The 14th Karpov Poikovsky tournament is taking place from August 27th to September 6th in Poikovsky, which is in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia.

Poikovsky, originally an oil drilling village, today has a population of 20,000

The name of the town comes from the Poika river. It is situated in the Nefteyugansk region which is between the rivers Ob' and Irtysh. The region is about a three hour drive away from Khanty-Mansiysk, the host of the 2010 Chess Olympiad.

14th Karpov Poikovsky - planting for the future

Though overshadowed by the World Cup just won by Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th Karpov Poikovsky is now well underway with six of the nine rounds played, and it is just that it will now enjoy the full attention of chess fans as the last three rounds determine a winner.

In spite of it, the competition has been extremely hard fought with 50% of the games having ended with decisive results, no mean feat with a near 2700 average rating. The early lead was taken by Ian Nepomniachtchi, but after an unusually bloodthirsty sixth round, the leaderboard is shared between Alexander Motylev, the second lowest rating, and Pavel Eljanov, with 4.0/6. For the Ukrainian, it is a welcome respite after having enjoyed a brief moment in the world top ten in 2010 with 2761, only to suffer a bad phase in which he left the 2700 club.

Round six: white to play and win

The combativity is not to be denied, but whatever the reason, a number of games have been marred by unusually ugly blunders, in which the balance was destroyed by the most elemental of tactics.

In Cheparinov-Inarkiev, White could have played 17.Qe3, 17.Qd2, or
17.Qc1 with no problems, but after 17.Qf3?? was forced to resign. Can
you see why? Answers at the end.

Laznicka certainly could not expect Bologan's 47...Nxe3??
that threw away the draw. What did White play that forced
his resignation two moves later?

It wasn't all about blunders though, as Sutovsky capped off
a fine attack with his next move. White to play and win.

It has also been a genuine celebration for White, with 12 of the 15 decisive games having been won by White, including the exceptional sixth round, in which four of the five games ended 1-0.

After round five, the players had a free day which was spent at the benefit of children, planting trees, playing simuls, but also a pleasant boat ride on the Poika river.

Pavel Eljanov plants a tree for the future

Viktor Bologan helps some children to plant a tree oftheir own

A group shot of the organizers, players, and children

Cheparinov was one of the grandmasters to give a simul

Tag team chess: one plays the moves, and the other writes them down

Dmitry Jakovenko studies up on chickens

Answers to positions:

Cheparinov-Inarkiev: After 17.Qf3?? Black plays 17...d5! winning the piece. White resigned in view of 18.Bxe7 dxe4 attacking the queen and winning a piece.

Laznicka-Bologan: After the unfortunate 47...Nxe3?? White played 48.h6!gxh6 49.d6+! and Black resigned as his king cannot stop one of the pawns from queening.

Sutovsky-Onischuk: White played 40.Rf3! winning after 40...Bf5 41.Rxf5 Rxf5 42.Qc8+. Note that 40.Qc8+ fails to 40...Qe8, protected by the bishop on g6.

Standings after six rounds

Schedule

Links Official tournament site All 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.