The second round of the Russian Championships Superfinals was played 18th August in Barnaul. Yuri Abdullaev, Deputy Governor of the Altai Krai, came to greet the participants and made a symbolic first move in the V. Artemiev (right) vs R. Makarian game.
This encounter happened to be the longest and the most tense one in the open competition. The reigning Russian champion put serious pressure on his opponent’s position and won a pawn but then committed several inaccuracies. Makarian (above left), the national U20 junior champion, was defending stubbornly and managed to save half a point.
Men’s competition
The games Dubov – Grebnev, Timofeev – Dreev, Matlakov – Esipenko, Ponkratov – Grischuk, and Najer – Nesterov also ended in a draw.
Tournament standings after Round 2:
1. Alexander Grischuk – 1.5
2-11. Pavel Ponkratov, Vladislav Artemiev, Rudik Makarian, Aleksey Grebnev, Andrey Esipenko, Arseniy Nesterov, Maxim Matlakov, Daniil Dubov, Evgeniy Najer, Aleksey Dreev – 1
12. Artyom Timofeev – 0.5.
Round 3 pairings:
Makarian – Najer, Grebnev – Artemiev, Esipenko – Dubov, Grischuk – Matlakov, Dreev – Ponkratov, Nesterov – Timofeev.
In the women’s competition (photo above), Valentina Gunina defeated Daria Charochkina in a sharp line of the Sicilian Defence. White sacrificed an exchange for a fair compensation. The dynamic position was fully in keeping with the style of the five-time Russian women’s champion: after her opponent’s mistake, Gunina advanced her pieces into attacking positions and scored a confident victory.
Ekaterina Goltseva, playing White against Natalija Pogonina, spent almost five hours trying to convert her small positional advantage. Black was defending tenaciously, and as the second time control crept up, events began to unfold dramatically: after a mistake by her opponent, Goltseva won two pawns and gained an overwhelming advantage, but soon she did Pogonina a favour in return.
Natalija Pogonina (above): “My only idea was to try to attack her king with my knight. After Ekaterina removed her queen from the eighth rank, I planted my knight on g6. This was my only chance to defend. We were already blitzing, so I don’t think she paid attention to my idea. I don’t think it’s clear what White should do in this position. In fact, I won in one move”.
The games Kovanova – Voit, Shuvalova – Karmanova, Girya – Lagno, and Garifullina – Goryachkina were drawn.
Tournament standings after Round 2:
1-3. Olga Girya, Leya Garifullina, Kateryna Lagno – 1.5
4-9. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Polina Shuvalova, Olga Karmanova, Natalija Pogonina, Valentina Gunina, Daria Voit – 1
10-12. Daria Charochkina, Ekaterina Goltseva, Baira Kovanova – 0.5.
Round 3 pairings:
Lagno – Gunina, Voit – Girya, Pogonina – Kovanova, Goryachkina – Goltseva, Karmanova – Garifullina, Charochkina – Shuvalova
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.