Superfinals Rd 5: Peaceful men, fighting women

by Eteri Kublashvili
8/14/2015 – The men were rather peaceful in round 5 of the Russian Superfinals - only Ivan Bukavshin won against Ildar Khairullin, the other games were drawn. The women were less peacefully inclined - they did not play a single draw in round 5. And Anastasia Savina managed to stop Aleksandra Goryachkina who had to suffer her first loss. Report and analyses.

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Artemiev on Top in Men's Russian Championship.
Lagno, Kosteniuk, Goriachkina Lead Women's Section

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.

Parallel to the fifth round of the Russian Superfinals, the Health Academy held a master class for 50 young chess players from Chita. For several hours grandmaster Evgenij Miroshnichenko shared secrets of chess excellence.

Young talents who...

...want to get better at chess.

Round 5 - Results (Men)
I. Bukavshin 1-0 I. Khairullin
D. Khismatullin ½-½ I. Lysyj
S. Karjakin ½-½ A. Motylev
E. Tomashevsky ½-½ D. Dubov
V. Artemiev ½-½ P. Svidler
D. Jakovenko ½-½ N. Vitiugov

Ivan Bukavshin scored his first victory at the Superfinal, defeating Ildar Khairullin. In a position with hanging pawns, Bukavshin repositioned his pieces successfully and gained the initiative. While looking for counterplay, Black weakened his pawn structure and allowed his opponent to grab an open file on the queenside. In mutual time-trouble both players could not avoid mistakes, but White played more accurate and finished the game with a fine tactical blow.

 
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We join the only decisive game of round five between Bukavshin and Khairullin at this point. It's the 54th move and White has just played Nd4-f3. Here, Black had a truly fantastic resource. Can you find it? 54...Ra2? Khairullin miscalculates and Bukavshin was able to take full advantage of it. 54...Rxf2+‼ What?! Why?! What exactly is happening? Why did Black sacrifice his rook? Any idea? Let's have a look. By the way the two exclamations does not mean this is a winning move but they are given just for the totally unexpected nature of the combination which is good enough for Black to save this inferior position. 55.Kxf2 Ne4+ 56.Ke2! This conter intuitive move which gives up material is the only way White can try for an edge. But here too we are very close to a draw after 56.Kf1 Qf6 57.Ke2 Nc3+ 58.Kf2 Ne4+ 59.Ke2 59.Kg2 Qd6 transposes into the 56.Kg2 variation. 59...Nc3+= 56.Ke1 Qf6 The knight cannot move from f3 and Ke2 runs into Nc3-Ne4 repetition. The only way for White to try for an edge is 57.Rxd5 Qxf3 58.Rd4 Nc5 But even here Black seems to have decent compensation. 56.Kg2 The most natural retreat move does not work because of Qd6! The invasion with Qg3 cannot be prevented and after 57.Kf1! Surprisingly, this is the only move to save himself. 57.Qd1? Qg3+ 58.Kf1 58.Kh1 Nf2# 58...Qf2# 57...Qg3 58.Ke2 and now the very surprising move Qxh3! How can Black survive being a rook down and picking up an insignificant pawn? Well, the knight on f3 is sort of trapped and the d5 pawn is untouchable. 58...Qf2+? 59.Kd3 Qxf3 60.Qxd5+- 59.Rxd5 59.Nd4? Qg2+ 60.Kd3 Qd2# 59...Qg2+ 60.Kd3 Qxf3= Black is not worse. 56.Kg1 Qf6= with similar play as in the above variations. 56...Qxb5+ 57.Qxb5 Nc3+ 58.Kd3 Nxb5 59.Nd4 Nd6! 60.Nc6 a6 61.Nb4 Nb7 62.Kd4 Nxa5 63.Nxa6 Kg7= 55.Rb7! f7 hangs and so does the a2 rook. 55.Qxa2?! Qxb5 is not such a huge advantage for White. 55...Qe2 This is what Khairullin had prepared but he is now given a cold shower. 55...Kg7 56.Ne5+- 55...Kg8 56.Rb8+ Kg7 57.Qxa2+- 56.Nd2‼ A brilliant move which interferes the action of the queen and the rook on the seventh rank. Kg8 56...Qxd2 57.Rxf7+ Kg8 58.Rxf6+- 56...Kg7 57.Qxa2+- 57.Qxa2?! Bukavshin must have thought that the game is over but here Black still had chances to resist. 57.Rb8+ was the computer way to win, quite difficult for humans to see when a rook is hanging on a2. Kg7 57...Kh7 58.Qb7! Kg7 59.Qb4! transposes. 58.Qb4 and there is simply no way to prevent the mate on f8. Nd7 59.Qc3+ f6 59...Nf6 60.Qc8+- 60.Qc7+- 57...Ne4? 57...Nxg4‼ would have made White's task extremely difficult to convert the position. 58.Rxf7! The only way to play for a win. 58.hxg4 Qxg4+ 59.Kf1 Qd1+ 60.Kg2 Qg4+ 61.Kh1 Qh3+ 62.Kg1 Qg4+= White cannot escape the perpetual checks! 58...Nxe3+! 58...Kxf7 59.Qxd5+ Ke7 60.hxg4 Qxg4+ 61.Kh2 Qh4+ 62.Kg1 Qg4+ 63.Qg2 Qd1+ 64.Nf1+- and White is a piece up. 59.Kh1! 59.Kg1 Kxf7 60.fxe3 Qxe3+ 61.Kg2 Qe2+= 59.Kg3 Nf1+ 60.Kg2 Ne3+ White has to find another way to win. 59.Kh2 Kxf7-+ 59...Kxf7 60.fxe3 Ke6 61.e4± White has excellent chances to win this position. 58.Rxf7! Nxd2 58...Kxf7 59.Qxd5++- 59.Qxd5 We saw only last five moves of the game but you will agree that the myriad patterns arising out of them were quite astounding. 1–0
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Bukavshin,I2655Khairullin,I26621–02015E1868th Superfinal RUS-ch Men5

