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In our last report, we mentioned how the Mednyi Vsadnik had barely defeated Moskovskaya Oblast on Friday — a team that only tallied two match points in five rounds. The very next day, however, the European champions had no issues to defeat Ladya by a 4½:1½ score. Ladya have used the same line-up all five rounds, with top seed Vladislav Artemiev on first board, former FIDE World Championship finalist Gata Kamsky on board two and Artyom Timofeev as the third in line — their bottom boards are weaker in comparison to some others squads, though.
Horsemen's Leinier Dominguez came from winning two in a row and was paired against Kamsky. Gata is a long-time practitioner of the London System and used his pet opening against Leinier. By move 8, the players had left the well-trodden paths of theory, by choosing 8.a4 and 8...♞bd7:
On this DVD GM Yannick Pelletier offers Black a repertoire against the London System that you can employ no matter which opening (Systems with d5, systems with g6, Queen's Indian, Queen's Gambit, Benoni, Benko, Dutch) you usually play against 1.d4 followed by 2.c4. Thematic games explain and illustrate the theory and ideas of the repertoire Pelletier proposes.
With no knight on c6, Dominguez slowly but surely gained the initiative on the queenside until getting a passer on the c-file. With his pawn already on the second rank, Leinier forced his opponent to give up his knight:
Black knows that after 34...♜a1 35.♖xc2 ♞b4 36.♖c7 he can gain a piece with 36...♞d3. Kamsky resigned after 37.♔h2 ♜xc1 38.♖xf7. Leinier's performances at the US Championship and in Sochi have propelled him to overcome Wesley So as United States' number two in the live ratings list — he is also four points away from re-entering the Top 10.
Evgeniy Najer (3½/4) and Kirill Alekseenko (3/3) also won for Mednyi Vsadnik in round four.
The playing hall | Photo: Svetlana Ostrovskaya
Their next victims were Sibir, a team with a 2507 rating average and only one grandmaster in their line-up. Maxim Rodshtein from the defending champions suffered a second surprising loss in a row (this time against IM Zhamsaran Tsydypov), but his teammates saved the day by getting three wins and two draws on the other boards. Maxim Matlakov's attacking victory over Semen Khanin was particularly impressive:
Master Class Vol.2: Mihail Tal
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
The f-pawn continued its glorious crusade with 16.f5 ♛g5 17.♗c1 ♛e7 18.f6!, creating a bind that would cost Black the game later on. Can you find White's winning continuation in the following position?
24.♖xh7! and after 24...♚xh7 25.♕h4+ ♚g8 26.♗h6 and Black needs to give up his queen to survive. Khanin did not capture the rook but went on to lose after 30 moves.
Sima-Land and Molodezhka are two match points behind Mednyi Vsadnik. Sima-Land have Alexander Riazantsev on first board (although Karpov is listed in their line-up as well) and face the leaders in round seven, while Molodezhka are led by Vladimir Potkin and Maksim Chigaev and will play the Bronze Horsemen in Friday's final round.
Alexander Riazantsev from Sima-Land | Photo: Irina Chibikova
Maksim Chigaev from Molodezhka | Photo: Irina Chibikova
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | «Мednyi Vsadnik» (г. Санкт-Петербург) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 21,0 |
| 2 | «ШК «Sima-Land» (Свердловская область) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 16,5 |
| 3 | «Мolodezhka» (Тюменская область) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 15,5 |
| 4 | «Strazhi Pravoporyadka» (г. Санкт-Петербур | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 20,0 |
| 5 | «ШСМ Legacy Square Capital» (г. Москва) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 17,5 |
| 6 | «Sibir» (Новосибирская область) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13,5 |
| 7 | «Ladya» (Республика Татарстан) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13,0 |
| 8 | «Moskovskaya Oblast» (Московская область | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11,5 |
| 9 | «SShOR по шахматам и шашкам» (г. Санкт-Пе | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10,0 |
| 10 | «Мuzhskoe Dvizhenie» (г. Санкт-Петербург) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11,5 |
While Yugra have a squad with four 2400+ players, only SShOR's board one Anastasia Bodnaruk can boast about having surpassed that mark. Nonetheless, Bodnaruk led her team to a crucial 3:1 victory over the favourites on Saturday. Boards two and three finished drawn; Anna Styashkina (SShOR) upset Marina Guseva (Yugra) on board four; and Bodnaruk obtained a decisive win over Anna Ushenina.
Ushenina played a sharp variation of the Caro-Kann and a position with kings castled on opposite flanks appeared on the board. The computer thought Black was in the driver's seat, but condemned the Ukrainian's decision to tuck in her king on b8:
The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1
The dynamic play based on a strong strategic foundation has always fascinated me, and in these DVDs I have suggested the lines which I personally prefer and employ in practice.
Follow the line played in the game on the diagram above
20...♚b8 escapes the pin along the c-file but leaves the black king vulnerable to an eventual discovered attack along the h2-b8 diagonal. After 21.♘b5 ♝e4 22.♗f1 ♛xg4 23.♕xg4 hxg4 24.♘xc7 ♞xd4 we can see how dangerous the diagonal actually is for Black.
Now the danger is imminent. The game continued 25.♘xe6 ♞f3+ 26.♔f2 ♞xe1 27.f5+ and the all-important bishop has come alive. Ushenina fought on until move 44 but the result was never in doubt from this point on.
Anna Ushenina | Photo: Irina Chibikova
A tough challenge awaited SShOR in the following round, when they faced Legacy Square Capital. Bodnaruk was paired against a former women's world champion for a second day in a row — in the end, Anastasia fell victim to Alexandra Kosteniuk's strong positional play. 2272-rated Anna Styazhkina saved the day, though, by getting a second upset victory in a row, this time over Alina Bivol (2393).
The hero of rounds four and five, Anna Styazhkina | Photo: Irina Chibikova
The team from Saint Petersburg is one match point ahead of Yugra and will play Yuzhny Ural on Tuesday — thirteen teams are participating in the women's event, so the Swiss system is being used over nine rounds.
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | «SShOR по шахматам и шашкам» (г. Санкт-Пе | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 13,5 |
| 2 | «Yugra» (ХМАО – Югра) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 14,5 |
| 3 | «Bukavushki» (Самарская область) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11,0 |
| 4 | Istra-a.lv (Истра-а.лв) (г. Москва) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10,5 |
| «Moskovskaya Oblast» (Московская область | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10,5 | |
| 6 | «Yuzhny Ural» (Челябинская область) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11,0 |
| 7 | «ШСМ Legacy Square Capital» (г. Москва) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9,5 |
| 8 | «Ladya» (Республика Татарстан) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9,5 |
| 9 | «FShNO» (Нижегородская область) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9,5 |
| 10 | «Devyataya Gorizontal» (г. Москва) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8,5 |
| 11 | «Ekspromt» (г. Москва) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8,5 |
| 12 | СК «Tolpar» (Республика Башкортостан) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7,0 |
| 13 | «Altaisky Krai» (Алтайский край) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6,5 |
