Russian Superfinals 6: Three and two leaders

by Sagar Shah
8/15/2015 – The Superfinals reached the half-way-mark and promise an exciting end. In the men's tournament E. Tomashevsky, V. Artemiev, and N. Vitiugov lead with 4.0/6 each. In the women's tournament Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk share the lead with 4.5/6 each. Goryachkina won against Ovod, Kosteniuk defeated Kateryna Lagno. Analyses.

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The 68th Men's Russian Chess Championship and the 65th Women's Russian Chess Championship is played in Chita from 9. to 21. August. The competition is held by the Russian Chess Federation, the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation and the Zabaykalsky Krai Chess Federation, with support from the government of the Zabaykalsky Krai. The competition partners are Norilsk Nickel and the Baikalsk Mining Company.

Round 6 - Results (Men)
I. Khairullin ½-½ S. Karjakin
P. Svidler 1-0 I. Lysyj
A. Motylev ½-½ E. Tomashevsky
D. Dubov 0-1 D. Jakovenko
V. Artemiev ½-½ I. Bukavshin
N. Vitiugov 1-0 D. Khismatullin

Nikita Vitiugov won in round six against Dennis Khismatullin and joined Evgeny Tomashevsky and Vladislav Artemiev, who both drew, in the lead.

Nikita Vitiugov

 
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White has a rook on c7 which is well placed and Black has an Isolated pawn. These disadvantages for Black are balanced by the fact that he has the bishop pair. If take into consideration that bishop pair is the only good thing that Black has in this position, Khismatullin's next move can be highly condemned. 20...Bxf3? When you give up the best thing in your position, you can understand that you are in for a long drawn out defensive task. 20...b6 I am sure that Khismatullin did not like 21.Ba6 at this point which kept the control of the c-file. 20...Rab8! The idea is to challenge the rook on the c-file next. 21.Rb1 Bf6 22.Rbc1 Rfc8= The position is completely balanced. 21.gxf3± Rab8 22.Rb1?! 22.Bf5! Keeping the c-file under control was more important. d4 22...Rfd8 23.f4 Bf6 Trying to get the bishop out of b2 before going for d5-d4. 24.Rd1 d4 25.e4!± 23.Rb1 Bc3 24.Kg2 and it is not so easy for Black to get rid of his d4 pawn. 22...Be5 23.Rc5 Rfd8 24.Rd1 Bf6 25.Bc2 d4! Black is able to get rid off one of the main weaknesses in his position. 26.Bb3 dxe3 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8?! Why to make this passive move when taking with the rook was also possible? 27...Rxd8 28.fxe3 Rd7= And Black is completely fine. 28.fxe3 Kf8?! 28...Bb6!? 29.Re5 Rc8 activating the rook. 30.Re7 Rc7! 31.Bxf7+ Kf8 32.Rxc7 Bxc7 33.Bd5 Bxg3 34.Bxb7= This should be an easy draw. 29.Kg2 Ke7 30.f4 f6 31.Rc4 b5 32.Re4+ Kf8 33.Kf3 h5 34.Rd4 Ke7? 34...Be7 Black is passice but still holding onto everything. 35.Rd5! Now a pawn is lost. h4 35...Kf8 36.Rd7 a6 37.Rf7+ Ke8 38.Ra7± 36.gxh4 gxh4 37.Rh5 a5 38.bxa5 Bxa5 39.Rxh4± Even though thanks to the opposite coloured bishops Black has decent drawing chances, his task is not so easy. White not only has an extra pawn but also well co-ordinated pieces. Slowly and steadily Vitiugov increased the pressure and won the game. Khismatullin's was completely off colour in this game. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vitiugov,N2719Khismatullin,D26421–02015D3068th Superfinal RUS-ch Men6

Peter Svidler won a positional game against Igor Lysyi - Svidler's first win in this year Superfinal.

