Fedoseev and Girya dominate Russian qualifier

by Albert Silver
6/11/2014 – Being favorite is a double-edged sword as anyone can attest to. After six rounds, the Russian Higher League, qualifying to the Russian Super Final later this year, is finally taking shape and the leaders are also clear. In the men's section, 19-year-old Vladimir Fedoseev started like a rocket with 5.0/6 and a 2835 performance, while Olga Girya dominates the Women's. Illustrated report.

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If you had a silent wager on Dmitry Jakovenko, the heavy Elo favorite, fear not as he is still in contention with 4.5/6 in second-third. He had a rather slow start with one win and three draws, but came back with two wins in rounds five and six and may yet outpace his rivals. Alongside him, also with 4.5/6 is 24-year-old Igor Lysyj (2670). 

Dmitry Jakovenko follows Denis Khismatullin's game

Vladimir Fedoseev taking fashion lessons from Nakamura

In round six he beat his direct rival Denis Khismatullin:

[Event "67th ch-RUS HL 2014"] [Site "Vladivostok RUS"] [Date "2014.06.10"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Khismatullin, Denis"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir3"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "140"] [EventDate "2014.06.04"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nh5 {This move has been gaining traction, and with Carlsen playing it, is approved.} 7. Nh3 f5 { This is the idea: Black does not let White simply grab the center with his pawns, he fights back for the battle of e4 with ...f5} 8. Bg5 (8. e3 d6 9. Be2 c5 10. O-O Nc6 11. g4 fxg4 12. fxg4 Nf6 13. Nf2 h6 14. e4 e5 15. d5 Ne7 16. g5 hxg5 17. Bxg5 Qe8 18. Qd3 Qg6 19. Qg3 Bd7 20. Kh1 Rf7 21. Qh4 Raf8 22. Rae1 Qh7 23. Qxh7+ Nxh7 24. Be3 Ng6 25. Nd3 Rxf1+ 26. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Nf6 28. Nf2 Nf4 29. h4 Ng6 30. Bg5 Nh7 31. Bd8 Kf7 32. Kh2 Nf6 33. Kg3 Nf4 34. Kf3 Ba4 35. Nh3 Bd1+ 36. Ke3 Ng6 37. Ng5+ Ke8 38. Ne6 Nxh4 39. Bc7 Kd7 40. Bb8 Bg4 41. Nxg7 a6 42. Bd3 Ng2+ 43. Kd2 Ke7 44. a4 Kf7 45. Bxd6 Kxg7 46. Bxe5 Nh4 47. Bg3 Ng6 48. e5 Nd7 49. e6 Nde5 50. Bxg6 Nxg6 51. Bd6 Kf6 52. Bxc5 Ke5 53. Ke3 Bd1 54. Bb6 Bxa4 55. Bc7+ Kf6 56. Kd4 Ke7 57. c5 Nh4 58. c4 Nf3+ 59. Kc3 Ng5 60. Kb4 Bd1 61. Bg3 Nxe6 62. dxe6 Bf3 63. Bh4+ {1/2-1/2 (63) Karjakin,S (2772)-Carlsen, M (2881) Shamkir 2014}) 8... Qe8 9. Nf2 {The novelty. It is hard to get behind it since it doesn't really do anything for White, and just seems to waste a tempo when he should be concentrating on his development.} Nc6 10. e4 d6 11. Be2 fxe4 12. Nxe4 (12. fxe4 {would lead to problems after} Qg6 13. Qd2 (13. Bxh5 Qxg5 14. O-O e5 15. d5 Na5 {and Black will have an easy game exploiting the weakness on c4 with ...b6 and ...Ba6.}) 13... e5 {and White's weaknesses are going to give him grief.}) 12... e5 13. O-O Bf5 14. Bd3 Bg6 15. d5 Na5 16. c5 {An excellent move that rids one weakness and tries to create one in Black's camp. The position is fairly equal, but that does not mean drawish.} Nf4 17. cxd6 Nxd3 18. d7 Qxd7 19. Qxd3 b5 $5 {A fighting move since although it creates weaknesses on c6 and c5 notably, it also attempts to capture the c4 square in no uncertain terms.} 20. a4 bxa4 21. Qa6 Nb3 22. Qxa4 Qxd5 23. Rfd1 Qe6 24. Rab1 Rab8 ({There was no need to give the a-pawn. Black could have anchored his knight with} 24... Bf7 25. Rb2 h6 26. Be3 {and now after} a5 {the pawn would start to become a real headache for White with Rab8, Be8 and ...a4}) 25. Qxa7 Bxe4 26. fxe4 h6 27. Bh4 Qc4 28. Qa2 Rb5 29. Bf2 Rfb8 30. Qc2 Kh7 31. h3 Nd4 32. Bxd4 Rxb1 33. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 34. Qxb1 exd4 35. cxd4 Qxd4+ 36. Kf1 Kg6 37. e5+ $2 {A careless mistake before the time control. The pawn is now a goner and the game takes a decisive turn.} Kf7 38. Qf5+ Ke7 39. Ke2 $2 {The last blunder} (39. g4 {was necessary, leaving the king to support the pawns and free the queen to harass Black.} Qd5 40. Kf2 Qd2+ 41. Kg3 {and White should hold.}) 39... Qd5 40. g4 Qg2+ 41. Kd1 Qxh3 42. Qe4 Qc3 43. Ke2 c6 44. Qf4 Qc2+ 45. Ke1 Ke6 46. g5 Qb1+ 47. Kd2 Qb2+ 48. Kd1 Qa1+ 49. Kc2 Qxe5 50. Qc4+ Qd5 51. Qe2+ Kf5 52. Qh5 Qg2+ 53. Kd3 Qg3+ 54. Kc2 Qxg5 55. Qf7+ Qf6 56. Qh5+ Ke6 57. Qe8+ Kd6 58. Kd2 Kc7 59. Kc2 g5 60. Qe4 Qd6 61. Kb1 Kb6 62. Qe3+ Qc5 63. Qe8 g4 64. Qd8+ Kb5 65. Qb8+ Ka4 66. Qa8+ Kb4 67. Qb8+ Qb5 68. Qf4+ Ka3+ 69. Kc1 Qb2+ 70. Kd1 Qb3+ 0-1