The game between Jakovenko-Vitiugov was drawn but two moves before the time-control White missed a good chance.

 
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Jakovenko has been better throughout the game. He has a tangible advantage in terms of his piece activity. His rook on b7 is active and the pawn on a6 is just two steps away from queening. Also the knight is perfectly positioned on d3. Many moves give White an advantage here but which one is the most thematic? 38.Rab1 Not at all a bad move by Jakovenko. This was the first move that came to my mind when I saw this position. Dmitry thought only for 24 seconds here. If he would have given the position some more time he would have definitely found the pretty positional solution given in the variation to this move. 38.Rc1! I like the simplicity of this move and the idea behind it is very simple. Black has only one active piece on c3 and it makes sense to exchange it off. After the exchange of rooks the remaining forces on the board are clearly in White's favour. Rxc1+ 38...Ra3 39.Rc6± 39.Nxc1 Rc8 39...Nd6 40.Rd7 Nb5 41.Nd3± 40.Nb3! Rc7 41.Nd4! Kf8 41...Rc4 42.Nb5 Rc5 43.f3!± White is clearly better. 42.Nb5!+- 38...Nd6 Black is still worse but has decent defensive chances. The game lasted for 91 moves with White missing many chances for gaining a decisive advantage but the final position of the game is definitely worth a look. White had four pawns against a rook but the position was just drawn. I am sure that if Jakovenko would have played 38.Rc1 instead of Rab1, he would have won the game. 39.Rd7 Rc6 40.Ra1 Rb6 41.Ne5 Ne4 42.Ra5?! 42.Rb7!? Rd6 43.Nxf7± 42.Rxf7 Rb5 43.Rf3!? Rxe5 44.Re3± 42.Nxf7!? Nc5 43.Re7 Rxa6 43...Kf8 44.Rc7 Nxa6 45.Rd7 Nc5 46.Rdxa7± 44.Rc1± 42...f6 43.Nd3 e5 44.Kg2 Rd6 45.Rc7 Ng5 46.Nc5 Ne6 47.Nxe6 Rxe6 48.Rd5 Rxa6 49.Rdd7 g5 50.Rg7+ Kh8 51.Rh7+ Kg8 52.Rxh6 Rb6 53.Rg6+ Kh8 54.Kh3 a5 55.Kg4 Rba6 56.Kh5 56.Kf5 a4 57.Rxf6 Rxf6+ 58.Kxf6 a3 59.Rc1 a2 60.Ra1 g4 60...Rf8+ 61.Kxg5 Rxf2 62.Kg6+- Rxe2? 63.Rc1+- 61.Kg5± 56...a4 57.Kh6 57.Rgg7 a3!= 57...R6a7 58.Rxa7 Rxa7 59.Rxf6 Kg8 60.Rg6+ Kf8 61.Rc6 a3 62.Rc1 g4 63.Ra1 Ke7 64.Kg5 Ra4 65.Kf5 Kd6 66.Rd1+ Rd4 67.Ra1 Ra4 68.e4 a2 69.Kf6 69.Kxg4 Rxe4+ 70.Kg5 70.Kf5 Re2 71.f3 70...Re2 71.h4 Rxf2 72.h5 e4 73.h6 e3 69...Ra8 70.Kg5 Ra4 71.Kf5 Kc5 72.Kxe5 Kc4 73.Kf5 Kb3 74.e5 Kb2 75.Re1 a1Q 76.Rxa1 Rxa1 77.Kxg4 Very unusual position but it is just a draw. Kc3 78.f4 Kd4 79.h4 Kd5 80.Kf5 Ra8 81.Kf6 Ra6+ 81...Rg8? 82.e6+- 82.Kf5 Ra8 83.h5 Rf8+ 84.Kg4 Ke6 85.Kf3 Ra8 86.g4 Ra3+ 87.Kg2 87.Ke4 Ra4+ 88.Kf3= 87...Kd5 88.h6 Ke6 88...Ke4 89.g5 Kf5 90.Kf2 90.Kh2 Kg4!-+ 91.h7 91.Kg2 Ra2+ 92.Kg1 Ra8 93.Kg2 Kxf4 94.g6 Kg5-+ 91...Rh3+ 90...Kg6 91.Kg2= 89.Kh2 Rb3 90.Kg2 Ra3 91.Kh2 ½–½
