Svidler wins Russian Championship Super Final with round to spare
Peter Svidler has already secured victory at the Russian Championship Super Final. On Sunday he defeated 2010 champion Ian Nepomniachtchi and with one round to go, Svidler has a 1.5-point lead over Grischuk, Karjakin and Morozevich.General info
The Super Final of the 64th Russian Championship for men takes place August 7-15 (rest day on August 12) at the Botvinnik Central Chess Club in Moscow. It's an 8-player, single round-robin. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with 30 seconds per move from move one. Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich, Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Peter Svidler, Artyom Timofeev and Alexander Galkin play.Round 6
"Very happy obv[iously']" was the first, quick reaction we got from Peter Svidler, after speaking very briefly to him via Skype on Sunday night. As he still has another game to play (and two hours earlier!) we will try to catch him again after tomorrow's round, and shoot some questions at the new Russian Champion. Because that's what Svidler is, for the sixth time, after securing victory in the penultimate round. He beat reigning champ Ian Nepomniachtchi, while the only player who followed by a point, Alexander Morozevich, drew with Vladimir Kramnik.
Svidler played another excellent game on Sunday, which started as a Symmetrical English. Instead of snatching a pawn on the queenside, which might have been possible, Nepomniachtchi decided to play differently, keeping his king in the centre. A well-timed pawn break d3-d4 opened up the position and even after the queens were exchanged, Black's king couldn't find a safe haven.The only player left with a chance to catch Svidler was Alexander Morozevich, but playing Vladimir Kramnik with the black pieces he never came close to winning chances. Both Alexander Grischuk and Sergey Karjakin joined Morozevich in shared second place; they beat Alexander Galkin and Artyom Timofeev respectively.Games round 6
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Russian Championship Super Final 2011 | Schedule & results
| Round 1 | 08.08.11 | 13:00 CET | Rest day | 12.08.11 | 13:00 CET | |
| Svidler | 1-0 | Kramnik | ||||
| Karjakin | ½-½ | Morozevich | ||||
| Grischuk | ½-½ | Nepomniachtchi | ||||
| Galkin | ½-½ | Timofeev | ||||
| Round 2 | 09.08.11 | 13:00 CET | Round 5 | 13.08.11 | 13:00 CET | |
| Kramnik | 1-0 | Timofeev | Grischuk | ½-½ | Kramnik | |
| Nepomniachtchi | ½-½ | Galkin | Galkin | ½-½ | Karjakin | |
| Morozevich | 1-0 | Grischuk | Timofeev | 0-1 | Svidler | |
| Svidler | ½-½ | Karjakin | Nepomniachtchi | 1-0 | Morozevich | |
| Round 3 | 10.08.11 | 13:00 CET | Round 6 | 14.08.11 | 13:00 CET | |
| Karjakin | 1-0 | Kramnik | Kramnik | ½-½ | Morozevich | |
| Grischuk | ½-½ | Svidler | Svidler | 1-0 | Nepomniachtchi | |
| Galkin | ½-½ | Morozevich | Karjakin | 1-0 | Timofeev | |
| Timofeev | ½-½ | Nepomniachtchi | Grischuk | 1-0 | Galkin | |
| Round 4 | 11.08.11 | 13:00 CET | Round 7 | 15.08.11 | 11:00 CET | |
| Kramnik | 1-0 | Nepomniachtchi | Galkin | - | Kramnik | |
| Morozevich | 1-0 | Timofeev | Timofeev | - | Grischuk | |
| Svidler | 1-0 | Galkin | Nepomniachtchi | - | Karjakin | |
| Karjakin | 0-1 | Grischuk | Morozevich | - | Svidler |
