Novosibirsk set to win Russian Team Champ

by Alejandro Ramirez
5/7/2015 – There is only one round left in the Russian Team Championship. The strong team of Siberia (Novosibirsk) is poised to win the event, and that should come as no surprise. Excellent performances by Kramnik, Aronian and Jakovenko have the Siberian team leading. In second place is University of Belorechensk, who will have a tough time in their last round against Saint Petersburg.

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The incredibly strong Russian Team Championship is under way in Sochi, Russia. The single round robin tournament features the strongest Russian squads. The matches are 6v6, with each team having six player in their line-up plus two reserves.

With only one round to go in Sochi it is the Siberian team that is currently leading, and that should be no surprise as they field an incredibly impressive line-up:

8. Siberia (Novosibirsk) (RtgAvg: 2726 / TB1: 12 / TB2: 23.5)
Bo.   Name Rtg FED FideID Pts. Games
1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2777 RUS 4101588 3.5 5.0
2 GM Aronian Levon 2776 ARM 13300474 3.5 5.0
3 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2738 RUS 4122356 4.0 5.0
4 GM Wang Yue 2724 CHN 8601429 3.5 6.0
5 GM Anton Korobov 2708 UKR 14105730 3.0 6.0
6 GM Kokarev Dmitry 2635 RUS 4132181 3.5 6.0
7 GM Bocharov Dmitry 2577 RUS 4138716 2.0 2.0
8 GM Pavel Maletin 2587 RUS 4146786 0.5 1.0

They are the highest rated team and are currently leading with 12.0/12, having won every single one of their matches. However it is not as if their rating advantage was very big. The second rated team is from Saint Petersburg:

  5. Bronze Horseman (St. Petersburg) (RtgAvg: 2711 / TB1: 8 / TB2: 22)
Bo.   Name Rtg FED FideID Pts. Games
1 GM Peter Svidler 2734 RUS 4102142 3.0 5.0
2 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2736 RUS 4152956 2.0 4.0
3 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2734 CUB 3503240 3.5 5.0
4 GM Maxim Matlakov 2694 RUS 4168003 3.0 5.0
5 GM Maxim Rodshtein 2682 ISR 2806851 2.0 4.0
6 GM Khairullin Ildar 2649 RUS 4151348 3.5 5.0
7 GM Fedoseev Vladimir 2683 RUS 24130737 2.0 4.0
8 GM Saric Ivan 2641 CRO 14508150 3.0 4.0

However they are currently in third place. The team lead by Radoslaw Wojtaszek is sitting in second:

  3. University  (Belorechensk) (RtgAvg:2692 / TB1: 10 / TB2: 21.5)
Bo.   Name Rtg FED FideID Pts. Games
1 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2746 POL 1118358 3.0 5.0
2 GM Dmitry Andreikin 2723 RUS 4158814 3.0 6.0
3 GM Jobava Baadur 2699 GEO 13601520 3.0 5.0
4 GM Rublevsky Sergei 2698 RUS 4115309 3.5 5.0
5 GM Evgeny Alekseev 2653 RUS 4138147 2.5 5.0
6 GM Landa Konstantin 2634 RUS 4101685 1.5 3.0
7 GM Tregubova Pavel V. 2571 RUS 4115341 2.5 3.0
8 GM Aleksandrov Alexei 2605 BLR 13500139 2.5 4.0

Siberia has really been dominating the event. After winning by the minimum margin against Malachite, Saint Petersburg and Lada, they proceeded to mercilessly crush their opponents. Despite Kramnik's loss in the first round to Shirov he has had quite a good tournament. Aronian's 3.5/5 isn't hurting either, but even better is Jakovenko's brilliant performance with 4.0/5. Wang Yue's and Kokarev;s +1 results have been good enough to give the team the victories it needs, not to mention Bocharov's 2.0/2.

With Siberia playing Yamal, who currently sits in last, it seems as if the tournament is really wrapped up. However things are not so clear in the fight for second place. Saint Petersburg is in third, but still holds their own fate in their hands. A victory over Belorechenks will allow them to catch up on match points and easily pass them on board points.

These are the current standings:

Rk. Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 Sibir (Novosibirsk)  *  4   12 23.5 0
2 University (Belorechensk) 2  *    4 4 10 21.5 0
3 Bronze Horseman (St. Petersburg)    *  4 6 8 22.0 0
4 Malachite (Sverdlovsk region)  *  4   4 6 19.0 0
5 SHSM-Our Heritage (Moscow)  *    6 17.0 0
6 Lada (Samara region) 2 2    *  4 4 16.5 0
7 Rook (Kazan) 2 2   2  *  3 1 13.0 0
8 Yamal (YaNAO)   0 2 3  *  1 11.5 0

Alexander Grischuk is Malachite's first board

University of Belorechensk is currently in second place.
This is in no small part thanks to Sergei Rublevsky's strong performance.

Dmitry Andreikin with 3.0/5 on board two (University of Belorechensk)

Life isn't so bad when you have two top-10 players on your team

Dmitry Jakovenko has been a star for Siberia

Gata Kamsky, board one for Kazan

The always creative Baadur Jobava

Wojtaszek's team has to hold the draw tomorrow to retain their second place

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Photos by Maria Fominyk

Links

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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

 


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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