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57th Russian Championship
Super Final
November 14th – December 1st 2004 |
The Super Final of the 57th Russian is being held in the Festive Hall of
the Hotel Rossija (“Rociya”), directly adjacent to the Red Square. The prize
sum is US $125,000, to be paid out in rouble equivalent. The winner takes
$50,000. The participants of this round robin tournament are Garry Kasparov,
Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev, Alexey
Dreev, Vitaly Tseshkovsky, Alexander Motylev, Vladimir Epishin, Artem Timofeev
and Alexey Korotylev. Original Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov were included,
but both withdrew at the last moment.
Round one – Monday, November 15, 2004
The first round started with victories by Garry Kasparov in 48 against a
Caro Kann Defence by Evgeny Bareev; by Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk
in the Sicilian Najdorf against Vitaly Tseshkovsky and Alexander Motylev
respectively. The other two games were drawn, Epishin and Morozevich were
the last to finish, having battled it out for 70 moves.
Results of round one
Dreev, Alexey |
1/2 |
Timofeev, Artyom |
Epishin, Vladimir |
1/2 |
Morozevich, Alexander |
Kasparov, Garry |
1-0 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
Motylev, Alexander |
0-1 |
Grischuk, Alexander |
Tseshkovsky, Vitaly |
0-1 |
Svidler, Peter |
Korotylev, Alexey free |
Standings after round one
The start of the Super Final
Picture report by Dagobert Kohlmeyer

The Russian Super Final is being held in the Rossia hotel, just off the
Red Square, where in the evening the Kremlin and the St Basil's Cathedral
provide a beautiful backdrop (picture above).
It was a supposed to be a championship of superlatives, the culmination
of a two-stage Russian Championship, with all the strongest players in the
country included. But the withdrawal of two key participants dampened the
enthusiasm.
Vladimir Kramnik was the first to go, at the beginning of last week, when
he sent in a doctor's certificate to show that he was too ill to play. On
Sunday, just one day before the start of the Super Final, Anatoly Karpov
withdrew, causing the organisers a great deal of embarrassment. Just a day
earlier the 12th world champion had sat down at a press conference together
with his successor Garry Kasparov and stressed the importance of this event.
"The last time a national championship of this strength was organised was
in 1988," he said with pride and conviction. "At that time no player withdrew,"
said Kasparov, aiming this barb at Kramnik. He could not have imagined that
a few hours later his partner on the stage would follow Kramnik's example.

Pulled out 24 hours before the start of the event: Anatoly Karpov
So the last great national championship lies 16 years in the past. Those
were Soviet times, and grandmasters could not afford to simply drop out of
tournaments. They would have got into serious trouble with the heads of chess
federation. And so they played, and enjoyed it as well. As a longtime observer
of the international chess scene one has the feeling that many players have
become quite irresponsible and act only in their own private interest.
It is not the first time that Anatoly Karpov has surprised his fans and
the chess public in Moscow with a sudden change of plans. In December 2001,
when the FIDE knockout world championship was being held in the Kremlin,
a three-way match between Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik was also planned.
But just before the start Karpov cancelled his participation and switched
to the FIDE event. At the time rumour had it that he did so after receiving
a considerable sum of money from FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Kasparov
and Kramnik played the $500,000 match all by themselves.
There appears to be no code of honor amongst the grandmasters any more.
"The players are very egotistical and break contracts without any hesitation",
said one chess dignitary at the opening dinner. "They are putting off sponsors
and organisers alike." The Super Final is being sponsored by two large Russian
banks and a steel company. They certainly will not be pleased to learn about
the withdrawal of Karpov and Kramnik.
But let us look on the fairer side. Here are some photo impressions of the
opening ceremony.

Guests of honour: ex world champion Vassily Smyslov and his wife Nadjeshda

Doesn't he look eerily familiar? Wartan Petrosian, son of world champion
Tigran, chats with Garry Kasparov. The 50-year-old businessman does not play
chess, but he follows the game his father excelled in with keen interest.

The Kasparov clan, with Garry, wife Julia, son Vadim and mother Klara
Father and son at the opening ceremony

Mother and son, part of the social prominence in Moscow

Members of the Russian women's team that won Bronze at the Chess Olympiad
in Calvià: the sisters Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya

The whole Russian Bronze Medal Winner Team of Calvia: Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda
Kosintseva, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Ekatrina Kovalevskaya, with Alexander Zhukov,
Vice-Premier of Russia and also President of the Russian Chess Federation
At the opening ceremony the president of the Russian Chess Federation, Alexander
Zhukov, mentioned the absence of Karpov and Kramnik in one short sentence.
The Super Final still remains one of the strongest tournaments in the world.

The president of the Russian Chess Federation, Alexander Zhukov
I must return to the last-minute withdrawals of Karpov and Kramnik. The
former apparently did not think his chances were too good in this very strong
field. In addition there may have been financial considerations, but why
Karpov pulled out at five minutes to twelve was incomprehensible to all.
I happened to meet Karpov's wife at the Central Chess Club on Monday. She
confirmed that her husband was in Moscow, but she wouldn't give any reason
for his withdrawal.
With regard to Vladimir Kramnik, I must remind you that the Super Final
in Moscow was moved from September to November because of his match against
Peter Leko in Brissago. Two weeks ago the classical chess world champion
had said in an interview with the newspaper Sport Express that he
would definitely be playing in the Super Championship, especially because
of the involvement of the president of the Chess Federation. Alexander Zhukov
is the third highest-ranking politician in Russia, after President Putin
and Prime Minister Fradkov. If even such an important politician cannot get
a chess genius to play in a tournament, then the outlook for our sport is
pretty bleak.
Report and pictures by Dagobert Kohlmeyer