Superfinals: Goryachkina leads

by Eteri Kublashvili
8/13/2015 – Aleksandra Goryachkina, born 1998, is the number one on FIDE's August rating list for girls. At the Russian Superfinals she shows her talent. In round four she won against Anastasia Bodnaruk and now leads with 3.5/4. In the men's tournament Vladislav Artemiev won his second game in a row and now leads together with Evgeny Tomashevsky. Report and analyses.

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Tomashevsky and Artemiev Lead in the Men's Russian Championship Superfinal. Goriachkina ahead in the Women's Contest

The 68th Men's Russian Chess Championship and the 65th Women's Russian Chess Championship is played in Chita from 9. to 21. August. The competition is held by the Russian Chess Federation, the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation and the Zabaykalsky Krai Chess Federation, with support from the government of the Zabaykalsky Krai. The competition partners are Norilsk Nickel and the Baikalsk Mining Company.

Round 4 - Results (Men)
P. Svidler 0-1 D. Khismatullin
A. Motylev ½-½ I. Bukavshin
D. Dubov ½-½ S. Karjakin
N. Vitiugov ½-½ E. Tomashevsky
I. Khairullin 0-1 V. Artemiev
I. Lysyj ½-½ D. Jakovenko

Peter Svidler, after dodging the main variations, produced quite an original interpretation of the Sicilian as White, and the Dragon Variation with both white bishops fianchettoed emerged on the board. Khismatullin responded in a strong and aggressive way: he sacrificed an exchange and Black's advance soon grew into a dangerous attack. Black played ingeniously and White's king was checkmated on move 29.

