9 March 2020

Nutcracker Generation Tournament Finishes in Moscow

Kings defeated Princes 35-29.


The Nutcracker Generation Tournament finished in the Central Chess Club in Moscow on March 9. The final four rounds of the rapid chess was played. The score was equal up to this day: 16-16 in the classic chess and 8-8 after the first rapid part. But the experienced players took the upper hand on the final day. Boris Gelfand and Alexei Shirov scored 3.5 points out of 4, Evgeny Tomashevsky - 2.5, and Evgeniy Najer - 1.5.




Kings crushed Princes 3.5-0.5 in Round 5, the sixth round ended in a draw 2-2, while the final two encounters were won by Kings 3-1 and 2.5-1.5 respectively. 

The best result was shown by the Russian champion Evgeny Tomashevsky, who scored 3 points out of 4 in the classical chess and 5 points out of 8 in rapid. Andrey Esipenko excelled in the Princes team - 3 points in the standard part and 4.5 points in rapid. Boris Gelfand demonstrated a mighty performance in the rapid part having scored 6.5 points out of 8.

Boris Gelfand:

– It is a wonderful tournament, I always take part in it with great pleasure! Sharing the experience with a younger generation is a very good idea. When Andrey Esipenko was participating in the Nutcracker for the first time, he was a very young player and now he is almost a 2700-rated grandmaster. He is growing, gaining experience, and it is getting harder to play against him, as it is against all others. 

– How was it all going on for you?

– With mixed success. The distance in classical chess is short with two white and two black games. I didn't manage to get anything from the opening as White and lost against Esipenko with the black pieces (I mixed it up in the opening). Lomasov blundered against me, I could have won this game but I had to calculate quite complex lines more precisely. However, I was doing well in rapid. 

– Is it easier to play with a shorter time control? 

– There is no pressure. With accordance to old ideas, one is playing the games with a classical time control very responsibly, while rapid is much lighter. 

– Was Tomashevsky the only first-timer this year? 

– Looks like. I've played against all young opponents. Esipenko, Yuffa and Paravyan had been defending Princes team's honour in 2018, this year they all shared the first place in a strong open tournament in Gibraltar. Of course, not only thanks to this tournament because they are growing rapidly. It is always interesting to play against them! 

The event was organised by the Chess Federation of Russia and the Ladya Foundation for supporting social, educational, innovative and sports projects.  

Tournament page

Photos by Bris Dolmatovsky and Vladimir Barsky