9 August 2015

Karjakin Seizes the Lead in the Men's Superfinal

Goryachkina, Pogonina, and Girya are leading the women's event.

The first round of the 68th Russian Men's Chess Championship and the 65th Women's Championship was held in Chita on August 9. The Governor of the Zabaykalsky Krai, President of the regional chess federation Konstantin Ilkovsky made the symbolical first move in the game between the 12th World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk (Moscow) and Grandmaster Anastasia Bodnaruk (St. Petersburg).

The opening round's most spectacular game was the showdown between the Superfinal first-timer Ivan Bukavshin, aged 20, and the reigning Russian Champion Igor Lysyj. White sacrificed two pieces, forcing the black king to make a dangerous promenade around the board center under enemy fire. Black defended skillfully, sometimes finding the only moves. White could have forced a draw by perpetual check several times, but the young Togliatti player persistently kept looking for winning chances. Nevertheless, Igor avoided all the traps, and on move 31 the opponents started repeating moves and a draw followed.

The only winner in the men's tournament was Sergey Karjakin, who defeated Denis Khismatullin in a hard-fought battle. The position remained near equal for a long time, but in the endgame Denis, being in time trouble, chose a poor plan. He could have gone into a rook endgame with an almost inevitable draw several times, but he was reluctant to trade off his bishop for the enemy knight, which enabled Sergey to snatch the initiative and win a pawn. However, Black retained counterplay that was sufficient for a draw until Khismatullin made a few more inaccuracies in an acute time trouble. A position that was bad for Black ensued, with his queen opposing a white rook, a knight and three pawns. Karjakin consolidated his troops and converted his material edge with confidence.

Daniil Dubov, playing with Black versus Ildar Khariullin, opted for a sharp Benko Gambit. White achieved a comfortable position and kept the extra pawn taken in the gambit, and could have won a second pawn in a small combination shortly before the time control. Ildar overlooked this possibility, while the Moscow grandmaster defended very tenaciously in the endgame and managed to save half a pawn. 

Other draws occurred in the games Vitiugov – Artemiev, Motylev – Svidler, and Tomashevsky – Jakovenko.

In the women's tournament, the history of the 2014 Superfinal's first round repeated itself: Russian Champion Valentina Gunina lost as White to Alexandra Goriachkina. In a complicated multi-piece endgame, Valentina confused her opponent and could have gained a material advantage through a combination. Gunina found the winning idea, but failed to bring it home after making the moves in the wrong order. Black suddenly had a defensive resource that White had overlooked in her previous calculations, and, instead of winning a piece, she lost all her pawns on the queenside. Gunina lost on time in a hopeless position.  

Olga Girya outplayed Evgenija Ovod with flawless technique: after getting a promising position in the opening, the Yugra player gradually built up the pressure, won a pawn, and, with skill and composure, secured the win in the endgame. 

Alina Kashlinskaya, who played White versus Natalija Pogonina, overestimated her chances and opened up the position on the queenside ill-advisedly, which enabled the vice champion to invade her opponent's ranks with a rook, seize the initiative and gradually unhinge White's defenses.

The games Lagno – Kovalevskaya, Savina – Guseva, and Kosteniuk – Bodnaruk ended in a draw.

The first tournament's games were commentated in Russian by grandmaster Sergey Shipov and the Russian Chess Federation's Executive Director Mark Gluhovsky. Comments in English were provided by grandmasters Evgenij Miroshnichenko and Anna Burtasova. 

Standings after round 1:

Men:

1. Karjakin - 1; 2-11. Svidler, Jakovenko, Tomashevsky, Lysyj, Vitiugov, Bukavshin, Dubov, Artemiev, Motylev, Khairullin – 0.5 each; Khismatullin – 0.

Women:

1-3. Girya, Pogonina, Goriachkina – 1 each; 4-9. Kosteniuk, Lagno, Savina, Bodnaruk, Kovalevskaya, Guseva – 0.5 each; 10-12. Gunina, Kashlinskaya, Ovod – 0 each. 

Round 2 pairings:

Men:

Svidler – Jakovenko, Khismatullin – Tomashevsky, Lysyj – Karjakin, Vitiugov – Bukavshin, Dubov – Artemiev, Motylev – Khairullin.

Women:

Goriachkina – Kovalevskaya, Bodnaruk – Lagno, Ovod – Kosteniuk, Guseva – Girya, Pogonina – Savina, Gunina - Kashlinskaya.

The Russian Championship Superfinals are held by the Russian Chess Federation, the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation and the Zabaykalsky Krai Chess Federation, with support from the government of the Zabaykalsky Krai. The competition partners are Norilsk Nickel and the Baikalsk Mining Company.

The games will be played at the Megapolis-Sport Youth Palace. The rounds will begin at 15:00 (10:00 Moscow time), while the last round will start at 13:00 (08:00 Moscow time). The playing days are August 9-14 and 16-21. A day off will be provided on August 15. The tournaments' total prize fund is 8 million rubles.