Evgeniy Najer Joins Leader in Russian Championship Superfinal
Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina are ahead in the women's section.
Round 6 of the Russian Championship Superfinals finished in Barnaul on 22 August. The symbolic first move in the B. Kovanova vs D. Charochkina game was made by Lyubov Berezina, Director of the Altai Krai Drama Theatre named after Vasily Shukshin.
Three games of the six were decisive in the open championship.
Evgeniy Najer, playing White against Pavel Ponkratov, managed to seize the opening initiative. Black voluntarily compromised his pawn structure on the kingside in the hope of creating counterplay on that part of the board, but only ended up losing the weak h5-pawn as a result. Then Najer delivered a powerful central blow, won the second pawn and gradually converted his advantage. With this victory the grandmaster from Moscow became one of the tournament leaders.
Vladislav Artemiev defeated Aleksey Dreev as White. In a sharp, dynamic position arising from the Caro-Kann Defence, White gained a spatial edge in the centre, but the passed d4-pawn provided Black with sufficient counter-chances. Black's idea of immediately simplifying the situation on the queenside proved unsuccessful: with the help of an intermediate move, which his opponent obviously did not take into account, White captured the open c-file, then pushed the enemy knight to the edge of the board and began to hunt for the queen. Black resigned on move 26 in the face of inevitable material losses.
Artyom Timofeev, playing Black against Maxim Matlakov, opted for a relatively rare line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Bypassing the middlegame, the game transposed into a complex endgame in which White's initiative was due to his lead in development. As he had done several times in this tournament, Timofeev defended tenaciously, and his efforts were rewarded as he managed to level the position completely. Matlakov sacrificed two pawns in reliance on his pair of bishops, but made several inaccuracies in the face of severe time pressure. Black consolidated his forces and maintained an overwhelming material advantage. White recognised his defeat on move 39.
The games Makarian – Grischuk, Grebnev – Esipenko, and Dubov – Nesterov ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 6:
1-2. Evgeniy Najer, Arseniy Nesterov – 4 points
3-5. Vladislav Artemiev, Andrey Esipenko, Alexander Grischuk – 3.5
6-7. Daniil Dubov, Aleksey Grebnev – 3
8-10. Rudik Makarian, Maxim Matlakov, Alexey Dreev – 2.5
11-12. Pavel Ponkratov, Artyom Timofeev – 2.
Round 7 pairings:
Esipenko – Najer, Grischuk – Grebnev, Dreev – Makarian, Nesterov – Artemiev, Timofeev – Dubov, Ponkratov – Matlakov.
In the women's section, one of the key matchups of the entire tournament between Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina ended peacefully.
A real drama took place in the Gunina - Garifullina encounter. In the Ragozin Defence, White got a very promising position out of the opening. However, Valentina Gunina then recklessly sacrificed a piece in the hope of getting at her opponent's king, but Leya Garifullina defended precisely and maintained her material advantage. Gunina would not lose heart and continued to look for elusive ways to keep up the fight. After four hours of intense play, Garifullina began to make mistakes: first she let her advantage go, and then overlooked White's mating threats altogether. Valentina Gunina won on move 73.
Olga Girya, playing White against Olga Karmanova, gained a significant advantage out of the opening, pushing pawns in the center and on the kingside. Black did not consolidate his forces in time and missed a powerful tactical blow. As early as move 20, White had an overwhelming position already. Girya's triumph came on move 33.
The games Voit vs Pogonina, Goltseva vs Shuvalova, and Kovanova vs Charochkina ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 6:
1-2. Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina – 4.5 points
3. Leya Garifullina – 4
4. Olga Girya – 3.5
5-7. Valentina Gunina, Daria Voit, Daria Charochkina – 3
8-10. Polina Shuvalova, Natalija Pogonina, Baira Kovanova – 2.5
11. Ekaterina Goltseva – 2
12. Olga Karmanova – 1.
Round 7 pairings:
Pogonina – Gunina, Goryachkina – Voit, Karmanova – Lagno, Charochkina – Girya, Shuvalova – Kovanova, Garifullina – Goltseva.
Friday, August 23, is a rest day.
The Russian Championship Superfinals are played separately for men and women in a round robin system in 11 rounds with one rest day. Game days: August 17-22 and 24-28. All rounds start at 3 PM local time (11 AM Moscow time). In case of a tie for the 1st place, an additional competition will be held.
Five best players of the open event will qualify for the FIDE World Cup, while three best players of the women's tournament will get the right to play in the FIDE Women's World Cup.
The Superfinals are organised by the Chess Federation of Russia with support of the Russian Ministry of Sport and Timchenko Foundation in cooperation with the Government of the Altai Territory and the Chess Federation of the Altai Territory.
The CFR general partner is PhosAgro. The CFR partners are Aeroflot and Sima-land.
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Photos by Eteri Kublashvili and Vladimir Barsky
