Tomashevsky Retains Lead at Men’s Russian Championship Superfinal. Goriachkina Emerges on Top
The games of round 8 of the Russian Championship, the 68th for men and the 65th for women, were played in Chita on August 17.
Official website / Men’s games with analysis / Women’s games with analysis
In the men’s section, Alexander Motylev and Denis Khismatullin played the only decisive game. The opponents tested each other in the Sicilian, where an unusual hybrid of the Najdorf and the Dragon Variation emerged on the board. In order to slow down White’s offensive on the kingside, Khismatullin offered an interesting pawn sacrifice aiming to trade off his opponent’s dark-square bishop. Motylev declined the sacrifice and gave away a rook for a knight and a pawn himself, but White’s threats proved to be not strong enough. After finding a few precise moves, Khismatullin regained the initiative and converted his edge convincingly.
Denis Khismatullin (photos by Eteri Kublashvili)
The games Dubov – Lysyj, Khairullin – Jakovenko, Svidler – Vitiugov, Artemiev – Tomashevsky, and Bukavshin – Karjakin were drawn.
Alexandra Goriachkina defeated Marina Guseva and became the sole leader in the women’s tournament. The opponents exchanged queens rather early, and an endgame ensued with White having the two-bishop advantage. At one point, Black could have equalized, but made a gaffe that Goriachkina used immediately, outplaying her opponent in a multi-piece endgame. Several black pieces were pinned in the center of the board and were unable to prevent the triumphant march of the white pawn a.
The games Savina – Lagno, Girya – Kosteniuk, Pogonina – Ovod, Gunina – Bodnaruk, and Kashlinskaya – Kovalevskaya were drawn.
Alexandra Goriachkina
Standings after round 8:
Men:
1. Tomashevsky – 5.5; 2-3. Karjakin, Vitiugov – 5 each; 4-5. Artemiev, Jakovenko – 4.5 each; 6-8. Bukavshin, Dubov, Svidler – 4 each; 9-11. Khairullin, Lysyj, Khismatullin – 3 each; 12. Motylev – 2.5.
Women:
1. Goriachkina – 6.5; 2. Kosteniuk – 6; 3. Lagno – 5; 4-6. Gunina, Bodnaruk, Kovalevskaya – 4.5 each; 7. Savina – 4; 8. Girya – 3.5, 9. Pogonina – 3; 10-11. Kashlinskaya, Ovod – 2.5 each; 12. Guseva –1.5.
Round 9 pairings:
Мen:
Karjakin – Svidler, Tomashevsky – Bukavshin, Jakovenko – Artemiev, Khismatullin – Khairullin, Lysyj – Motylev, Vitiugov – Dubov
Women:
Kosteniuk – Goriachkina, Lagno – Girya, Kovalevskaya – Savina, Bodnaruk – Kashlinskaya, Ovod – Gunina, Guseva – Pogonina
Evgeny Tomashevsky
The games of round 8 were commentated by grandmasters Sergei Rublevsky and Evgeniy Najer in Russian and grandmasters Evgenij Miroshnichenko and Anna Burtasova in English.
The Russian Championship Superfinals are held by the Russian Chess Federation, the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation and the Zabaykalsky Krai Chess Federation, with support from the government of the Zabaykalsky Krai. The competition partners are Norilsk Nickel and the Baikalsk Mining Company.
The tournament is held at the Megapolis-Sport Youth Palace. The rounds begin at 15:00 (10:00 Moscow time), while the last round will start at 13:00 (08:00 Moscow time). The playing days are August 9-14 and 16-20. August 15 is a day off. The tournaments’ total prize fund is 8 million rubles.
As has become a tradition at these tournaments, the organizers have prepared an extensive additional program for chess lovers of any age.
The tournament’s official website: http://ruchess.ru/
For more information, please contact: Eteri Kublashvili, +7-905-791-76-51, e-mail: ekublashvili@gmail.com; Elena Fedorova, 8-964-470-06-06, e-mail: epfedorova@gmail.com.
