27 October 2016
Alexander Riazantsev Becomes Russian Champion
Alexandra Kosteniuk won the women's championship.
The concluding round of the Russian Superfinal was played on October 27 in Novosibirsk. No tie-breaks were required to determine champions in both men's and women's championships.
Alexander Riazantsev played Black against Dmitry Jakovenko and scored a spectacular victory to become a champion of Russia for the first time in his career. The game started with a slow variation of the Caro-Kann Defense, but the kings castled on opposite wings suggested fireworks in the future. Riazantsev neutralized the opponent's queenside initiative first, and as the time control approached, started his own offensive on the kingside. All Black's pieces aimed at the white king, creating dangerous threats. Jakovenko miplayed one move before the time control, and his position immediately became hopeless. He resigned on the move 41.
The new champion went undefeated with three wins, collecting 7 points out of 11.
Alexander Grischuk defeated Dmitry Kokarev, who went for the Najdorf Variation, which after a while started to resemble the Dragon Sicilian. White castled queenside and started a standard kingside attack. Black developed his play on the queenside. Kokarev carried out a canonical exchange sacrifice on c3, however, his next move was a grave error, and soon Black resigned due to inevitable heavy material losses.
Evgeny Tomashevsky defeated Dmitry Bocharov, who made several time pressure mistakes in a complicated and unbalanced position, in which he had a queen against two rooks. In the end Black managed to create lethal threats to the enemy king.
Grischuk and Tomashevsky both scored 6.5 points. Grischuk's tie-break score was higher, so he was awarded second place. Tomashevsky took the bronze.
Grigoriy Oparin defeated Vladimir Fedoseev: White carried out a mass attack on the black king and won confidently, delivering a number of spectacular blows during the concluding stage.
Vitiugov-Svidler and Goganov-Inarkiev were drawn.
Final standings:
Riazantsev – 7
Grischuk – 6.5
Tomashevsky – 6.5
Svidler, Fedoseev – 6
Oparin, Vitiugov, Jakovenko, Goganov – 5.5
Inarkiev – 5
Kokarev – 4.5
Bocharov – 2.5
In the women's tournament Alexandra Kosteniuk ended the tournament she had already won with a hard-fought draw against Daria Charochkina and finished with 8.5 out of 11 – a point and a half ahead of the runner-up.
Natalia Pogonina defended a difficult position against Olga Girya and finished on second place with 7 points.
Evgenija Ovod outplayed Anastasia Bodnaruk. Ovod played the Trompovsky as White and quickly created a sharp and unbalanced position. On the move 13 Black opened up the center, but this decision proved unsuccessful, as it allowed White to develop a strong attack. With several precise moves Ovod won two pawns and got an overwhelming position. Black was unable to survive. Despite this loss, Bodnaruk finished third with 6.5 points.
Valentina Gunina completed her anti-draw task by beating Ekaterina Ubiennykh in the final round. Alina Kashlinskaya scored her first victory in Novosibirsk, winning against Alisa Galliamova.
Alexandra Goryachkina and Daria Pustovoitova made a draw, having played almost to bare kings.
Final standings:
Kosteniuk – 8.5
Pogonina – 7
Bodnaruk – 6.5
Girya, Gunina, Charochkina, Pustovoitova – 6
Ovod – 5.5
Galliamova – 4
Kashlinskaya – 3.5
Ubiennykh – 2
Tomorrow, October 28, both champions will receive the keys from Renault Kaptur cars, offered by the strategic partner of RCF, Renault Russia company. The ceremony will take place in Moscow on Gogolevsky blvd, 14.
Bio
Alexander Riazantsev (born September 12, 1985 in Moscow) – international grandmaster since 2001. Russian champion of 2016. Two-time Russian Club champion with ShSM-64 (2010, 2011). Runner-up of the Russian Rapid Grand Prix 2014. Bronze medal winner of the 2014 European Club Cup with Malachite. Bronze medal winner of the European Blitz Championship, Minsk 2015. Honored Trainer of Russia (2016), FIDE Senior Trainer (2012). Trainer of Russian national women's team.
Alexandra Kosteniuk (born April 23, 1984 in Perm) – international grandmaster since 2004. 12th Women's World Champion. Two-time Russian champion (2005, 2016). European champion (2004). Three-time Olympiad Champion (2010, 2012, 2014), and four-time European Team champion (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) with Russia. Runner up of the World Team championship with Russia (2011, 2015). Runner-up of the 2012 World Rapid Championship. Received Order for Merit to the Fatherland in 2014.
