Elena Bezrukova, Minister of Culture of Altai Krai, made the ceremonial first move in the game K. Lagno – D. Voit game at the start of Round 4 of the Russian Championships Superfinals in Barnaul.
Arseniy Nesterov (photo above) grabbed solo lead in the open section with his second win in a row. In a relatively rare line of the Petrov’s Defence, White grabbed space in the centre. However, it was not for free but at the cost of compromising his pawn structure on the queenside. In the position of a dynamic equilibrium, Pavel Ponkratov overestimated his chances and avoided repeating moves by offering an exchange of the light-squared bishops, which objectively favoured Black. “27.e6 f5 28.g4 Rd6! was the beginning of miracles as everything came Black’s way in all lines,” Arseniy Nesterov said. Black dominated the rest of the game; White found it extremely difficult to defend, and soon after the time control move he committed a blunder.
In a position where the worst seemed to be over already, another heroic defence by Artyom Timofeev was ruined by a mistake. This time the 40th move was fatal: 40…Rc6! (instead of 40…Rf8??) would have allowed Black to bail out.
The games Dubov vs Grischuk, Makarian vs Grebnev, Artemiev vs Esipenko, and Matlakov vs Dreev ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 4:
1. Arseniy Nesterov – 3 points
2-3. Evgeniy Najer, Alexander Grischuk – 2.5
4-10. Vladislav Artemiev, Rudik Makarian, Maxim Matlakov, Daniil Dubov, Aleksey Grebnev, Andrey Esipenko, Aleksey Dreev – 2
11. Pavel Ponkratov – 1.5
12. Artyom Timofeev – 0.5.
Round 5 pairings:
Grebnev – Najer, Esipenko – Makarian, Grischuk – Artemiev, Dreev – Dubov, Nesterov – Matlakov, Timofeev – Ponkratov.
In the women’s race, Leya Garifullina has become the sole leader, defeating Daria Charochkina as White. In the Caro-Kann Defence, Black achieved a full-fledged game but Garifullina kept looking for ways to continue the fight, and her persistence was rewarded. Black’s rook was too optimistic in venturing to the center, where it was trapped. With the help of small tactics, White won the exchange and gradually converted it, repelling all the opponent’s attempts to deliver a perpetual check.
Aleksandra Goryachkina, (photo above) playing Black against Baira Kovanova, solved her opening problems in the Exchange Variation of the French Defence with confidence. After numerous exchanges a draw seemed inevitable, especially with the opposite-coloured bishops on the board. However, on move 37 White made a positional error that weakened the light squares and allowed Goryachkina to grab the initiative. Kovanova’s attempt to counter by activating her king was unsuccessful: Black broke through in the centre and gained a decisive material advantage.
Ekaterina Goltseva (photo above) once again showed excellent opening preparation and got a very promising position as White against Olga Karmanova. The young debutant of the Superfinal tried to untangle her position with the help of tactics but overlooked her opponent’s strong intermediate move, after which she was left a pawn down and her king had to leave the safe haven. Goltseva’s precise attack was decisive and she won on move 36.
The games Girya vs Pogonina, Lagno vs Voit, and Gunina vs Shuvalova were drawn.
Tournament standings after Round 4:
1. Leya Garifullina – 3.5 points
2-3. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno – 3
4. Olga Girya – 2.5
5-6. Daria Voit, Natalija Pogonina – 2
7-10. Polina Shuvalova, Valentina Gunina, Ekaterina Goltseva, Daria Charochkina – 1.5
11-12. Baira Kovanova, Olga Karmanova – 1.
Round 5 pairings:
Voit – Gunina, Pogonina – Lagno, Goryachkina – Girya, Karmanova – Kovanova, Charochkina – Goltseva, Shuvalova – Garifullina.
The Russian Championship 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.
Evgeniy Najer