 
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1.e41,157,09954%2422---
1.d4940,74255%2434---
1.Nf3279,27256%2441---
1.c4180,87056%2443---
1.g319,62256%2427---
1.b314,03354%2427---
1.f45,81948%2377---
1.Nc33,70851%2384---
1.b41,73148%2378---
1.a31,17753%2402---
1.e31,05448%2407---
1.d392750%2376---
1.g464846%2360---
1.h443852%2371---
1.c341851%2423---
1.h326055%2413---
1.a410159%2476---
1.Nh38866%2510---
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1.Na33862%2477---
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Svidler played this move quickly.... a6 ....while Khismatullin took a full five minutes to consider his reply! 3.Nge2!? Maybe Svidler doesn't really want to go into the lines of closed Sicilian. Khismatullin too decides to keep his options open. d6 Four minutes! That's a lot of time to make this move but Denis is making sure that Svidler doesn't move order him. 4.g3 g6 Once White has played g3, Black doesn't feel too worried if the game is transposed into Dragdorf (Dragon+Najdorf) territory. 5.d4 Now was Svidler's turn to think. After five minutes he decides that Open Sicilian is after all the best way for white to play! cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Bg2 Nf6 We are in the fianchetto variation of the Dragon but with the move a6 I am tempted to call this more of a Dragdorf than a pure Dragon. Whatever be the name, one thing is pretty clear - Black has no problems out of the opening. 8.b3!? 0-0 is of course the main move but Svidler wants something original on the board. 0-0 9.Bb2 Bd7 9...Nc6 was also fine. 10.Qd2 10.0-0 Wasn't this your first thought! Well, then Svidler is not going to play that! He comes up with the ultra original plan of 0-0-0. 10...Nc6 11.Nde2 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.0-0-0= was much better than what happened in the game. 11...b5! Black has not only equalized out of the opening but is already slightly better. 12.0-0-0 The main problem for White is that his b3 pawn is a ready made hook for the black queenside pawns to attack. At the same time the g6 pawn is also a hook but Black is the first one to launch an attack. Ng4!? This was a slightly unusual decision. Natural moves to consider would have been Rc8 or Qa5. But Khismatullin decides to attack the f2 pawn. White has to make an uncomfortable move like Rdf1 in order to defend it and hence this knight lunge can be jusitifed. 13.Rdf1 Qa5 14.h3 Nf6 15.Kb1 b4 15...Rac8 was once again the most natural. 16.f4 Rc7 17.g4 Rfc8 with an interesting position. 16.Nd1?! What exactly happened to Svidler on this particular day is unclear. He refuses to play the most natural moves. Of course Nd5 was obvious and I can't see any reason to avoid it and make this retreat. 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 Bxb2 18.dxc6! 18.Kxb2 Qa3+ 19.Ka1 Na7 20.c3∞ 18...Bc3!? 19.Nxc3 bxc3 20.Qe3 Be6 21.h4 16...Qc7 Clearing the way for the a-pawn to ram up the board. 17.Ne3 a5 18.f4 a4! A very bold decision by Denis who is not at all afraid to sacrifice an exchange. 19.e5 Black was already making inroads on the queenside, it was high time that Svidler did something concrete. But the central break is tactically flawed. dxe5 20.fxe5 Nxe5! This sacrifice of the a8 rook is very natural and easy for a player like Khismatullin to assess. Here after Bxa8 Rxa8 his f8 rook takes the place of the a8 rook. Hence effectively Black is sacrificing the f8 rook which is not really participating in the attack. 21.Bxa8 Rxa8 22.Rf4 Making some space for the h1 rook so that a move like Bc6 would not trap it in the corner. 22.Qxb4 looked pretty natural but after axb3 23.axb3 Bc6 White loses his exchange. 24.Rhg1 Nf3 25.Rg2 Qa7!-+ 22...axb3 23.axb3? It's very easy to give this move a question mark when you have an engine running in front of you. During the game things are not so simple. It makes sense to not open the a-file completely but with the bishop on b2, a mate is not very probable. Atleast that is what Peter must have thought. And somehow cxb3 doesn't seem correct as it opens he h7-b1 diagonal. However, in such positions it is much more important to play concretely rather than on feel. cxb3 would have kept White in the game while after axb3 it is all over. 23.cxb3 Bh6!? 24.Rd1 24.Rd4 Bf5+ 25.Ka1 Rxa2+ 26.Kxa2 Qa7+ 27.Ba3 Qxa3# What was I saying about the h7-b1 diagonal?!! 24...Bxf4 25.Nxf4 Qa5 26.a3 bxa3 27.Qxa5 Rxa5 28.Bc3 Rb5 Black has a clear advantage but it will be some work before the full point comes home. 23...Qa7! 24.Nd4 24.Rxb4 Ne4‼ 25.Rxe4 Qa2+-+ with a finish similar to the game. I don't want to spill the beans right now. 24...Nh5 Black is clearing the pieces off the all important h8-a1 diagonal. Now only the two knights remain. 25.Nd5 Diagram
25.Rf2 Nc6!-+ 25...Bc6‼ This is not at all an easy move to see. But Khismatullin is helped by the fact that he has to clear the pieces of the crucial h1-a8 diagonal. The knight on d5 is pinned to the rook on h1 and is hanging. There is no real way to protect it. Svidler made the most obvious move after four minutes but he must have soon realised that it was a nice little trap! 26.Nxc6 Qa2+ 27.Kc1 Qa1+! 27...Qxb2+ also wins but it's not a mate. 28.Kd1 28.Kxb2 Nd3+ 29.Kb1 Ra1# 28...Qa1+ 29.Ke2 Qxh1-+ 28.Bxa1 Rxa1+ 29.Kb2 Nc4# Very sporting of Svidler to allow Khismatullin to mate him. While we could say that Peter was off colour today, Denis must be given his due. He played a nearly fawless game. 29...Nd3#!
0–1
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Svidler,P2739Khismatullin,D26420–12015B2368th Superfinal RUS-ch Men4

Vladislav Artemiev scored his second win in a row, and again with some luck. He played with Black against Ildar Khairullin, who gained a slight edge in the opening and gradually increased the pressure. Black countered with a central breakthrough, White responded inappropriately, lost all his advantage and gave the initiative to his opponent. White's main problem was his exposed king but he lost because he blundered and missed a mate in two.

