The city of Khanty Mansiysk recently held the IX Ugra Governor's Cup, a strong swiss that is a part of the Russia Cup circuit from November 27-December 6, 2013. The tournament brought in dozens of grandmasters, as well as players of all ages and gender. There were two tournaments, both nine round swisses. The "A" tournament, open to all players rated 2350 and above, and the "B" tournament limited to players 2400 and lower. Players rated between 2350 and 2400 can presumably choose whether they want to be punished or be the punisher.
The games in the "A" tournament were played at 40 moves in 90 miutes, followed by 30 minutes knockout and a 30-second increment per move as of move one.
The official regulations stamped and approved
The opening ceremony included a presentation with children dressed as chess pieces
The stage is theirs...
...and the photographers love it.
The tournament brought players of all ages, whether men...
...or women...
...or boys...
...or girls.
Denis Khismatullin dominated the tournament and took clear first after a strong start
Denis Khismatullin's win over Pavel Matelin:
[Event "IX Ugra Governor's Cup"] [Site "Chanty Mansijsk"] [Date "2013.11.30"] [Round "3"] [White "Maletin, Pavel"] [Black "Khismatullin, Denis"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2598"] [BlackElo "2674"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. e3 b6 8. Bd3 h6 9. Bh4 Bb7 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qe7 12. Nd2 g5 $1 {cutting off the bishop and preparing e5 by removing the pin.} 13. Bg3 Nh5 14. e4 e5 15. f3 Qf6 16. Bf2 Nf4 17. Rfe1 Qg6 18. Nf1 Nxd3 $6 {A curious decision. Black's knight on f4 was quite strong, and there was no hurry to exchange off a bishop that is at best a sleeper agent. The idea is to free up ...f5, but the immediate ...g4 was perhaps more efficient.} (18... g4 $1 {was more forceful.} 19. fxg4 Qxg4 20. Ng3 f5 21. d5 (21. exf5 $2 Nxg2 {White's king is in trouble.}) (21. h3 Qg5 22. Re3 Nf6 $1) 21... Nxd3 $1 22. Qxd3 f4 23. Nf5 Kh7 $17 {and Black has a strong attack with Rg8, Raf8, Bc8 and Nc5}) 19. Qxd3 f5 20. exf5 Qxf5 21. Qxf5 Rxf5 22. Ne3 Rff8 23. h4 Rae8 24. hxg5 hxg5 25. Ng4 e4 $1 {Unleash the Kraken} 26. fxe4 Rf4 27. Ne3 Rfxe4 $15 {White is in serious trouble. His pawn structure is shattered, and he has a weak a-pawn, c4-pawn, all of which will soon be target practice.} 28. Nf1 Nf6 29. Ng3 Rg4 30. Rxe8+ Nxe8 31. Re1 Kf7 32. Kh2 Nf6 33. Re2 Ba6 34. Nf5 Re4 35. Rxe4 Nxe4 36. Be1 Bxc4 37. a3 Ke6 38. Ne3 Be2 39. Kg1 c5 40. dxc5 dxc5 41. Nc2 Kd5 42. Ne3+ Kc6 {Not only is White down a pawn, but the others are ripe to fall as well. In view of this, he resigned.} 0-1
"My instinct tells me that Nxf7 means either I am dead won, or I'm a dead duck"
The tournament hall
Russian junior Alexandra Goryachkina finished with 4.0/9 and a 2509 performance
Sanan Sjugirov ended with a strong 6.0/9 and a 2683 performance. He missed the
podium on tiebreak.
Vladimir Artemiev had a strong result, also missing the podium on tiebreak,
with a 2695 performance. Due to a lack of foreigners, he could not qualify for
a grandmaster norm.
Maxim Matlakov was the top seed with an even 2700 Elo, but was unable to shine
The podium winners: (left to right) Vladimir Fedoseev (silver), Denis Khismatullin
(gold) and Alexander Shimanov (bronze)
Final standings of "A" tournament
|
Rk
|
Tit
|
Name |
Rtg
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
GM
|
Denis Kismatullin |
2674
|
6.5
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Vladimir Fedoseyev |
2597
|
6
|
|
3
|
GM
|
Alexander Shimanov |
2650
|
6
|
|
4
|
IM
|
Vladislav Artemyev |
2570
|
6
|
|
5
|
GM
|
Sjugirov Sanan |
2641
|
6
|
|
6
|
GM
|
Paul Ponkratov |
2603
|
6
|
|
7
|
GM
|
Dmitry Bocharov |
2602
|
6
|
|
8
|
GM
|
Dmitry Kokarev |
2631
|
5.5
|
|
9
|
GM
|
Khayrullin Ildar |
2653
|
5.5
|
|
10
|
GM
|
Dmitry Frolyanov |
2561
|
5.5
|
|
11
|
GM
|
Nikolai Kabanov |
2477
|
5.5
|
|
12
|
GM
|
Evgeny Alekseev |
2698
|
5.5
|
|
13
|
GM
|
Bukavshin Ivan |
2578
|
5.5
|
|
14
|
IM
|
Vitaly Shinkevich |
2468
|
5.5
|
|
15
|
GM
|
Sergei Volkov |
2615
|
5.5
|
Final standings of "B" tournament
|
Rk
|
Name |
Rtg
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Alexei Gorbatov |
2360
|
7.5
|
|
2
|
Emil Musakaev |
2327
|
7
|
|
3
|
Purtov Constantine |
2191
|
7
|
|
4
|
Alex Beletsky |
2330
|
6.5
|
|
5
|
Valery Artamonov |
2256
|
6.5
|
|
6
|
Yuri Goriachkin |
2322
|
6.5
|
|
7
|
Vladimir Pozdeev |
2263
|
6.5
|
|
8
|
Sergeev Benjamin |
2374
|
6
|
|
9
|
Nicholas nuts |
2139
|
6
|
|
10
|
Gennady Pranizin |
2187
|
6
|
|
11
|
Oleg Papajan |
2245
|
6
|
|
12
|
Oleg Yuzhakov |
2332
|
5.5
|
|
13
|
Vladimir Iwaniec |
2146
|
5.5
|
|
14
|
Ilyushkin Eugene |
2282
|
5.5
|
|
15
|
Sergei Sholkenyan |
2089
|
5.5
|
|
16
|
Anatoly Kutko |
unrated
|
5.5
|
