Russian Championship Super Finals

The tournament is hosted by the Russian Chess Federation in cooperation with the Charity Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko , with the support of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Super Final will be a continuation of the program "chess in the museums", started by the match for the world title in 2012 at the Retyakov Gallery in Moscow on the initiative of businessmen Andrei Filatov and Gennady Timchenko. The venue for the prestigious tournament in Nizhny Novgorod will be the State Historical and Architectural Museum Manor Rukavishnikov. The Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum will also take part in the organization of the tournament. The tournament is a ound robin with ten players over nine rounds. Sofia-Rules. If first place is shared than the champion will be decided through a tiebreaker match. Time Control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the 1st move.

Final Round: Men's

Svidler's simple draw against Karjakin allows him a share of first at least

Karjakin, Sergey ½-½ Svidler, Peter
Svidler used his trusty Gruenfeld to easily draw his last round of the tournament. Karjakin won an exchange early on, but Black's queenside pawns were enough compensation for it and Svidler was never really at risk. Karjakin had to give up his rook to stop the pawns and he also managed to liquidate the kingside pawns, leading to a draw as a lone bishop does not checkmate.

Karjakin scored 50%, only beating Shomoev and losing to Andreikin

Motylev, Alexander 1-0 Shomoev, Anton
Motylev obtained a Maroczy bind structure at the expense of his kingside pawn structure. Shomoev from then on played very strangely, losing pawn after pawn. Motylev's technique was less than exemplary, but he managed to convert at the end.

Inarkiev, Ernesto 1-0 Goganov, Aleksey
A very aggressive game from both sides. Both players tried to force their way through on the kingside, which always leads to interesting games in this variation of the King's Indian Defense. Black seemed to get the better end of the attack, but he missed the strong move 22...Rxf2! followed by 23.Rdg1 e3! Without this resource Inarkiev was able to sacrifice two rooks and a pawn for a queen, but he got a nice initiative against his opponent's king, especially on the dark squares. After some mistakes by both sides Inarkiev was able to push his d-pawn forward, costing Black a rook and the game.

Vitiugov exhibited very exact technique today

Vitiugov, Nikita 1-0 Andreikin, Dmitri
Vitiugov always held a slight edge in this game. His slight structural advantage in the endgame wasn't anything special, but it was uncomfortable for Andreikin. Vitiugov masterfully put pressure on his opponent, until Andreikin decided to simplify the position, but White's attack with his two major pieces allowed him to simplify into a winning queen endgame that he eventually converted.

Karjakin's draw allowed either one of these players to catch Svidler

Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1-0 Kramnik, Vladimir

But it was not this man, who blundered his chances away in the endgame

Joshua Friedel Josh was born in 1986 in New Hampshire, USA and is currently living in Wisconsin. He obtained his international master title in 2005 and his grandmaster in 2008. He has participated in five US Championships, including a tie for fourth in 2008. Major Open tournament victories include: the 2003 Eastern Open, 2005 Berkeley Masters, 2008 National Open, 2009 Edmonton International, 2009 North American Open, 2010 Saint Louis Open, 2010 American Open, 2013 Chicago Open. Josh is the current US Open Champion and is the first person qualified for the 2014 US Chess Championship.

Final Round: Women's

The current Russian Women's Champion: Valentina Gunina

Kosteniuk, Alexandra ½-½ Gunina, Valentina
The most important game of the round, for sure. Kosteniuk had to win to become the Russian Champion, while a draw would guarantee this title to her opponent. Unfortunately for Kosteniuk if anyone was trying for a win in this game it was Black, and arguably Gunina was much better in the final position and could have pushed for a win, but she decided to give a perpetual securing her championship.

Kashlinskaya, Alina ½-½ Charochkina, Daria
White's pressure on the kingside netted her an extra pawn, but Black's activity in the simplified rook endgame was enough to keep the draw after a long defense.

Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina ½-½ Kovanova, Baira
White had to sacrifice an exchange in the opening to thwart her opponent's threats. However due to the closed nature of the position and the weakness on h5 it was never easy to convert the material advantage. This became even more difficult after Kovalevskaya sacrificed a pawn to open the f-file, but did not really do much with it.

Goryachking finished in the middle of the pack with many draws

Goryachkina, Aleksandra ½-½ Bodnaruk, Anastasia
Goryachkina's opening was too passive to be able to achieve anything. If anyone was better it was Black, but after the simplification of the queenside the game was simply drawn.

Pogonina, Natalia 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
Pogonina employed a typical Catalan pawn sacrifice to obtain pressure against her opponent's queenside. However Kosintseva outplayed Pogonina, solidifying her extra pawn and pushing White back slowly. By moe 39 she had a winning advantage, but on that precise move she blundered horribly with 39...b4?? Had she played any other move the possibility 40.Re6 would not exist as she would have had the resource 40...Rxd4, but the pawn being on b4 cut the rook from attacking the knight and Re6 was a decisive blow.

Pogonina was able to exploit a time pressure blunder by Kosintseva, who had an awful tournament

Final Round: Women's

Peter Svidler and Ian Nepomniachtchi played a 15 minute + 5 second increment mini match to decide who would be champion. In the first game Svidler quickly won an exchange. Nepomniachtchi had some compensation due to his counterplay but, but due to some mistakes (notably exchanging knights with 25...Ne4?) he was quickly repelled and White's extra material proved to be too much

In the second game Svidler got a nice time advantage. The queens were traded off quickly and Nepomniachtchi was certainly out of his preparation. The symmetrical structure was to Svidler's liking as a draw would be sufficient to crown himself champion. Nepo tried to use the d5 square to his advantage, sacrificing some development to do it, but Svidler accuaretly defended. In a last-ditch attempt Nepomniachtchi sacrifice an exchange, but he could not keep his powerful f7 pawn alive because of his underdevelopment. Nepo offered a draw in a lost position and Svidler wins his 7th Russian Championship!

Replay playoff games

Closing Ceremony

The top three finishers in the women's section: Pogonina, Kosteniuk and Gunina

A young fan eyeing the trophy he will be fighting for eventually

Gunina and Svidler are the new Russian Champions! For Gunina this is the second time, for Svidler the seventh

Top three men, Vitiugov was able to pass Kramnik in tiebreaks at the last second

Standings

Pictures and information by Etery Kublashvili

Replay Men's Round 9 games

Replay Women's round 9 games

Schedule

Links Official tournament site All men games in PGN All women games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.