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Jakovenko,D2759Vitiugov,N2719½–½2015A4068th Superfinal RUS-ch Men5

Evgeny Tomashevsky also missed a good chance against Daniil Dubov who might have run into trouble when he came to the end of his preparation.

 
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Upto this point Daniil Dubov had simply blitzed out his moves. He had not spent more than two minutes while Tomashevsky had contemplated for nearly 45 minutes on his moves. But over here Dubov compensated for his quick play by thinking for 50 minutes! 18...Qe7! This is relatively the best move in the position. 18...b6?! 19.Qxa8 Rxa8 20.Bxa8 This is an important position to consider. White definitely has an edge here. How big it is is open for debate. He will place his pawn on e3, blunting the c5 bishop and try to infiltrate with his rooks along the d-file. Dubov understood that his defensive task would not be easy and hence avoided going into this position. 19.Rac1?! 19.Qxb7 Qxb7 20.Bxb7 Rab8 21.Rfc1 Bxf2+ 22.Kxf2 Rxb7 23.Rc5 Ra8 24.Rb5 Re7 White has an edge here but with accurate accurate play Black should be able to defend. 19.Rfc1! should have been considered by Tomashevsky. The subtle point is that the a4 pawn is not left undefended. Now there is nothing better than to play b6. b6 19...Rac8 20.Qxb7± 20.Qxa8 Rxa8 21.Bxa8 White has a risk free edge and would enjoy milking the position. 19...b6! Now this is a perfect move! Why does the two rooks for queen exchange work for Black now? Because the a4 pawn is undefended! 20.Rfd1 20.Qxa8 Rxa8 21.Bxa8 Qe8! 22.Bd5 Qxa4= And here Black should have no problems in holding the balance. Rfc1! insted of Rac1?! That's the mind boggling level of precision needed at this level to beat a strong opponent. 20...Rad8= And after a few moves the game ended in a draw. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tomashevsky,E2747Dubov,D2654½–½2015D1768th Superfinal RUS-ch Men5

Evgeney Tomashevsky receives last instructions before the game.
After five rounds Tomashevsky leads together with Vladislav Artemiev.

