Head of Udmurtia Aleksandr Brechalov and RCF President Andrey Filatov Sign Cooperation Agreement

Russian Championship Superfinals to take place in Votkinsk and Izhevsk on August 9-23, 2019.

Superfinals of the 72nd Russian Championship and of the 69th Russian Women's Championship will be held in two cities of the Udmurt Republic - Votkinsk and Izhevsk, on August 9-23, 2019.  A respective cooperation agreement was signed by Aleksandr Brechalov, Head of the Udmurt Republic, and Andrey Filatov, RCF President, in the Central Chess Club on April 25.  FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the 12th World Women's Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, grandmaster Alexander Motylev and Pavel Trebugov took part in the event was well. 

The International program Chess in Museums, carried out by the Russian Chess Federation together with Timchenko Foundation since 2012, demonstrates the connection between chess, culture, history, sport, and art. The national championship, organized within a framework of the Chess in Museums program, obtains an extensive media coverage, aids to attract attention to the cultural heritage of a region, and, as a result, promotes the growth of people's interest to chess and art. Every year, the Russian Chess Federation and the Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko announce the contest to hold the main tournament in the Russian chess calendar. In 2019, the contest was won by the Udmurt Republic. 

The Superfinal will be held in two cities for the first time in its history. The Museum Estate of Pyotr Tchaikovsky will be the venue for the Superfinals in Votkinsk, where a prominent Russian composer was born in 1840. The total prize fund will be 10,000,000 million roubles. Besides, the winners of both men's and women's tournaments will also receive Renault cars.  

The Russian Championship Superfinals started to be a part of the program in 2013, when the tournament was held in the Rukavishnikov Estate in Nizhny Novgorod. In 2014, Superfinals took place in the National Art gallery Hazine in the Kazan Kremlin, in 2016 - in the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local History and Nature, in 2017 - in the State Museum of Political History in Saint Petersburg, and in 2018 - in the town of Satka, where a special exhibition of Geliy Korzhev's works was organized during the event. 

All chess events running under the Chess in Museums program feature a special social program for a rest day, which primarily aims at children and veterans. Master-classes and simultaneous displays give chess fans a chance to meet their heroes in person, test their own chess ability, and sometimes even defeat a renowned grandmaster.

Photos by Vladimir Barsky