Russia-China Match of Friendship Starts in Belokurikha

Nikita Vitiugov leads the match against Hou Yifan 2.5-1.5.

On July 15th, the 5th Match of Friendship between school teams of Russia and China has started in the famous Altai resort Belokurikha. A grandmasters' encounter between former Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Russian Vice-Champion Nikita Vitiugov is being held in parallel. 

Vice-Governor of Altai Krai Alexander Schukin, Director General of the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation Maria Morozova, Mayor of Belokurikha Konstantin Bazarov, Executive Director of the Russian Chess Federation Mark Glukhovsky, and President of the Altai Krai Chess Federation Artem Polomoshnov took part in the opening ceremony. 

Nikita Vitiugov and Hou Yifan played four rapid games (15 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 10 seconds per each move). Three games were drawn, but Vitiugov won one encounter to take the lead in the match 2.5-1.5. Grandmasters will play 10 blitz games on Monday.  



Tournament on Chess-Results

The youth teams of Russia and China consist of 8 players (6 boys and 2 girls) born in 2004 and later.  

Russia: Stefan Pogosyan, Dmitry Tsoi, Volodar Murzin, Grigori Ponomarev, Aleksey Grebnev, Alexey Grachev, Kamilla Baiburina, and Viktoriya Loskutova.

China: Chi Haoyuan, Liu Yunsong, Lu Jiahan, Shao Qiyu, Song Zihou, Yang Yuxuan, Zhang Di, and Zhang Fuhan.

The match is played according to the Scheveningen system with 8 rapid rounds (15 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 10 seconds per each move). Rounds 1-4 were played on Sunday; the score is 22.5-9.5 in favour of the Russian team. 



Tournament on Chess-Results

The tournament is organized by the Russian Chess Federation and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation with support from the Altai Region Administration and the Altai Region Chess Federation.

Photos by Vladimir Barsky