21 July 2015
Pavel Ponkratov Becomes Chelyabinsk Region Blitz Champion
The tournament was dedicated to the International Chess Day.
The open blitz championship of Chelyabinsk Region was played on July 19. It was attended by 130 players from Chelyabinsk, Satka, Miass, Kopeisk, Zlatoust, Kunashak, Ust-Katav, Verkhniy Ufalej, Chebarkul, Ozersk, Snezhinsk, and Kremenkul. Due to the open status of the championship it also attracted players from Sverdlovsk Region, Kurgan, Tyumen, and Moscow. There were four grandmasters – Pavel Ponkratov, Igor Lysyj, Roman Ovechkin, and Dmitry Kryakvin. The format was a 15-round Swiss with 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move time control.
2015 Russian Rapid Chess Champion Pavel Ponkratov (Chelyabinsk) did not suffer a single defeat and finished first with a brilliant score – 13 points in 15 games. Igor Lysyj, the reigning champion of Russia in classical chess, finished second with 11.5 points. Candidate master Andrey Drygalov and GM Roman Ovechkin were tied for the third place with 11 points.
Pavel Ponkratov became the Chelyabinsk Region blitz champion. Anastasia Mamontova (Miass) won the women's championship. Violetta Shnaider (Miass) was second, Yana Mukhina (Satka) took the bronze medal.
The prize fund of the championship was generously provided by Maxim Anatolyevich Shusharin.