 
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There are many things going on in this position but a good player is always able to find the key point that matters. The a6 pawn is weakness and great players of the past have told us a very important concept about weaknesses in chess: Before attacking a weakness you must firmly blockade it. It makes sense to block the a-pawn with the move Qa5! 27.Qa5! 27.c3?! is a lazy move which throws away bulk of the advantage that White has. a5! 28.Rb7 Rxb7 29.Bxb7 Rb8 30.Bg2 Qb6 31.Qxa5 Qxb2 Black has decent counterplay and the position is round about equal. 27...Qe7 28.Rb6 Rc5 28...c3 29.b4± 29.Rb8+ Kh7 30.Qb6 Rac7 31.c3 31.Qxa6± There was nothing wrong with taking the pawn but Svidler would like to maintain much greater control on the position. 31...Bb5 31...Bc8 It was much more important to defend the pawn from here and also keep an eye on the kingside. 32.Rb7! Exchanging a pair of rooks weakens the a6 pawn. Rxb7 33.Qxb7 Qxb7 33...Rc7 34.Qb6 Qe5 was much better than the game. After the exchange of queens it is much easier for White. 34.Bxb7 Bd7 35.Bxa6 Bxh3 36.Ra4 Re5 37.Bxc4+- With two connected passers it should not be too difficult for Svidler to win. Re1+ 38.Kh2 Bf1 39.Nf3 Rc1 40.Bxf7 Rc2? A bad mistake which abruptly brings the game to an end. 41.Ne5! Bg6 followed by Ra8 cannot be prevent and hence Lysyj resigned. 1–0
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Svidler,P2739Lysyj,I26731–02015C0068th Superfinal RUS-ch Men6

Dmitry Jakovenko

Dmitry Jakovenko played the third decisive game of the round. He won against Daniil Dubov who spoiled a better but tactically complicated position.

 
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Up until this point, Daniil has played a superb game. He holds the advantage here. But have a look at the position. The rook on e4 cannot move as a mate is threatened on h1. The black king is completely exposed on g7. In such positions the value of each move is extremely high and there are high chances that even a natural move can turn out to be a mistake. 45.Rde1? Played just after 49 seconds of thought. This natural move is a mistake which throws away all the advantage that White had. 45.Qe5+! is the correct move. The idea is to first place the queen on the e-file and then bring the rook to e1. In this way Re8 would not be possible. Kg8 45...Kg6 46.Qd6+ Kf7 47.Rde1+- is just crushing. 45...Kh7 46.Rde1+- 46.Qe6+ Kg7 47.Rde1 Once the rooks have doubled on the e-file, black king has no defence. d3 47...Rch8 48.Qe5+ Kg6 49.Qd6+ Kf7 50.Re7++- 48.Qg4 d2 49.Re7+ Qxe7 50.Rxe7+ Kf8 51.Qxh5+- 45.g4 This move looks pretty natural but has the drawback of allowing the rook to come to e8. Re8! 46.gxh5 Qxe4 Diagram
All endgames are simply worse for White. But if he doesn't exchange the queens what should he do? Qg4 picking up the d1 rook is a huge threat. Here White has a hidden resource which is both deep and beautiful. 47.h6+‼ This is not just a spite check. The idea is to block the h-file. 47.Qxg5+ Kh7 Only helps Black as Rg8 is coming up next. 48.f3 Qe6 49.Qg6+ Qxg6+ 50.hxg6+ Kxg6 Black has excellent winning chances in the endgame. 47.Qxc5 loses now because of Qg4+ 48.Kh2 Qxh5+ 49.Kg2 Qg4+ 50.Kh2 Rh8# Maybe after seeing this variation you can appreciate the value of the move 47.h6!! 47...Kxh6 48.Qxc5! 48.Qf6+ Kh5-+ 48...Qg4+ 49.Kh2 Qxd1 50.Qc6+= White wins back the rook and the game ends in a draw. Just wanted to show that seeing 0.00 on your computer screens is sometimes very misleading. The only way to maintain that equality is by making loads of accurate moves, not an easy task when your clock is ticking by. 45...Re8! Jakovenko takes his opportunity and pins down the rook. 46.Kg2 It seems highly counter intuitive to place your rook in a pin. But White would like to play Qf3. 46.f3 Rxe4 47.fxe4 Qb2 48.Qd7+ Kg6 49.Qe6+= with a perpetual check would have been the easier way to make a draw. 46...d3 Diagram
I was watching the live game at this point and I decided to take five minutes on the clock and tried to guess the move for White. I came up with the same losing move that Dubov played in the game. There was just one narrow path to achieving the half point which was not at all easy but it did exist. 47.Qf3? 47.f3‼ This brilliant move is the only way to draw the game. The two exclamations are for seeing that Qb2+ is not a win for Black but a super draw for White. Qb2+ 47...d2 48.Rd1 Reh8 49.Qe5+= 47...Rxe4 48.fxe4= 48.R1e2‼ Qxe2+ 48...dxe2 49.Qd7+ Kh6 50.Qc6+= 49.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 50.Kg1 d2 50...c4 51.Qd7+ Kf6 52.Qd6+ Re6 53.Qf8+= 51.Qd7+ Kf6 52.Qd6+= What a brilliant defence! This was extremely difficult to see during the game with your time ticking down. 47.Kg1 d2-+ 47...d2! 48.Qc3+ 48.Rxe8 dxe1N+! A nice little underpromotion which ends the game! 49.Rxe1 Rh2+!-+ 48...Kg8 White has one more check on c4 but after Kh7 he would be just lost. Quite a heartbreaking loss for Dubov as he was better for the majority part of the game. But Jakovenko was alert for the tactics and never gave up! That's why he emerged victorious in the end. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Dubov,D2654Jakovenko,D27590–12015E1568th Superfinal RUS-ch Men6

