Super Final R6: Kasparov, Motylev win

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. Originally Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov were included, but both withdrew at the last moment.

Round six – Sunday, November 21, 2004

Evgeny Bareev vs Peter Svidler was a nominally exciting Botvinnik, with unbalanced material (queen and knight for rook and two bishops). Unfortunately it ended in a draw on move 22. The dark horse of this tournament, 19-year-old Artyom Timofeev, was pressing with the black pieces against the formidable Alexander Grischuk, but the King's Indian did not go beyond a 27-move draw. Vitaly Tseshkovsky's Benkö (Volga) against Alexey Korotylev went back and forth, and ended on move 51 without a decision. 25-year-old Alexander Motylev played a fine game to give veteran Vladimir Epishin his first taste of defeat in this tournament.

The game of the day was Garry Kasparov vs Alexey Dreev, an Anti-Meran in which the top seed won an exchange and then traded down to an endgame with a knight for three pawns. With rook, bishop and knight vs rook and bishop Kasparov went to work with complex manoeuvres, and finally, when the spectators on Playchess were all calling a draw, ground out a win in 59 moves.

Current standings

All Results

• All games in zipped PGN
• All reports so far