Lysyj strengthens his lead at the Super Final. In the women’s contest, Galliamova catches up with Goriachkina

The Russian Chess Championship Super Final, the 67th for men and the 64th for women, is taking place from 27 November till 8 December in the city of Kazan, in a branch of the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan (the Khazine Gallery). The Super Final is the main individual competition in the Russian chess calendar: it determines the country’s strongest male and female chess player. The tournament is a follow-up of the Chess in Museums project, an international programme run by the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) in conjunction with the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation.

The Super Final’s participants are playing in a hall hosting an exposition of paintings by Nicolai Fechin, a famous artist born in Kazan. The works exhibited in the hall include the famous pictures Slaughterhouse and Showering with Water. Students of the Fechin Kazan Art School are attending the tournament every day to do sketches of the players. When the competition finishes, the jury will award prizes to the authors of the best works.

Games of round 6 of the 67th Men’s Russian Chess Championship Super Final and the 64th Women’s Championship Super Final were played on 4 December at a branch of the Tatarstan State Museum of Fine Arts (the Khazine Gallery).

The leader of the men’s tournament, Igor Lysyj, defeated Denis Khismatullin. Denis erred in a position with a non-standard balance of forces, following which, it was only a matter of technique to convert White’s extra material, and Igor did this successfully.

Sergey Karjakin scored his first win at the tournament against Vadim Zvjaginsev. Black got into trouble right at the opening. Playing carefully, Sergey obtained a decisive advantage and won the game.

Nikita Vitiugov and Peter Svidler, both from St Petersburg, played the Gruenfeld Defence. The game ended in a draw by move repetition.

Another peaceful game was that between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Morozevich: the opponents played an interesting game but the position remained nearly equal, the encounter ending in a logical draw.

Dmitry Jakovenko outplayed Boris Grachev in the middlegame and won an exchange, but his rival defended tenaciously and Dmitry failed to find a precise way to score a win. The round’s longest game finished in a draw.

In the women’s showdown, Valentina Gunina outplayed Oksana Gritsayeva with White. Black made a gaffe in a complex position and White gained a material edge. Valentina converted her advantage with confidence.

Alisa Galliamova, playing Black against Alexandra Kosteniuk, obtained a promising position in the middlegame. After White broke through in the centre, Black stood much better and gradually started to dominate across the board, turning all the complications in her own favour. Alexandra sacrificed two minor pieces for an initiative but failed to mount a serious attack. Alisa warded off all threats and won.

Alina Kashlinkskaya and Olga Girya’s struggle was equal for a long time but Alina made several mistakes in time trouble and Olga was able to finish the game with a beautiful winning attack.

Ekaterina Kovalevskaya outplayed Anastasia Bodnaruk in a positional game, won a pawn and drove her advantage home in a rook endgame.

Aleksandra Goriachkina, leader of the race, drew against Natalija Pogonina. Although Aleksandra was a pawn down in the middlegame, she managed to trade her pieces successfully and equalise in the endgame.

After six rounds, Igor Lysyj leads in the Men’s tournament with 4.5 points. The Women’s tournament is led by Alisa Galliamova and Aleksandra Goriachkina, who have scored 4.5 points each and will confront each other in round 7.

Men:

Round 6 results:

I. Lysyj – D. Khismatullin 1‒0, I. Nepomniachtchi ‒ A. Morozevich ½‒½, N. Vitiugov ‒ P. Svidler ½‒½, D. Jakovenko ‒ B. Grachev ½‒½, S. Karjakin ‒ V. Zvjaginsev 1‒0

Standings after round 6:

1. I. Lysyj ‒ 4.5; 2-3. D. Jakovenko, I. Nepomniachtchi ‒ 4; 4-5. N. Vitiugov, A. Morozevich ‒ 3; 6-10. S. Karjakin, V. Zvjaginsev, B. Grachev, D. Khismatullin, P. Svidler ‒ 2.5.