Standings after round six

Women

Round 6 - Results (Women)
A. Goryachkina 1-0 E. Ovod
V. Gunina 1-0 K. Lagno
A. Savina ½-½ O. Girya
A. Kashlinskaya 0-1 A. Kosteniuk
N. Pogonina ½-½ E. Kovalevskaya
M. Guseva 0-1 A. Bodnaruk

After her loss in round 5 Aleksandra Goryachkina managed to strike back and won against Evgenija Ovod - it was Goryachkina's fourth win in the tournament.

 
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This was the last move before the time control and Ovod was uner grave time pressure. She is a pawn down but has excellent compensation in the form of White's weakened king position. In any case, she makes quite a huge mistake now. 40...Rd1? This move gives no compensation for the pawn deficit. Better was 40...Rf8 41.Qg3 Rd3 42.Qe1? Qc7! 43.e5 Nh7 44.Rxf8+ Bxf8 45.Bxb7 Qxb7+ 46.Kg1 Nxg5 47.hxg5 Qd5-+ 41.Ree1 Rxe1 42.Rxe1 Re7 43.e5 Bxg2+ 44.Kxg2 Qd5+ 45.Nf3± Goryachkina remained a pawn up and went on to convert her advantage. Nd7 46.Qe4 Qb5 47.Nd6 Qb6 48.Bd4 Qc7 49.Qxg6 Qc6 50.Nf5 Ne3+ 51.Kf2 Qc2+ 52.Kxe3 Qb3+ 53.Kf2 Nxe5 54.Nxe7+ Kf8 55.Qf5+ Kxe7 56.Bxe5 1–0
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Goryachkina,A2474Ovod,E23271–02015A0565th Superfinal RUS-ch Women6

But Alexandra Kosteniuk kept the pace of her rival: She won against
Alina Kashlinskaya and continues to share the lead with Goryachkina.

