 | 11 | GM | Khairullin Ildar | 2653 | 6 | 48,5 | 44,5 |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Dubov Daniil | 2661 | 6 | 47 | 43 |
| 6 | 15 | GM | Popov Ivan | 2647 | 6 | 46 | 43,5 |
| 7 | 3 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2674 | 6 | 46 | 42 |
| 8 | 13 | GM | Zvjaginsev Vadim | 2648 | 6 | 44 | 41 |
| 9 | 5 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | 2662 | 6 | 43 | 39 |
| 10 | 19 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | 2623 | 5,5 | 49 | 45,5 |
| 11 | 22 | GM | Ponkratov Pavel | 2610 | 5,5 | 45,5 | 43 |
| 12 | 9 | GM | Riazantsev Alexander | 2658 | 5,5 | 43 | 39 |
| 13 | 4 | GM | Inarkiev Ernesto | 2668 | 5,5 | 42 | 38 |
| 14 | 7 | GM | Najer Evgeniy | 2661 | 5,5 | 40 | 36,5 |
| 15 | 17 | GM | Kokarev Dmitry | 2639 | 5,5 | 37,5 | 34,5 |
| 16 | 27 | GM | Frolyanov Dmitry | 2566 | 5 | 48 | 46 |
| 17 | 25 | GM | Demchenko Anton | 2589 | 5 | 46 | 43,5 |
| 18 | 31 | Predke Alexandr | 2543 | 5 | 43,5 | 40,5 | |
| 19 | 38 | FM | Gordievsky Dmitry | 2491 | 5 | 43 | 40 |
| 20 | 1 | GM | Malakhov Vladimir | 2699 | 5 | 43 | 39 |
| 21 | 10 | GM | Grachev Boris | 2657 | 5 | 40,5 | 36,5 |
| 22 | 2 | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2696 | 5 | 39 | 36 |
| 23 | 18 | GM | Landa Konstantin | 2627 | 5 | 37 | 34 |
| 24 | 39 | WGM | Girya Olga | 2486 | 5 | 36,5 | 34 |
| 25 | 24 | GM | Volkov Sergey | 2599 | 5 | 32,5 | 30,5 |
| 26 | 21 | GM | Khalifman Alexander | 2623 | 4,5 | 45 | 41,5 |
| 27 | 41 | IM | Chekhov Sergei | 2476 | 4,5 | 43,5 | 41 |
| 28 | 29 | GM | Lintchevski Daniil | 2557 | 4,5 | 43 | 40 |
| 29 | 37 | IM | Matsenko Sergei | 2505 | 4,5 | 43 | 39,5 |
| 30 | 12 | GM | Alekseev Evgeny | 2651 | 4,5 | 42,5 | 39 |
(Full final standings here.)
After the Higher League, Artemiev played in the Lake Sevan tournament. He scored a modest plus one, which was a performance rating very close to his current rating. Let's see what he's capable of in the Superfinal!
Women's Championship
Unlike the men's group, the Women's Championship will see Russia's current top three, who are very tightly bunched: GMs Valentina Gunina (2531), Kateryna Lagno (2530) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (2526). Lagno, who recently had her second baby, returns to the chess arena to play her first Russian Championship after switching federations from the Ukraine.
The other participants are WGM Olga Girya (2487), WGM Alexandra Goryachkina (2474), WGM Natalia Pogonina (2460), IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (2453), IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2441), IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (2431), IM Marina Guseva (2431), IM Anastasia Savina (2429) and IM Evgenija Ovod (2327).
Kovalevskaya replaces Alisa Galliamova, who withdrew a few weeks ago. It seems that the relations between Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva and the federation are still not great, as both declined to take Galliamova's place.
The players await a long plane flight. The location of the Superfinal this year is Chita, a city in Zabaykalsky Krai that is 900 kilometers east of Irkutsk. It might be better to point out that it's 4,750 km southeast of Moscow, just 230 km north of Mongolia and about 340 km away from the Chinese border!
The tournament is sponsored by the Russian Chess Federation, the Timchenko Charitable Foundation, the Zabaykalsky Krai government and chess federation, and Norilsk Nikel.
The total prize fund for both events is 8 million Russian Rubles ($125,000 USD).
There will be daily video commentary in English and Russian, which you can watch at www.chess.com/tv.
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.
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