22 August 2019

Evgeny Tomashevsky and Olga Girya Are New Russian Champions

Congratulations!


The final 11th round of the Russian Championships Superfinals was played in Izhevsk on August 22. 

Having defeated Kirill Alekseenko in a long struggle, Evgeny Tomashevsky became the two-time Russian champion. The winner scored 7 points out of 11.

Maxim Matlakov beat Alexandr Predke, Ernesto Inarkiev outplayed Alexey Dreev, Dmitry Jakovenko lost to Vladimir Fedoseev, while the games Vitiugov - Sarana and Artemiev - Motylev were drawn.

Nikita Vitiugov (2nd place), Maxim Matlakov (3rd place), and Ernesto Inarkiev (4th place) have got 6.5 points each. 

Final standings:

1. Evgeny Tomashevsky - 7
2-4. Nikita Vitiugov, Maxim Matlakov, Ernesto Inarkiev - 6.5
5-8. Vladislav Artemiev, Alexander Motylev, Alexandr Predke, Kirill Alekseenko - 5.5
9. Alexey Dreev - 5
10-11. Vladimir Fedoseev, Alexey Sarana - 4.5
12. Dmitry Jakovenko - 3.5.



In the women's event, Olga Girya made a draw with Margarita Potapova. Natalija Pogonina grabbed the victory from Zarina Shafigullina to catch up with Girya with 8 points scored.

Aleksandra Goryachkina outplayed Polina Shuvalova to take the third place. Valentina Gunina defeated Alina Kashlinskaya. Aleksandra Kosteniuk bested Elena Tomilova. The game Bodnaruk - Charochkina ended in a draw.

Olga Girya and Natalija Pogonina determined the champion on tie-break. Olga Girya won the first rapid game, but Natalija Pogonina managed to win the second. The rivals had to play a sudden death game, which was won by Olga Girya, who had the white pieces. The grandmaster from Ugra became the Russian women's champion for the first time in her career.

Final standings:

1. Olga Girya - 8
2. Natalija Pogonina - 8
3. Aleksandra Goryachkina - 7.5
4. Valentina Gunina - 7
5-6. Margarita Potapova, Alina Kashlinskaya - 6
7. Alexandra Kosteniuk - 5.5
8. Daria Charochkina - 5
9-10. Anastasia Bodnaruk, Polina Shuvalova - 4
11. Elena Tomilova - 3
12. Zarina Shafigullina - 2.




The total prize fund amounted to 10,000,000 rubles. The winners of the men's and women's tournaments also won brand-new coupe-crossovers Renault ARKANA, which, according to the partnership agreement, has become the official car of the Russian Chess Federation in 2019.

The Closing Ceremony was held in the Udmurtia State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Head of the Udmurt Republic Alexander Brechalov, Director of the Sport program of the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation Igor Baradachev, and Deputy Executive Director of the Russian Chess Federation Alexander Tkachev addressed the participants and guests with speeches. 

The creative part of the evening consisted of performances by the artists of the Udmurt State Theatre of folk song and dance Aikai, a famous Buranovskiye Babushki band, and a cover-band Blues Makers.

The organizers are the Russian Chess Federation, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, and the Government of the Udmurt Republic. The competition is also supported by Renault Russia Company, Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System (FGC UES), and PhosAgro, the RCF's partner since 2010. Logistics partner of the Russian Chess Federation is Russian Post.

The tournament is a part of the Chess in Museums program, carried out by the RCF together with Timchenko Foundation since 2012. 

The Museum Estate of Pyotr Tchaikovsky was the venue for the Superfinals in Votkinsk on August 9-12, while the International Friendship Centre in Izhevsk was hosting the event on August 13-22. 


Tournament on Chess-results

Tournament page

More photos to follow.  

Photos by Dmitry Kryakvin