Opening
Opening photos by A. Ziler
The opening ceremony of the Russian Superfinal took place on October 15 in Novosibirsk. The organizers of the event are Russian Chess Federation, Chess Federation of Novosibirsk Region, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, government of Novosibirsk Region, and office of mayor of Novosibirsk. RATM Holding is a general partner of the Superfinal.

After the presentations by the powers that be...

...came performances inspired by Alice Through the Looking Glass.

They featured Anna Ardova and other actors of Chamber Theater and other theaters of Novosibirsk

The actual drawing of lots involved a surprise element...

... A robot! As Chief Arbiter Maxim Ivakhin read out loud last names of the participants, the robot, utilizing its random number generator, assigned them a starting number.
Rounds one and two
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

The opening round brought enormous excitement as fans and media came to watch

Peter Svidler always seems to shine especially brightly in the Russian Championship. His first round game against Ernesto Inarkiev was further confirmation as he went for the jugular.
Peter Svidler - Ernesto Inarkiev

Alexander Riazentsev also had a sparking start as he defeated Dmitry Bocharov
Alexander Riazentsev - Dmitry Bocharov (Annotations by GM Jonathan Speelman)

Leading the live commentary in Russian are Sergey Shipov and Sergei Rublevsky
Men's standings after two rounds


The surroundings of Novosibirsk are well-developed with a combination of more traditional buildings...

... and more grandiose structures.

Located in Siberia, it is understandably extremely cold on average

In the Women's Championship, the top seed is Alexandra Kosteniuk, winner of the title in 2005
Anastasia Bodnaruk - Alexandra Kosteniuk

In round one, Kosteniuk gained a decisive advantage here. Black to play and win.
24...Bxh3 25. Kxh3 Rxe4 26. Rxe4 Qf5+ 27. Kg3 Qxe4

In round two, Kosteniuk defeated her closest rival in a brief 29 moves
Women's standings after two rounds
