64th Russian Championship – Svidler shoots into lead with dramatic win

Prize fund: 90.000€ (24.000 - 17.500 - 12.500 - 11.000 - 9.000 - 7.500 - 4.000 - 2.500) Tourney mode: round robin with 7 rounds Time mode: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the 1st move. Game start: 13:00, last round 11:00 Rest day: 12th August

64th Russian Championship Super Final

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.

Round five

The fifth round was a classic soap opera, with elements of surprise, dismay and the mundane sprinkled across the boards as players recovered from languid Friday at varying speeds.

Svidler had a lucky escape from Timofeev’s Ruy Lopez. The game saw strategic manoeuvring typical of this positional opening with both players fighting for control of the centre. Black succeeded in achieving the freeing d5 break, but slipped up with 27….f6? giving Artyom an excellent chance to win a pawn with 28. Ra7! However, he overlooked the tactics and went on to spoil his position a couple of mvoes laters with the regressive 30. Rdc1.

Svidler pounced, nailed the white queen in a deftly deployed kingside trap, and snatched the point.

Morozevich, playing the French Defence with black, tragically gambled away a drawn rook ending against Nepomniachtchi. The encounter was evenly fought until well into the endgame, when black overestimated his position and played the fatal 40. Rc4 attempting to create counterplay instead of stopping white’s king advance with Rg7+. A race ensued on opposite sides of the board in which Nepomniachtchi’s precise technique pronounced him the winner.

Feeling he had a chance to swindle Nepomniachtchi, Moro went too far and lost

The remaining four participants were in a more amicable (or perhaps cautious) mood after the free day break.

Kramnik finally draws

Kramnik made his first draw of the tournament playing Grischuk from black in the Queen’s Gambit Ragozin Defence. Grischuk diverged from known theory by trying the inoffensive 17. Rc2 for a friendly spar with the black queen. The novelty was not particularly useful as the point was immediately split through threefold repetition.

Galkin-Karjakin was a tame Scotch Four Knights game where black equalised easily after the opening. Galkin simplified into a drawish endgame via a forced series of exchanges starting with 21.Bxh6 and the expected result was reached soon after.

The tournament now has a clear leader with Svidler perched alone on 4 points, a full point ahead of his nearest rival Morozevich. He faces today's other winner Nepomniachtchi in round six. Two rounds remain.

Photographs by the Russian Federation (Russiachess.org)

Standings after five rounds

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The 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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