 
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Black is a pawn up but her pieces are awkwardly positioned. This was the right moment for Alina to crown her game with the move Qc3! But instead she blundered and handed the win on a platter to her opponent. 47.Bf8? 47.Qc3‼ was the winning move. At first extremely difficult to understand but the more you look at it the more you understand that the queen has to enter Black's position and at the same time stop the black rook from coming to her first rank. Qc3 starts making sense now as you can inflitrate on the next move itself with Qc6 or Qc8. Rd5 47...Qf1 48.Rxd7+- 47...Qd3 48.Qc6! Rxb4 49.Qe6! Qc4 49...Qd2 50.Qg4+ Kh7 51.Rxd7+- 50.Qg4+ Kh7 51.Qf5+ Kg8 52.Qxd7+- 48.Qc8 Kh7 49.Ra8+- With decisive threats like Qh8 and Rg8. 47.Qa2 is what I considered during the game with the aim of entering e6. But Black can maintain the balance with Rxb4 48.Qe6 Rb1 49.Qe8+ Kh7 50.Qxe4+ Kg8 51.Ra8+ Nf8 52.Qe6+ Kh7 53.Rxf8 Qh1+ 54.Kg3 Qe1+= 47...Rb1 Instead of black king getting mated, it's the White monarch who is in trouble. 48.Bxg7 Qg1+ 49.Kg3 Rf1! Threatening Rf3. 50.f5+ Kh5 A bad loss for Alina who was dominating through out the game. But yesterday she got lucky against Olga Girya. This is the nature of the game - you win some and you lose some! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kashlinskaya,A2441Kosteniuk,A25260–12015E3365th Superfinal RUS-ch Women6

Less lucky was Kateryna Lagno: She lost against Valentina Gunina and is no longer part of the leading group.

Valentina Gunina (with and in White) and Kateryna Lagno minutes before the start of their game.

 
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Black has a fine position and a natural move like Na6 or Nd7 would have kept her disadvantage to a minimum. But instead Lagno played 13...Qe6?! This creates a perfect situation for White to attack with the natural f4-f5. 14.f4! Na6 15.f5 gxf5 16.Rxf5 White's attack just flows. Nb4 17.Qf3 Ne8 18.d5! cxd5 19.exd5 Qg6 It was any way a tough choice to decide between which pawn to give up e7 or f7. 20.Bxe7 Nc2 21.Rg5! Qb6 21...Qa6 22.Rf1+- 22.Bxd8 22.Rf1? Ne3+= 22...Rxd8 23.Rc1 Qxb2 23...Ne3+ 24.Kh1+- would only have postponed the inevitable. 24.Qe4!+- The knight on c2 is trapped and so Lagno resigned. A resounding victory for Gunina. 1–0
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Gunina,V2531Lagno,K25301–02015D8065th Superfinal RUS-ch Women6

The fourth decisive game was played by Anastasia Bodnaruk: She won with Black against Marina Guseva.

 
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Black has attacked the white queen. She has two options. Whether to return to c4 or to take on d8. What would you choose? 23.Qc4? After 23 minutes of thought Guseva makes the wrong decision. 23.Qxd8+! Qxd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 This position seems pretty bad for White but it isn't. White must bring her rook into the game not by moving the bishop and king but my pushing her pawns ahead. This is not so easy to understand. 25.Rg1! Na4 25...Nd3+ 26.Bxd3 Rxd3 27.Ke2 Rb3 28.Rb1= 25...Kg7 we can now see White's idea in action. 26.g3! The rook comes into the game via g2. Nd3+ 26...Na4 27.Rg2! 27.Bxd3 Rxd3 28.Rf1 Rb3 29.Rf2 26.b3 Nc5 26...Nc3 27.a4 Rd1+ 28.Kf2= 27.Bc4 b5 28.Bxb5 Nxb3 29.Kf2= 23...Rxd2 24.Kxd2 b5! 25.Qc2 25.Qxb5 Rb8-+ 25...Qd7+ 25...Qd8+ would have been stronger as then Bxb5 as what happened in the game doesn't attack the queen. 26.Kc1 Rc8 27.Kb1 Nxe4!-+ 26.Kc1 Rc8 27.Kb1 Nxe4 28.Bxb5! This intermezzo saves White from an immediate defeat. 28.Qxe4 Qd1+ 29.Ka2 Rc1-+ 28...Nd2+ 29.Ka1 Rxc2 30.Bxd7 Nb3+ 31.Ka2 Nd4 Even though the material is equal, the rook+knight duo combine very well in the position and give Black a clear advantage. 0–1
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Guseva,M2431Bodnaruk,A24310–12015E3265th Superfinal RUS-ch Women6

Standings after round six

Photos: Vladimir Barsky and Eteri Kublashvili

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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