Vladislav Artemiev waits for his opponent.

Standings after round five

Women

Round 5 - Results (Women)
A. Savina 1-0 A. Goryachkina
K. Lagno 1-0 N. Pogonina
A. Kosteniuk 1-0 V. Gunina
O. Girya 0-1 A. Kashlinskaya
A. Bodnaruk 1-0 E. Ovod
E. Kovalevskaya 1-0 M. Guseva

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Anastasia Savina and Alexandra Goryachkina had a duel in a trendy branch of the Improved Tarrasch Defense, where Black sacrifices a pawn for initiative. But Goryachkina’s initiative gradually petered out which eventually led to her first loss in the tournament.

 
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This game was important on two counts: 1. Because Savina was able to beat the in form Goryachkina and; 2. Goryachkina's very interesting opening choice. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 It looks like we are going to witness the super solid QGD or the Ragozin. But Goryachkina has different ideas. c5!? The Tarrasch? 5.cxd5 cxd4!? I haven't really been able to find a name for this variation, but it had been played quite a bit by Paul Keres in 1950s. 6.Qa4+ 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e4 is the main line. Earlier it was thought that this line gives White an advantage but now it has been shown that after Nc6 8.Bb5 dxe4 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Ng5 Be6 Black is holding his own. Although the engines prefer White at this point, strong players like Wei Yi, Edouard Romain, Wang Yue have defended the black side from this position. 6...Bd7 7.Qxd4 exd5 8.Nxd5 Savina picks up the bait. Qa5+! 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Qd1 Black has excellent development in return for her sacrificed pawn. But White has no weaknesses and if she is able to finish her development the extra pawn will start to speak for itself. Goryachkina has to play very accurately to keep up her initiative. Rd8 10...Ne4!? I like this move winning at least the bishop pair. 11.Bd2 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 12.Nxd2 Rd8 13.e3 Be6 14.a3 stopping Nb4 and making a square for the queen on c2. g6!? 15.Qc2 Bg7 16.Be2 Nb4 17.Qe4 Nd5! Black has excellent compensation. 12...Rd8 13.e3 Bf5 Black seems to be doing pretty well at this point but after 14.Nd4! I do not see a convincing way for Black to prove his compensation. Maybe it is important to believe in the power of the bishop pair here. Bb4 14...Bc5 15.Bb5 0-0 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.0-0 14...g6 15.Rd1 Bg7 16.Nxc6 14...Nxd4 15.exd4 Bb4 16.Be2 0-0 17.0-0 15.Be2 0-0 16.0-0 And here Black has reached his maximum level of activity. After something like Bd6!? 17.Bf3 Be5 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Rad1 c5 20.Nc6 Rxd2 21.Nxa5 Rxb2= The position should be around equal but maybe White's play can be improved at some point. 11.Bd2 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Bg2 Bb4 15.Qc1 It seems as if White is a tad passive but she is ready to 0-0 and also push the black pieces away with a3. Ne4 16.a3! Bxc3 17.Bxc3 Qc5 17...Qb6 was a better square for the queen as after 18.0-0 0-0 Bb4 as in the game is no longer possible and Black is very much in the game. 18.0-0 0-0 19.Bb4! The queens are exchanged and Black loses all her compensation for the missing pawn. Qxc1 20.Raxc1 Rfe8 21.Rfd1 Nxb4 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.axb4± White is a pawn up and Savina displayed good techinuqe to bring the full point home. 1–0
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Savina,A2429Goryachkina,A24741–02015D4165th Superfinal RUS-ch Women5

A crucial encounter: Alexandra Kosteniuk played with White against Valentina Gunina

The toughest encounter in the women's tournament was the game Kosteniuk – Gunina. Alexandra demonstrated deep preparation in the Caro-Kann Defense while Gunina failed to sort out the intricacies of the position and finally had to defend a bad endgame a pawn down. And despite Gunina’s stubborn defense Alexandra Kosteniuk finally converted her advantage into a win.

