Russian Chess Championship Superfinal In 6-Way Tie

After six rounds, the Russian Superfinal open championship is a six-way tie.

In the women's championship, two leaders on a plus-two score are followed by five more on plus-one.

The outcome of both competitions remains unpredictable. The total prize fund is nine million rubles (~$133,000) and two Renault Capture automobiles, one each for the winners of the open and the women's superfinal.

 

This year the superfinal tournaments take place at Satka, a small town in Ural region, close to the geographical center of Russia.

It is hard to explain the decision of the Russian Chess Federation to schedule the event for the same days as Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, denying the chance to compete for the Grand Chess Tour participants Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, and Peter Svidler, the eight-time and reigning Russian champion.

Despite their absence, the open tournament is very strong, including six players rated above 2700. 

As in St. Petersburg 2017, Daniil Dubov, the recent winner of Abu-Dhabi Masters, started with a sparkle. In rounds three and four he won twice with Black in under 30 moves. Dubov claims that he is usually well-prepared theoretically and for him the starting 90 minutes of the game is a good time to relax on cozy sofas in the restroom, while his opponents deal with opening problems. In his very complicated game vs Ernesto Inarkiev, both players spent almost all their time on first 20 moves, but then it took Dubov just 15 seconds to make the decision to sacrifice both rooks for a kingside attack. 

In the next round, he started the attack after the white rook mysteriously stepped on a2.

However, in round six, Dubov was overconfident: he sacrificed the exchange to Evgeny Tomashevsky without any real compensation and lost. 

Daniil Dubov.  | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Vladimir Fedoseev, who did not get in the spotlight after his big success at the World Rapid Chess Championship, won a sharp tactical duel against Ian Nepomniachtchi, the favorite who seems to feel out off the mark at this tournament.

Vladimir Fedoseev. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Grigory Oparin's attack on the kingside, especially the decisive maneuver, is a pleasure to watch.

Mikhail Kobalia, the head coach of the Russian youth national team, defeated Dmitry Yakovenko, the recent Poikovsky winner, with a kingside attack, although he missed the shortest path to victory on move 25.

Mikhail Kobalia. | Photo by Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

A problem-like checkmate in the rook endgame allowed Inarkiev to defeat Denis Khismatullin, Karjakin's regular assistant.

Download Open Superfinal PGN

Games via TWIC.

Hopefully during the day off, the players can enjoy some nature. | Photo: сатка.рф.

The women's superfinal, unlike the open, enjoys the participation of all Russia's stars, including the entire Olympic team and eight contestants of the women's world championship, which starts in Khanty-Mansiysk on November 1.

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, the reigning champion, is eager to double the number of Renault vehicles in her garage. The 18-year-old hope of Russian chess plays very aggressively with White. No wonder that her opponents seem to crumble.

However, in round six, Goryachkina was demolished by GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who showed that she is a force to be reckoned with despite some setbacks at the start.

Alexandra Kosteniuk. | Photo by Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

The epic battle between Kosteniuk and GM Valentina Gunina also cannot be missed. Gunina sacrifices material and goes for heavily imbalanced positions in every game. The fact that all games but one were drawn cannot be explained other than by some chess magic.

Olga Girya. | Photo by Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Download Women's Superfinal PGN

Games via TWIC.