26 October 2016

Alexandra Kosteniuk Wins Russian Women's Championship

Vladimir Fedoseev caught up with Alexander Riazantsev in the men's event.

The 10th round of the Russian Superfinal was played on October 26 in Novosibirsk.

The key game of the men's round, Riazantsev-Grischuk, ended in a draw by move repetition in an equal rook and opposite-colored bishops ending.

Vladimir Fedoseev scored a spectacular win over Dmitry Bocharov. The grandmaster from St. Petersburg outplayed the opponent in the Caro-Kann Defense, won a pawn and created the passed a-pawn. Bocharov, being in serious time trouble, created a counterplay on the kingside and sacrificed an exchange, but Fedoseev calmly parried all direct threats and prevailed. This victory allowed Fedoseev to catch up with Riazantsev on first place.

Fedoseev: “Somehow I only win against the Caro-Kann at this tournament, so I was quite happy to see 1...с6. I spent almost all the rest day studying this opening, and I also had a dream that if somebody else plays this opening against me, I will win the game.”

Peter Svidler, playing White against Grigoriy Oparin, opted for a risky pawn sacrifice, obtaining some queenside pressure in return. Black rushed to trade his passive knight, which got stuck on b8, and missed a nice tactical blow, which ruined his pawn structure in the center. This gave White sufficient play to maintain equality. In the end the 7-time Russian champion gave up a queen for a rook, and forced a draw by perpetual.

Tomashevsky-Jakovenko, Inarkiev-Vitiugov, and Kokarev-Goganov were also drawn.

In the women's championship, Alexandra Kosteniuk earned a victory in a very hard-fought game against Evgenija Ovod. In a slow position with kings located on opposite wings, which arose from the Winawer French, Ovod, playing Black, managed to develop a dangerous initiative on the queenside that resulted in her winning a pawn. White had to defend with the only moves just to stay in the game. However, being under heavy time pressure, Ovod made several mistakes, allowing her opponent first to regain material, and then to win a piece.

By winning today, Alexandra Kosteniuk secured the championship with a round to go. Our congratulations!

Kosteniuk: “Previously I only won one Russian championship, in 2005. For some reason I was strongly motivated by the special prize, the Renault car, while the same could not be said about the money. When I found out that the champions will receive this car, I recalled that I don't have the Russian driver's license. Hopefully after this tournament I will fix the formalities, otherwise my husband will have to drive me around.”

Natalija Pogonina defeated Alina Kashlinskaya, who got carried away by the kingside attack, and gave up the open b-file to White. Kashlinskaya made a risky piece sacrifice, but was unable to get to the enemy king. Pogonina defended calmly and utilized her material advantage.

Aleksandra Goryachkina went for the Alekhine's Defense against Anastasia Bodnaruk. White did not get any opening advantage, and the players began to repeat moves. The position repeated three times, but neither side called for a draw. Goryachkina decided to continue the struggle, deviating first, and a sharp middlegame arose. White's kingside attack developed faster, and soon Bodnaruk forced trading the queens and won a pawn. Goryachkina defended tenaciously, but the effort was in vain.

Alisa Galliamova, playing the uncompromising Valentina Gunina, got a promising position in the Petrosian Queen's Indian, but fell for a wrong middlegame plan, weakening her king along the way. Gunina sacrificed a pawn, and when the white king lost its best defender, the light-squared bishops, rearranged her forces to create a winning attack. Galliamova was unable to parry the threats and resigned on the 34th move.

Ekaterina Ubiennykh, playing White against Daria Charochkina, sacrificed an exchange for the attack, but the opponent defended. On the 39th move Black made a mistake, allowing a draw by perpetual, but the lengthy tournament surely took its toll, as Ubiennykh did not find the escape route. In the subsequent game Charochkina confidently proved rook's superiority over a knight.

Pustovoitova-Girya ended in a draw.

Men's championship, standings after 10 rounds:

Fedoseev, Riazantsev – 6

Grischuk, Jakovenko, Svidler, Tomashevsky – 5.5

Goganov, Vitiugov – 5

Oparin, Kokarev, Inarkiev – 4.5

Bocharov – 2.5

Round 11 pairings:

Goganov-Inarkiev, Grischuk-Kokarev, Jakovenko-Riazantsev, Bocharov-Tomashevsky, Oparin-Fedoseev, Vitiugov-Svidler

Women's championship, standings after 10 rounds:

Kosteniuk – 8

Pogonina, Bodnaruk – 6.5