 
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The position is very interesting from the point of view of pawn structures. Black's pawn majority on the kingside is mangled and the same can be said about White's on the queenside. The most natural move here would definitely be c5 and that is the best move in the position but Gunina starts to go wrong from this point onwards. 24...f4 Gunina wants to prevent White from playing f4 and fixing the weakness on f5. But she had a much simpler solution at her disposal. 24...c5! 25.d5 Maybe the prosepect of giving her opponent a passed pawn was not enticing but after something like c4! 26.f4 Rc5 27.Rd1 Ra5 28.Kb2 Ne4! 29.Nxf5 Nf2 30.Rd4 Rdxd5= Black is atleast equal. 25.a4?! 25.R7e5 preventing c5 would have been better. 25...c5! 26.Rd1 Kf8 27.Re5 Nc4 27...cxd4 28.Rxd4 Maybe the best solution was to exchange the active e5 rook. 27...Re8!? 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 29.dxc5 Ne4 30.Rd5 Nxf2 31.Rd7 Ne4 32.Rxb7 Nxc5 33.Rxa7 Re2+ 34.Kb1 Ne4= Black's activity here is good enough to maintain the balance. 28.Re4 the f4 pawn becomes a weakness now. Re8?! 28...cxd4 29.Rdxd4 Rxd4 30.Rxd4 Rc5 31.Rxf4 Nb6∞ Back is pawn down but with the threat of Nd5 she is very much in the game. 29.Rxf4 Nb6 30.a5 Nc4 31.Nf5 Rcd8 A very important moment in the game. Kosteniuk shuns all prejudices and is ready to take a very bad pawn structure in order to win a pawn. 32.dxc5! Diagram
Four isolated doubled pawns on the queenside but still White is clearly better thanks to her activity. Also these weak white pawns restrain the black ones and make them into a target like the pawn on b7. 32...Rxd1 32...Re2+ 33.Kc1 Rxd1+ 34.Kxd1+- 33.Kxd1 Nxa5 34.Nd6 Re7 Defending f7. 35.Rb4 This ties down the knight on a5 to the defense of the b7 pawn. Rd7 Black wants to play b6. 35...Rc7 36.Rb5± 36.Kc2! a6 36...b6?! 37.cxb6 Rxd6 38.bxa7+- 37.Re4+- White is a pawn up and has the active pieces and a clear advantage. Kosteniuk went on to convert her advantage in fine style.
1–0
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Kosteniuk,A2526Gunina,V25311–02015B1965th Superfinal RUS-ch Women5

Alexandra Kosteniuk

Kateryna Lagno

Kateryna Lagno, who played with white against Natalia Pogonina, got a good position after the opening and won when Pogonina failed to solve her problems.

Olga Girya lost her second game in a row and again form a promising position. In a game that began with a Nimzo-Indian Girya reached an endgame with an extra pawn. But then things went wrong: her opponent, Alina Kashlinskaya, managed to activate her rook and suddenly had counterplay. Girya was too slow to push her pawns on the queenside and finally missed a trick after which Black’s passed pawn decided the game.