Should he be able to keep pace and qualify for the Russian Super Final, there can be no doubt 2014 will be seen as a breakthrough year, especially considering his recent 3rd place at the European Individual Championships earlier this year.

Men's standings after six rounds

In the women's competitions Olga Girya has been unstoppable, allowing only one draw and beating everyone of her rivals with 5.5/6. Even Alina Kashlinskaya, who is sole second with 5.0/6 lost her only game to Girya in round five.

Girya, Olga - Kashlinskaya, Alina

It was a hard fought game but Black's queen seems a bit lost. How
can White exploit this? White to play and win.

Olga Girya (left) has had a near perfect touranment and leads with 5.5/6 and a 2685 performance

Women's standings after six rounds:

Solution to combination:

[Event "64th ch-RUS HL w 2014"] [Site "Vladivostok RUS"] [Date "2014.06.08"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Girya, Olga"] [Black "Kashlinskaya, Alina"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D19"] [WhiteElo "2479"] [BlackElo "2419"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "nr3rk1/2R2ppp/2p2n2/2B1p3/p3P3/3R1P2/B1Q2PKP/q7 w - - 0 35"] [PlyCount "9"] [EventDate "2014.06.04"] 35. Rxf7 $3 Rxf7 36. Rd1 $1 Qb2 {The queen has no other square.} 37. Qxb2 {and Black resigned since} Rxb2 38. Rd8+ {is mate:} Ne8 39. Rxe8# 1-0

Pictures by Evgeny Vashenyak and Eteri Kublashvili

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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