Round 7 pairings:

V. Zvjaginsev – I. Lysyj, B. Grachev ‒ S. Karjakin, P. Svidler ‒ D. Jakovenko, A. Morozevich ‒ N. Vityugov, A. Morozevich ‒ N. Vitiugov, D. Khismatullin ‒ I. Nepomniachtchi

Women:

Round 6 results:

A. Kosteniuk – A. Galliamova 0‒1, A. Goriachkina – N. Pogonina½‒½, E. Kovalevskaya – A. Bodnaruk 1‒0, V. Gunina – O. Gritsayeva 1‒0, A. Kashlinskaya – O. Girya 0‒1

Standings after round 6:

1-2. А. Goryachkina, A. Galliamova – 4.5; 3-4. O. Girya, V. Gunina – 4; 5. E. Kovalevskaya – 3.5, 6. A. Kosteniuk – 3; 7. A. Kashlinskaya – 2.5; 8. N. Pogonina – 2; 9-10. A. Bodnaruk, O. Gritsayeva – 1.

Round 7 pairings:

O. Girya – A. Kosteniuk, O. Gritsayeva ‒ A. Kashlinskaya, A. Bodnaruk ‒ V. Gunina, N. Pogonina ‒ E. Kovalevskaya, A. Galliamova ‒ A. Goriachkina

***

As reported earlier, the Russian Championship Super Final is taking place from 27 November till 8 December in a branch of the Tatarstan State Museum of Fine Arts, located in the Kazan Kremlin State Historical, Architectural and Arts Museum-Reservation (the Khazine Gallery).

Days of play: 28 November – 2 December, 4-7 December. 3 December is a rest day.

Rounds 1-8 start at 15.00 Moscow Time and the last round starts at 13.00 Moscow Time on 7 December.

The prize money is 7 million roubles, 5 million for the men and 2 million for the women. The chief referee is Anatoly Bykhovsky.

Chess is a special game that is closely linked not only with sport, but also with history and culture. The Chess in Museums programme aims to make this link evident to everyone. Bringing sport and culture together, the organisers have jointly come up with an original idea of holding chess tournaments in the best museums of Russia and the world.

Akvanika has provided mineral water for the tournament’s participants. The Super Final’s media partners are the ITAR-TASS news agency, the Sport-Express newspaper, the ChessPro portal, and the 64 – Chess Review magazine.

For further information, please contact: RT: Regina Garifullina, +8937-621-4913, prtatmedia@gmail.com; RCF: Kirill Zangalis, +7 (968) 732 0080, zangalis@mail.ru; the Timchenko Foundation: Oksana Timoschuk, +79036196763, otimoschuk@timchenkofoundation.org

Information for the Media:

Chess in Museums is an international programme run by the Russian Chess Foundation (RCF) jointly with the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation (the Timchenko Foundation). The idea to hold chess events in major cultural centres was implemented for the first time during a world chess championship match, which was held in 2012 in the Tretyakov Gallery under the initiative of Andrei Filatov and Gennady Timchenko. In spring 2013, the RCF, jointly with the Timchenko Foundation, held the Alekhine Memorial super tournament in the Louvre and the Russian Museum. This was followed by the Russian Chess Championship Super Final held in Nizhny Novgorod museums in autumn of the same year.

The Russian Chess Federation (RCF) is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation bringing together individuals as well as chess federations from various Russian republics, areas, regions, cities of federal significance and autonomous areas and districts. Founded on 15 February 1992, the RCF seeks to develop and promote chess in the Russian Federation. The federation organises the annual Russian children’s tournament among schools White Rook, the Russian Championship and other chess competitions. Since 2012, the Chess in Museums project has been held in Russian under the RCF’s initiative.

For over 20 years, the family of Elena and Gennady Timchenko has been providing charity both in Russia and abroad. To ensure that philanthropy makes a difference in the long term, a charitable foundation was set up in Moscow in late 2010, named Ladoga until the end of August 2013. Today it is named the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation (Timchenko Foundation) and comprises all the areas of family charity in its portfolio. The Timchenko Foundation focuses on promoting active longevity, developing sports and culture and aiding families and children. These strategic initiatives aim to provide a systemic solution to Russian social problems.

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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