 
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The following position is reached after 17 moves in arguably one of the most solid openings in chess - The Slav Defense. Things are roughly level but both the players are fighters are would like to play on. Khairullin after 26 minutes of thought makes his next move. 17.Ne2 Rxc1+ Reluctantly after nine minutes Artemiev sees nothing much can be done and exchanges the rooks. 18.Rxc1 Rc8 19.f3 Ten minutes! 19.Ba5 Rxc1+ 20.Nxc1 White is definitely for choice in this position thanks to his bishop pair. 19...g5 Played after eleven minutes! The reason why I am writing the timings is to show you what happens when 24-year-old and 17-year-old opponents reach some sort of an equal position. They know that objectively they cannot do much but still they are trying their best to spice up the matters even in this benign position by trying to think of different resources they possess. 20.g4 Sixteen minutes! Khairullin of course stops Black's g5-g4. Ra8!? That's what you call the infinite optimism of youthfulness! Who in their right mind would give up the fight for an open file and park the rook in the corner?!! Artemiev reasons that rather than suffering in the endgame, it would be better to make this inferior move and take his chances in the middlegame itself. But as all of you can understand, objectively this is a bad move and gives White an excellent position. 21.Bd3 Ne8 22.Qd1 22.e4!? Would be very logical as many of the black pieces have retreated. Nd6 23.Ba5! Pinning the knight so that Nc4 isn't possible. Qd7 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.exd5 exd5 26.Qxd5± 22...Nd6 23.b3! Dominating both the knights with this little move. Nd7 24.Nc3 Bf6 25.Na4 25.Kg2!? is a very Karpovian or Petrosian like move to just improve the position of your king. 25...e5 26.Bb4 Nb6 27.Nxb6 Qxb6 28.Bc5 Qd8 29.dxe5 Bxe5 30.Be2 Khairullin has been playing some very good moves and has a pleasant edge thanks to his bishop pair. But Artemiev next move is just superb. Ne8! They say that a strong grandmaster always knows the right square for his knights. Here Artemiev took just two minutes to realize that the knight belongs on the e6 square. 31.Qd2 31.Bd4!? This counterintuitive move (because usually the side with the bishop pair would not want to exchange his bishops.) is the only way for White to maintain edge. Bxd4 32.Qxd4 Nc7 33.Qe5 Ne6 34.Rd1± The d5 pawn is lost. 31...Nc7 32.f4 32.Bd4 Bxd4 33.Qxd4 Ne6 34.Qe5 Qb6 And it's already Black who is calling the shots thanks to his safer king. 32...gxf4 33.exf4 Bd6 34.Bf2 34.Bf3!?= 34...Ne6 Black has organised himself excellently and now these f4 and g4 pawns require constant care and attention. Not an easy job with the time pressure approaching. 35.Qxd5 Nxf4 36.Qf3 Qg5 37.Rc4 Re8 38.Re4 Rc8 38...Nh3+ 39.Kg2 Rxe4 40.Qxe4 Nxf2 41.Kxf2 Qh4+ 42.Kf1 Qxh2 43.Qxb7 Qf4+ should most probably end in a draw but it is no fun for White whose king is exposed. 39.Rc4 Rf8 Like Ra8, Artemiev once again brings his rook to a passive position in the hope of confusing his opponent. 40.Bg3 Bc5+ 41.Kh1 Nxe2 42.Qxe2 Rd8 43.Qf3 Rd2 44.Qf5 Rd1+ 45.Kg2 Qd2+ 46.Kh3 Qh6+ 47.Kg2?? What happened to Khairullin? Fatigue? Loss of concentration? Yes! and also I feel that he thought Artemiev will just repeat the position with Qd2+. Turns out the last time the black queen was on g5 and now it's on h6! A small difference but good enough for mate in two! 47.Qh5! Qxh5+ 48.gxh5= 47...Rg1+ A perfect illustration of Artemiev's fighting skills and never-say-die spirit. 47...Rg1+ 48.Kf3 Qe3# 0–1
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Khairullin,I2662Artemiev,V26710–12015D1268th Superfinal RUS-ch Men4

 

Vladislav Artemiev had some luck going his way but displayed gret fighting abilitiies

Evgeny Tomashevsky drew against Vitiugov in the fashionable line of Bogo-Indian

Standings after round four

Women

Round 4 - Results (Women)
A. Goryachkina 1-0 A. Bodnaruk
M. Guseva ½-½ K. Lagno
V. Gunina 1-0 O. Girya
N. Pogonina 0-1 A. Kosteniuk
E. Ovod ½-½ E. Kovalevskaya
A. Kashlinskaya ½-½ A. Savina

Valentina Gunina played with White against Olga Girya and won her third game in a row. But not a smooth one. Black got a got a good position from the opening, seized the initiative and put White under pressure. Now Gunina stirred up the waters and was lucky again: in mutual time-trouble she caught Girya's king in a mating net.

