13 August 2019
Third Round of Russian Championships Superfinals Played in Izhevsk
Vladislav Artemiev leads the open section, Natalija Pogonina and Olga Girya head the women's event.
The third round of the Russian Championships Superfinals was played in Izhevsk on August 13.
In the open event, Vladislav Artemiev outplayed Kirill Alekseenko in a rook endgame to become the sole leader with 2 points.
Alexandr Predke scored the first victory in the tournament having defeated Ernesto Inarkiev. One could see a rare event in this game: White promoted a pawn and won the game with an extra queen.
The games Jakovenko - Motylev, Sarana - Matlakov, Vitiugov - Tomashevsky, and Dreev - Fedoseev were drawn.
Standings after Round 3:
1. Vladislav Artemiev - 2
2-11. Ernesto Inarkiev, Kirill Alekseenko, Vladimir Fedoseev, Alexander Motylev, , Nikita Vitiugov, Maxim Matlakov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Dmitry Jakovenko, Alexey Dreev, Alexandr Predke - 1.5
12. Alexey Sarana - 1.
Round 4 pairings:
Inarkiev - Tomashevsky, Fedoseev - Vitiugov, Matlakov - Dreev, Artemiev - Sarana, Motylev - Alekseenko, Predke - Jakovenko.
In the women's event, one of the leaders Olga Girya defeated Polina Shuvalova with the black pieces. Black sacrificed a pawn, created a mighty attack on the kingside and won after move 28.
Another leader Natalija Pogonina outplayed Anastasia Bodnaruk in a long and tough struggle having converted an edge in a rook endgame.
Zarina Shafigullina scored the first victory in this event. Her opponent Elena Tomilova made a mistake in a better position and found herself in a lost situation.
The sensation of the day became Alexandra Kosteniuk's loss against Margarita Potapova. The 12th women's world champion gave up a piece for the attack but then didn't find the precise way to win, after which Black managed to defend herself and convert her material advantage.
A double-edged play was going on in the game Charochkina - Kashlinskaya. Finally, Black won having demonstrated the strength of her queen versus a rook and a bishop.
Valentina Gunina and Aleksandra Goryachkina made a draw.
Standings after Round 3:
1-2. Olga Girya, Natalija Pogonina - 2.5
3. Alina Kashlinskaya - 2
4-8. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Margarita Potapova, Zarina Shafigullina - 1.5
9-11. Daria Charochkina, Polina Shuvalova, Elena Tomilova - 1
12. Anastasia Bodnaruk - 0.5.
Round 4 pairings:
Kashlinskaya - Tomilova, Goryachkina - Shafigullina, Bodnaruk - Gunina, Potapova - Pogonina, Girya - Kosteniuk, Charochkina - Shuvalova.
Tournament page
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
