Vladislav Artemiev Joins Leaders in Barnaul
Aleksandra Goryachkina and Daria Charochkina are in pursuit of Kateryna Lagno.
Round 9 of the Russian Championships Superfinals was played in the city of Barnaul on 26 August. The symbolic first move in the P. Shuvalova vs K. Lagno game was made by the General Director of Gazprom Gazoraspredelenie Barnaul, member of the Board of Trustees of the Altai Krai Chess Federation Evgeny Grigorenko.
There was only one decisive game in the open section. Pavel Ponkratov and Vladislav Artemiev were sorting things out in one of the Ruy Lopez' Anti-Marshall lines. White was inventive in the middlegame and an unexpected rook sacrifice helped him create dangerous threats to the opponent's king. Black thwarted the attack and levelled the position after returning some of his extra material. In a strong time pressure on both sides Ponkratov was acting quite hazardously and found his king in the mating net. Artemiev won on move 43 to join the leaders.
The games Timofeev vs Makarian, Matlakov vs Dubov, Dreev vs Esipenko, Nesterov vs Grebnev, and Grischuk vs Najer ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 9:
1-4. Andrey Esipenko, Evgeniy Najer, Vladislav Artemiev, Arseniy Nesterov – 5.5 points
5-8. Aleksey Grebnev, Rudik Makarian, Alexander Grischuk, Daniil Dubov – 4.5
9. Maxim Matlakov – 4
10-11. Aleksey Dreev, Artyom Timofeev – 3.5
12. Pavel Ponkratov – 3.
Round 10 pairings:
Najer – Dubov, Artemiev – Matlakov, Makarian – Ponkratov, Grebnev – Timofeev, Esipenko – Nesterov, Grischuk – Dreev.
In the women's section, the tournament leader Kateryna Lagno suffered a defeat. Playing White in the Giuoco Piano, Polina Shuvalova managed to take the initiative on the queenside. Black played extremely poorly out of the opening, resulting in her dark-squared bishop and rook being trapped. Lagno's attempts at a kingside attack were thwarted by precise play: White temporarily sacrificed a piece and went on the offensive on this part of the board as well. Black resigned on move 36 in the face of inevitable material losses.
Daria Voit, playing black against Daria Charochkina, failed to solve her opening problems in the Saemisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence. The white pieces launched a massive attack on her king, which was stuck in the centre of the board. Charochkina's attack was full of inspiration and ingenuity, and her success came on move 43.
Ekaterina Goltseva and Baira Kovanova opened the game into the classic Rubinstein System of the Nimzo-Indian Defence. Gradually, Black took the initiative over: she mounted her knight to the central d4-outpost and then won a pawn as well. However, White managed to advance the f-pawn far, and it gave her a chance to counterattack. Shortly after passing the time control, Black committed a blunder and the passed f6-pawn advanced to the promotion square. Baira Kovanova gave up in the face of huge material losses.
The games Goryachkina vs Gunina, Garifullina vs Girya, and Karmanova vs Pogonina ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 9:
1. Kateryna Lagno – 6 points
2-3. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Daria Charochkina – 5.5
4-5. Valentina Gunina, Leya Garifullina – 5
6-9. Polina Shuvalova, Natalija Pogonina, Olga Girya, Daria Voit – 4.5
10. Ekaterina Goltseva – 4
11. Baira Kovanova – 3.5
12. Olga Karmanova – 1.5.
Round 10 pairings:
Gunina – Kovanova, Girya – Goltseva, Lagno – Garifullina, Voit – Shuvalova, Pogonina – Charochkina, Goryachkina – Karmanova.
The Russian Championships 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
