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Prize fund: 90.000€ (24.000 - 17.500 - 12.500 - 11.000 - 9.000 - 7.500 - 4.000 - 2.500) |
This year's Russian Championship Super Final also marks a special edition: the 64th. Oddly though, instead of some mega event with more, the tournament has been cut down from last year's eleven-round edition with twelve players to a mere seven rounds and eight players. Still, don't think that makes it a lesser event by any means, as it also brings together a fantastic field with Kramnik, Karjakin, Grischuk, Morozevich, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi, and Galkin for a 2715 average rating. Once more the Russian Federation hosts the championship at a level that few can rival, with high resolution video broadcasting and of course grandmaster commentary. Round one through four will be commented by GM Sergey Makarichev, while rounds five through seven will be commented on by world-famous coach Mark Dvoretsky.
Alexander Morozevich played a strong final round game to beat Svidler in the Gruenfeld Defence with white – a tad too late for the title, which his opponent had already picked up, but good enough for the runners up position.
Svidler seemed quite fidgety during the opening phase
Moro handled Svidler’s choice of 13….Ne5 in the Russian variation accurately and soon gained an endgame advantage (double bishops) which he converted in 31 moves. During the opening, Svidler appeared more fidgety than usual, and one wonders whether he hadn’t lost a bit of his focus, as the title was already a given.
Morozevich had the last word, and inflicted Svidler's only loss
Despite his second place finish, he scored a 2820 performance
Kramnik, back to his newly acquired uncompromising ways from the black side, beat Galkin with a positional piece sacrifice in a funny Pirc variant. The double-edged game was evenly fought until White blundered his queen with 30. Qb3
Kramnik continued his uncompromising play with only two draws
This year is also the 100th anniversary of Mikhail Botvinnik
Timofeev-Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi-Karjakin, which were a Najdorf sideline and an English Four Knights respectively, were both drawn after restrained play by all the players.
Svidler is the tournament winner with 5 points from 7 rounds, followed by Morozevich as a clear second with 4.5/7. It is worth noting that this is Moro’s third consecutive 2800+ performance, which include his win at the Russian Higher League and a second place at Biel, half a point behind Carlsen. If his current rating is 2694, his next projected rating will be 2737, moving him up 31 places in the world rankings to 17th.
Photographs by the Russian Federation (Russiachess.org)
LinksThe games are being 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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