 
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Black is a pawn up. With her last move Rf4-h4, White has set up the deadly threat of Qh6 dragging the black king out. Girya could have retreated her knight from d5 to f6 and she would have had a great position but instead she decided to make the game exciting. 26...Nxc3?! The game enters a very interesting phase now where Black is material up but his king is in danger. 26...N5f6 27.Ne4? Qd4+! 28.Kh1 Rh5 Not an easy defensive idea to see. 26...N7f6? 27.Ne4!± 27.Qh6+ Kf6 28.bxc3 Qxd3 29.Re1? Played after seven minutes of thought. What is White's idea? Even if Black were to pass the move over to White yet there is no finishing shot in sight! 29.Rf1+ was a logical way to get back the lost material after Ke7 30.Rd4! Qxc3 31.Rxd7+ Kxd7 32.Qxf8∞ And even though White is two pawns down, the exposed position of the black king gives White good drawing chances. 29...Rf5?! 29...Re5 30.Rxe5 Kxe5 30...Nxe5 31.Qxf8= 31.Rd4 Qb1+ 32.Kh2∞ 29...Rc4! was the best move as the activity of the rook on the fourth rank is negated and White has not even one useful check at his disposal. 30.Rf1+ Ke7-+ 30.Rd4! White gets some counterplay now. Qg3 31.Re3 Qf2+ 32.Kh2 Ne5 33.Rxe5 Rxe5 34.Qxf8 White is still a pawn down but the situation is much better than what it was two moves ago. If Black plays carefully then she should be able to prove a clear advantage but the problem is that she was completely winning a few moves ago and now it's just better. This usually affects a player's psyche. h5 34...Re1!? would lead to some mind boggling complications. I invite you to a nice tactical melee. 35.Qh8+ Kg5 36.Qd8+ Kh6 36...f6? 37.Rd5++- 37.Qf8+ Kh5 38.Rh4+! Kg5! 38...Kxh4 39.Qh6# 38...Qxh4? 39.g4+! 39.Rg4+ Kf6 40.Qh8+ 40.Qd8+ Kg7-+ 40...Ke7 41.Rd4 Qg1+ 42.Kg3 It's time for the white king to for a walk now. Re3+ 43.Kh4 Qf2+ 44.Kg5 Qf5+ 45.Kh6 Qh5+ 46.Kg7 Qe5+ 47.Kxh7 Qxh8+ 48.Kxh8 Rxc3-+ 35.Rd6+ Kg5 35...Re6= 36.Qd8+ f6 37.Rd4 And now under severe pressure, Girya blunders! Rf5? Taking away the escape square from the king. 38.h4+! Kh6 is met with Qh8 and otherwise Black has to sacrifice his queen which is completely lost. Girya Olga must have been livid with herself to let such a golden opportunity pass by. 1–0
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Gunina,V2531Girya,O24871–02015D4565th Superfinal RUS-ch Women4

 

Valentina Gunina is playing some very tricky chess!

In the game between Goriachkina and Bodnaruk Black had a decent position after the opening but then made a positional mistake by letting a white knight into her camp. White used this to attack on both flanks and finally overcame Black's tenacious defense. Goriachkina now leads the field with 3.5/4.

 
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We have a full scale Benoni position on the board. White has expanded in the center and Black has got her queenside majority rolling. If Black gets in b4 she would be pretty fine. Hence, Goryachkina's next move was obvious at the same time very thematic. 23.b4! cxb4?! A dubious decision by Bodnaruk. She has opened the c6 square for White's knight and Goryachkina does not need to be asked twice. 23...c4 is the usual reaction. But this is often good news for White because the b5 pawn is constantly under attack from the c3 knight and the c4 pawn is also securely blockaded. All in all this is a small edge for White but nothing extra-ordinary. 24.Na2! 24.Rxb4!? Bxc3 25.Qc2± 24...fxe4 25.Nxb4 Nh6 26.g4 Preventing the knight from coming to f5. Ra8 27.Bxe4± White's clear positional advantage can be summed up in the following points. 1. The well placed knight on b4 always eyeing the juicy c6 square. 2. The weak b5 pawn. 3. The passive knight on h6 which is struggling to find a good square. Goryachkina made good use of all her plusses and went on to win a fine game and now leads the tournament with . 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2474Bodnaruk,A24311–02015A6265th Superfinal RUS-ch Women4

Aleksandra Goryachkina is simply unbeatable!

Anastasia Bodnaruk

Alina Kashlinskaya

Kateryna Lagno

Alexandra Kosteniuk

Anastasia Savina

Standings after round four

Photos: Vladimir Barsky and Eteri Kublashvili

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Eteri Kublashvili is a chessplayer and reports and photographs from all official tournaments for the Russian Chess Federation.

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