14 August 2019
Trio Leads Russian Championship Superfinal in Izhevsk
Olga Girya heads the women's event.
The fourth round of the Russian Championships Superfinals was played in Izhevsk on August 14.
In the open event, Alexander Predke scored the second victory in a row. The Superfinal's debutant outplayed his renowned opponent Dmitry Jakovenko in a rook endgame.
Alexey Dreev didn't manage to hold the position with Black against Maxim Matlakov. Thus, the grandmaster from Saint Petersburg became one of the leaders together with Alexandr Predke and Vladislav Artemiev, who made a draw with Alexey Sarana.
The games Inarkiev - Tomashevsky, Fedoseev - Vitiugov, and Motylev - Alekseenko were drawn.
Standings after Round 4:
1-3. Vladislav Artemiev, Maxim Matlakov, Alexandr Predke - 2.5
4-9. Ernesto Inarkiev, Kirill Alekseenko, Vladimir Fedoseev, Alexander Motylev, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky - 2
10-12. Dmitry Jakovenko, Alexey Dreev, Alexey Sarana - 1.5.
Round 5 pairings:
Jakovenko - Inarkiev, Alekseenko - Predke, Sarana - Motylev, Dreev - Artemiev, Vitiugov - Matlakov, Tomashevsky - Fedoseev.
In the women's event, Olga Girya, who played against Alexandra Kosteniuk with the white pieces, got a promising position after the opening and gradually managed to achieve a winning advantage. After her win, Olga has become the sole leader.
Alina Kashlinskaya outplayed Elena Tomilova as White although the opponent had surprised her in the opening.
Zarina Shafigullina escaped the worst in the middlegame of her encounter against Aleksandra Goryachkina but made a mistake in a pawn endgame and lost. The challenger scored the first win in the tournament.
Being in a time trouble with Daria Charochkina, Polina Shuvalova blundered a rook and immediately lost.
The games Potapova - Pogonina and Bodnaruk - Gunina were drawn.
Standings after Round 4:
1. Olga Girya - 3.5
2-3. Natalija Pogonina, Alina Kashlinskaya - 3
4. Aleksandra Goryachkina - 2.5
5-7. Valentina Gunina, Margarita Potapova, Daria Charochkina - 2
8-9. Alexandra Kosteniuk, Zarina Shafigullina - 1.5
10-11. Polina Shuvalova, Elena Tomilova, Anastasia Bodnaruk - 1
Round 5 pairings:
Shuvalova - Kashlinskaya, Kosteniuk - Charochkina, Pogonina - Girya, Gunina - Potapova, Shafigullina - Bodnaruk, Tomilova - Goryachkina.
Tournament page
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
