Superfinals: Karjakin and Shuvalova take the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/8/2020 – The Russian Superfinals, for men and women, are 12-player single round-robin events currently taking place at the Central Chess Club in Moscow. After three rounds, the one player in both tournaments to have kept a perfect score is Polina Shuvalova (pictured), who remarkably defeated Alina Kashlinskaya and Alexandra Kosteniuk in consecutive rounds. Meanwhile, in the open tournament, Sergey Karjakin is the sole leader on 2½/3. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

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On wooden boards

With most of the chess action happening online during the last eight months or so, it is refreshing to see a tournament with a 2690 rating average being played ‘over the board’. The one exception to the rule had been the Norway Chess event in Stavanger, which was won by none other than Magnus Carlsen with a round to spare.

At the Central Chess Club in Moscow, two parallel Superfinals are taking place, with the main event including elite grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi, Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler joined by eight extremely strong 2600+ rated players and 29-year-old Aleksey Goganov — the one participant below the 2600 mark (2594).

After three rounds, former world championship challenger Karjakin has taken the sole lead, after winning twice with the black pieces and drawing Andrey Esipenko with white.

Meanwhile, the women’s section includes 8 from the 10 highest-rated women players in Russia (Kateryna Lagno and Anastasia Bodnaruk are absent). Sixth seed Polina Shuvalova is the leader of the standings table after getting off to a flying start, with three wins in as many games. Shuvalova, aged 19, is the current world girls junior champion (U-20) as well as the winner of the 2018 and 2019 Girls U-18 World Championships!

Russian Chess Superfinal 2020

The elegant playing hall | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Open tournament

Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi and Dubov kicked off the tournament by beating lower-rated opponents on Saturday.

Maksim Chigaev, who won the Higher League a bit over a month ago, defeated Dubov in round 2. Out of a sharp Sicilian in which Black (Dubov) had sacrificed a pawn, Chigaev correctly gave up an exchange in the middlegame:

 
Chigaev vs. Dubov - Round 2
Position after 19.Nxe5

After 19...Be4 the knight on e5 was under attack — White could have defended his piece with 20.Bb2, but Chigaev’s 20.Nc4 is a strong alternative, allowing 20...Bxa1 21.Qxa1 Qg5 22.g3 when White has a lot of play along the dark-squared long diagonal and a powerful centralized knight.  

Chigaev continued to up the pressure, while his opponent struggled to find counterchances. On move 29, Dubov decided not to enter an ending with bishops of opposite colours:

 
Position after 29.gxf4

Probably Dubov thought that the opposite-coloured bishop endgame arising after 29...Rxe5 30.Qxe5 (not 30.fxe5 Qf3 when White is forced to give a perpetual) Qxe5 31.fxe5 was impossible to defend with White having three extra pawns. Nonetheless, his 29...Be8 led to a straightforward defeat — 30.Kh2 Re7 31.c6 and Black needs to give up a piece with 31...Bxc6 32.Qc4+ Kh7 33.Qxc6 Qxc6 34.Nxc6:

 
Position after 34.Nxc6

Black resigned after 34...Re2 35.Bd4 Rxa2 36.Nxa7 Rd2 37.Bc5 and the b-pawn decides.

The other decisive result of round 2 saw Maxim Matlakov losing for a second time in a row, this time against Vladimir Fedoseev.

Monday’s third round saw five games ending in a draw. The only winner of the day was Karjakin, who defeated Nikita Vitiugov from the black side of a Berlin Defence. Vitiugov overestimated the power of his queenside play and lost the game in 42 moves.

Sergey Karjakin

Sole leader Sergey Karjakin | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Karjakin tweeted after his first-round victory : 

Played a classical game after one year of preparation!

His last over-the-board tournament was the Jerusalem Grand Prix in December 2019.


