Miedny Vsadnik leads Russian Team Champs

A mid-point report (rounds 1-5)

Lacking big names this time the Russian Team Championship is again held at the “Zhemchuzhina” Hotel in Sochi, a famous Black Sea resort that hosted Olympic Winter Games in 2014.

Among the ten teams that contest for the title and four qualifying spots for the European Club Championship, there were some familiar names. However, many of them are almost unrecognizable when you look at their lineups.

Take “Sibir” (Siberia), the team that won the title in 2015 and 2017. Last year's lineup read: Kramnik, Mamedyarov, Giri, Nepo, Grischuk, etc. — a squad notably stronger than the Russian National team. This year they are all gone. The team is now lead by Denis Khismatullin, who was the second alternate player in 2017. The rest are just young guys, but they are actually from Siberia, the team’s name. Sibir is in 4th place now, having lost only one match in the first five rounds.

Team Siberia is filled with Siberian players | Photo: Russian Chess Federation

It is no surprise that the two teams that managed to keep their lineups more or less intact are doing well. Mednyy Vsadnik is led by Peter Svidler and boasts three more 2700+ players: Vitiugov, Fedoseev and Matlakov — all homegrown talent. The Sankt-Peterburgers won four matches and tied one. Their nine team points total sets course to winning the title.

Legacy Square from Moscow has a solid lineup with the average rating of 2664. Daniil Dubov, who was on Board Four last year, is now the leader of the team.

The match Vsadnik-Legacy took place in Round Two, with “Northern Capitol” prevailing over “State Capitol” by the smallest of margins. As the following game shows, it could have gone either way.

Vladimir Fedoseev 1-0 Evgeny Najer

An Anti-Sicilian Repertoire

Tired of spending hours and hours on the boring theory of your favourite opening? Then here is your solution, play an Anti-Sicilian with 3.Bb5 against 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, and 3.d3 against 2...e6. In 60 minutes you will get a crash course in how to avoid mainstream theory and in understanding the ideas of this Anti-Sicilian setup. After these 60 minutes you should be able to survive the Sicilian for a long time, without being bothered by new developments found by engine x supported by an x-core machine. Now that it finally comes down to understanding, let's play chess!

“Molodezhka” (The Youth) is a new name for the team that advanced to the Premier League by winning the Higher League last year. Back then, it was called “Ivan Bukavshin's Friends” in tribute to their fallen comrade. They're doing quite well, in 3rd place now and poised to qualify for the Euro Clubs. Their player on board five, Mikhail Antipov, leads the whole field with the individual score of 4½ out of 5.

The female team "Bukavushki" another team created in tribute to Ivan Bukavushkin, the talented young grandmaster, who died of a stroke during a chess training camp in 2016 | Photo: Russian Chess Federation

One team that was supposed to be doing much better is “Sima-Lend” from Ekatirenburg. Formerly called “Malahit”, the team from the largest city in the Ural Region has long enjoyed generous support from both local sponsors and their Honorary Captain, Anatoly Karpov himself. Their lineup of Gelfand, Tomashevsky, Shirov, Malakhov, Riazantrsev, Rublevsky, Bologan, Lysyj looks pretty good on paper, but so far only their last alternate, 2014 Russian Champion, Igor Lysyj, has a positive score. The veterans are just not looking that good anymore. Changing of the guard, anyone?

Boris Gefland enjoy a display at the venue

See this one and tell me what you think:

Andrey Esipenko 1-0 Alexei Shirov

The Semi-Slav: A GM guide for the tournament player

The Semi-Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6) can arise via various move orders, has decided World Championships, and is one of Black's most fascinating replies to 1 d4. Magnus Carlsen's second, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen explains in detail what this opening is all about.

In the same round, “Molodezhka” brutally crushed Sima-Lend, 4-2 , despite giving up about a hundred rating points on every board. The key win belongs to The Youth's playing captain, Russian Team Coach, and former European Champion, Vladimir Potkin.

Vladimir Potkin 1-0 Boris Gelfand

The Art of the Positional Exchange Sacrifice

The positional exchange sacrifice is one of the most powerful and fascinating strategic weapons in chess. On this DVD Sergey Tiviakov explains why the positional exchange sacrifice is such a strong weapon and how to use it.

This is the elegant playing hall in which the competition takes place | Photo: Russian Chess Federation

The team from Tatarstan is called “The Rook”. Last year they finished 7th out of eight teams competing and barely avoided relegation, saved only thanks to the expanded format of this year's edition. With the budding star on Board One, Vladislav Artemiev, followed by the old reliable hand, Gata Kamsky, the Kazan team could have been doing better this year, if it weren't for their disaster on Board Six, IM Faizrakhmanov, who has score only one draw and four losses. Why not give his a rest, you might ask. Well, the Rook only brought six players, and no alternates. At least, Gata has 4.0/5.

Alexei Bezgodov 0-1 Gata Kamsky

The surprising Sicilian - Shock your opponent with an early ...Qb6

The Kveinys Variation : 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6! is surprisingly little-played, yet gives Black excellent chances and on this new ChessBase DVD, Andrew Martin explains how the system works.

One a final note, I would like to forestall the expected talk about Russia's financial troubles having an impact on the chess scene over there. At least, the local talent is given a chance to compete in a nice event, while the “legionnaires” are not invited due to the inability to meet their financial conditions.

Team standings after five rounds

All games (rounds 1-5)

Links

• Russian Chess Federation
• Recent stories by Alex Yermolinsky