5/12/2015 – After the Russian Team Championship in Sochi Russia's top players were not tired of chess but in the mood for some more fun and played the Russian team championships in rapid and blitz. SHSM Moscow won the rapid event, while "University" had the best blitz players. In the women's tournament Ugra won the rapid event and Moscow the blitz tournament.
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The Russian Team Rapid- and Blitz-Championships were played in the hotel Zhemchuzhina in Sochi. In the Rapid Open 25 teams played a 9 round swiss on four boards.
Best team was SHSM Moscow with Ian Nepomniachtchi on top board. He scored 5.5/9, but the best player of his team and the entire tournament was Ernesto Inarkiev, who conceded just a single draw to finish with 8.5/9. Moscow dominated the event in similar fashion. They won eight and drew one of their nine matches to finish three points ahead of the field.
Best player on board one was Gata Kamsky. He scored 7.0/9, beating Svidler and Nepomniachtchi on the way. Kamsky played for the team of Ladya Kazan, which finished third. Silver went to Peter Svidler's team of St. Petersburg. Siberia, the team which had just won the Russian Team Championships played without their stars Kramnik and Aronian and finished seventh.
The Grand Hotel "Zhemchuzhina" sporting a large banner of the Russian Chess Federation
Springtime in Sochi
Moskau with Nepomniachtchi on board one playing against Kazan with Kamsky on board one.
Inarkiev, (left), was the best player of the tournament.
24 teams started in the blitz event to play eleven rounds Swiss. First place went to "University", best players in the tournament were Baadur Jovava (University) and Vladislav Artemiev (Ladya Kazan) who both scored 9.5/11. Kazan won silver, Moscow bronze.
Eight teams started in the women's rapid event and played a round-robin. Clear winner was the team of Ugra, with Anna Ushenina on board one: Ugra won all their matches and in the end finished three points ahead of Moscow.
Ugra, (right), with former Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina on board one, won the rapid event
Anna Ushenina, Natalia Pogonina
But the star-studded team of Moscow won the blitz event
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