Standings after Round 3

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Nc3 C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo. d6 7.a4 0-0 8.h3 White has an edge. Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Bxe6 fxe6
11.Ne2N Predecessor: 11.0-0 d5 12.Qe2 Qd7 13.Nb1 a5 14.Nbd2 Rad8 15.Nb1 Ra8 16.Nbd2 Rad8 17.g3 1-0 (38) Yu,Y (2738)-Vidit,S (2707) Danzhou 2019 11...Qd7 12.c3 Rf7 13.h4 Raf8 14.b4 Kh8 15.Ra2 Bd8 16.Neg1 Ne7 17.Ng5 aiming for Qh5! Rf6 18.Kf1 c5 19.bxc5 dxc5 20.N5f3 Nc6 21.Rd2       Ba5 22.Qb3 a6 23.Rd1 h6 24.h5 Kh7 25.Qc4 Qd6 26.Ne2 Rb8 27.Rb1 Bc7 28.Rh3 Na5 29.Qa2 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.Rd1 b4 32.cxb4 cxb4 33.d4
33.Qa1 33...b3!-+ 34.Qb1 Qb6 35.dxe5 35.Nc1 35...Rf7 36.g4 b2 37.g5 Black must now prevent g6+. Kh8 Strongly threatening ...hxg5. 38.gxh6? 38.g6 Rff8 39.Ned4 38...gxh6 39.Ned4 Nc6 40.Nxc6 Qxc6 41.Nh4 Qc4+ 42.Rhd3 Rb3 43.Ng6+ Kg7 Black mates. 44.Kg1 Rxd3      
Overworked Piece 45.Rxd3 Qc1+ Weighted Error Value: White=0.55/Black=0.06
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Antipov,M2611Karjakin,S27520–12020C5073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.1
Vitiugov,N2720Artemiev,V2711½–½2020B4073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.2
Goganov,A2594Svidler,P2723½–½2020D8573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.3
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Matlakov,M26981–02020D3573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.4
Fedoseev,V2674Chigaev,M2619½–½2020D9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.5
Dubov,D2702Esipenko,A26861–02020E0673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20201.6
Karjakin,S2752Esipenko,A2686½–½2020C4273rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.1
Chigaev,M2619Dubov,D27021–02020B3173rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.2
Matlakov,M2698Fedoseev,V26740–12020C4573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.3
Svidler,P2723Nepomniachtchi,I2784½–½2020B9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.4
Artemiev,V2711Goganov,A2594½–½2020A3673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.5
Antipov,M2611Vitiugov,N2720½–½2020B9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20202.6
Vitiugov,N2720Karjakin,S27520–12020C6773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.1
Goganov,A2594Antipov,M2611½–½2020D9773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.2
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Artemiev,V2711½–½2020C7973rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.3
Fedoseev,V2674Svidler,P2723½–½2020D8573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.4
Dubov,D2702Matlakov,M2698½–½2020D3773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.5
Esipenko,A2686Chigaev,M2619½–½2020C8473rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20203.6
Karjakin,S2752Chigaev,M2619½–½2020C8873rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.1
Matlakov,M2698Esipenko,A2686½–½2020E0673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.2
Svidler,P2723Dubov,D2702½–½2020C7873rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.3
Artemiev,V2711Fedoseev,V2674½–½2020A2873rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.4
Antipov,M2611Nepomniachtchi,I27840–12020B9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.5
Vitiugov,N2720Goganov,A25941–02020D3773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20204.6
Goganov,A2594Karjakin,S2752½–½2020E0173rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Vitiugov,N2720½–½2020C4573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.2
Fedoseev,V2674Antipov,M2611½–½2020D7073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.3
Dubov,D2702Artemiev,V2711½–½2020B8373rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.4
Esipenko,A2686Svidler,P2723½–½2020D7073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.5
Chigaev,M2619Matlakov,M26980–12020B9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20205.6
Karjakin,S2752Matlakov,M26981–02020E1073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.1
Svidler,P2723Chigaev,M2619½–½2020C8473rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.2
Artemiev,V2711Esipenko,A26861–02020A0673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.3
Antipov,M2611Dubov,D2702½–½2020A0673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.4
Vitiugov,N2720Fedoseev,V2674½–½2020E2173rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.5
Goganov,A2594Nepomniachtchi,I27840–12020D3773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20206.6
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Karjakin,S27521–02020E2073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.1
Fedoseev,V2674Goganov,A2594½–½2020A4573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.2
Dubov,D2702Vitiugov,N2720½–½2020D1073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.3
Esipenko,A2686Antipov,M26111–0202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.4
Chigaev,M2619Artemiev,V27111–02020B6973rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.5
Matlakov,M2698Svidler,P2723½–½2020D9773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.6
Karjakin,S2752Svidler,P27231–02020B9673rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.1
Artemiev,V2711Matlakov,M26981–02020A0173rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.2
Antipov,M2611Chigaev,M26190–1202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.3
Vitiugov,N2720Esipenko,A2686½–½2020C4273rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.4
Goganov,A2594Dubov,D27020–12020E0473rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.5
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Fedoseev,V2674½–½2020B5173rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20208.6
Fedoseev,V2674Karjakin,S2752½–½2020E2573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.1
Dubov,D2702Nepomniachtchi,I27841–02020D8573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.2
Esipenko,A2686Goganov,A25941–02020C6573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.3
Chigaev,M2619Vitiugov,N2720½–½2020B9773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.4
Matlakov,M2698Antipov,M26111–0202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.5
Svidler,P2723Artemiev,V2711½–½2020B4073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20209.6
Karjakin,S2752Artemiev,V27111–02020C7573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.1
Antipov,M2611Svidler,P27230–1202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.2
Vitiugov,N2720Matlakov,M2698½–½2020C6773rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.3
Goganov,A2594Chigaev,M26191–02020A2573rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.4
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Esipenko,A26861–02020C4273rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.5
Fedoseev,V2674Dubov,D27021–02020C5073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202010.6
Dubov,D2702Karjakin,S27521–02020C5473rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.1
Esipenko,A2686Fedoseev,V2674½–½2020C8373rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.2
Chigaev,M2619Nepomniachtchi,I2784½–½2020B9073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.3
Matlakov,M2698Goganov,A25941–02020A4073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.4
Svidler,P2723Vitiugov,N2720½–½2020C7873rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.5
Artemiev,V2711Antipov,M26111–0202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 202011.6

Women’s tournament

While the open event saw 6 decisive results over the first three rounds, the women’s category had 11 decisive results between Saturday and Monday. Shuvalova won all three of her games, two with white and one with the black pieces, and now has a full-point lead over a five-player chasing pack.

In round 3, the young leader sacrificed two pawns in a sharp battle against former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. A mistaken pawn push crippled Black’s position decisively:

 
Shuvalova vs. Kosteniuk - Round 3
Position after 31.Kg2

Although the engines evaluate this position as balanced, it is clearly more difficult to play with the black pieces, especially with the clock ticking down nearing the time control. Here, 31...c5 or 31...Nxf4 were both correct, while Kosteniuk’s 31...g6 was the losing mistake. Shuvalova found the refutation — 32.Bh6:

 
Position after 32.Bh6

The game continued 32...Qd7 33.Bxf8 Qxd5+ 34.Kxh3 Bxf8 35.Nf4 Qf7 36.Rxd4 and White had consolidated his advantage. The 19-year-old needed eight more moves to force her opponent to resign.

Shuvalova will have the white pieces against Tatyana Getman in Tuesday’s fourth round. 

Alina Kashlinskaya

Alina Kashlinskaya also won in round 3 | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili


Standings after Round 3

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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