 
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Olga Girya was very unlucky yesterday when she lost a clearly superior position against Gunina. Today once again she stumbled in a better position against Kashlinskaya. Let's join the position on move 17 where the position is round about equal and Alina makes a quite a serious mistake. 17...d3? 17...b6 18.Nb3 Be6= is a balanced position. 18.e3 The problem that Black faces now is to play with extreme activity and ingeniuty otherwise the pawn on d3 would be lost. This task of playing with great accuracy is nearly impossible for a human player. 18.exd3 Bb5 18...Rac8 A natural move which turns out to be a mistake as White can just challenge the rook on the c-file. Let's try to see what the computer suggests here because they are masters at maintaining balance in such dangerous positions. 18...Ba4!? 19.b3 Rd5!? 20.Nc4 20.bxa4 Rxa5 is nothing much. 20...Bc6 21.Rhc1 Rad8 22.Rc3 Rf5 23.f4 And even after the most accurate play, the d3 pawn is falling and White is clearly for choice. 19.Rhc1!± Rc2+ 20.Rxc2 dxc2 21.Nxb7! 21.Kxc2? Bf5+ 22.Kc1 Rc8+ is just the kind of activity that Black needs. 21...Rc8 21...Rb8 22.Nc5 Rxb2 23.Rc1 Bf5 24.e4 Rb5 25.Rxc2± With complete control and an extra pawn. 22.Nd6 22.Na5 planning to get the knight to d4 via b3 would have been a better idea. 22...Rc6 23.Ne4 Bf5 24.Nc3 Rd6+ 25.Ke1 e4 is threatened after which the c2 pawn will fall. Rh6 26.e4 26.h4 g5! 26...Rxh2 27.Rc1! Bg4 28.Rxc2 10 moves from the position where Black played the move d4-d3 and White is a pawn up with excellent chances to win. h5 29.Nd5 Bf3 30.Rc8+ Kh7 31.Rc7 f5 31...Bxe4 32.Nc3 Bg2 33.Rxf7± 32.Rxa7 fxe4 33.Ne3 White has two dangerous connected passers on the queenside but now Black creates play of his own on the kingside. The fact that bishop on f3 is partly out of the game and cannot stop the queenside pawns because of his own pawn on e4 is the main reason why White should be better here. Rh1+ 34.Kd2 Rh2 35.Ke1 Rh1+ 36.Kd2 Rh2 37.Kc3! Of course Girya is going to try to win this position. She doesn't have much to risk here. But as we will see, if you don't play well you could lose even the best of positions! Rxf2 38.a4 Re2 39.Nf5 Kg6 40.Nxg7 That pawn was not worth plucking. White's army which at one point was so well co-ordinated, now looks completely disjoint. 40.Nh4+ As always it is much better to keep control than to win a pawn. Kf6 41.Ra6+ Ke5 42.Ra5+ Ke6 43.Ng6 Re1 44.Nf4+ Ke7 45.Kd4 White chances to win have reduced here because Black has counterplay but Girya's forces are playing well together and she could have some chances. 40...Bg4 41.Ne8 e3 42.Ra6+ Kf7 43.Nd6+? 43.Nf6 Rxb2 44.Nxg4 hxg4 44...e2 45.Ne5+ Ke7 46.Nf3+- 45.Kd3 e2 46.Ra7+ Kf6 47.Ra6+ Kf5 48.Ra5+ Ke6 49.Ra6+= would have been a logical end to this game. 43...Ke7 44.Nb5 Played after six minutes of thought and maybe missing on the simple tactic that Black has at her disposal. 44.Nc4 Re1 The e-pawn is very dangerous and will cost the knight's life. 44...Rxb2! 45.Ra7+ Kf6 46.Ra6+ Ke5 47.Nd4 e2 48.Kxb2 48.Nxe2 Rxe2-+ is also hopeless. 48...Kxd4! Not falling for the last trap. The pawn cannot be stopped from queening now and Black wins. Congratulations to Alina for her first win after marriage! 48...e1Q?! It seems like this is a mistake but this doesn't throw away the win. 49.Re6+ Bxe6 50.Nf3+ Kf5 51.Nxe1 Kg4-+ Even this position is winning for Black as knights always struggle against the rook pawns. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Girya,O2487Kashlinskaya,A24410–12015A1765th Superfinal RUS-ch Women5

Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, who played with White against Marina Guseva, posed her opponent constant problems in the Caro-Kann. In a difficult position Guseva made a mistake and resigned a few moves later.

White also won in the game between Anastasia Bodnaruk and Evgenija Ovod. Black had a good position after the opening but then started activities in the center that were not quite correct and gave White a strong pawn that decided the endgame.

Standings after round five

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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