Russian Championships Superfinals kick off in Moscow
The Superfinals of the 73rd Russian championship and the 70th Russian women’s championship are held from the 4th of December (arrival) to the 17th of December (departure) in the Central Chess Club in Moscow. The tournaments are a part of the Chess in Museums program, which has been carried out by the Chess Federation of Russia and the Elena and Gennady Foundation since 2012. The main event of the Russian chess calendar features stellar lineups. Men: Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784), Sergey Karjakin (2752), Peter Svidler (2723), Nikita Vitiugov (2720), Vladislav Artemiev (2711), Daniil Dubov (2702), Maxim Matlakov (2698), Andrey Esipenko (2686), Vladimir Fedoseev (2674), Maksim Chigaev (2619), Mikhail Antipov (2611), and Aleksey Goganov (2594). Ian Nepomniachtchi Photo: Maria Emelianova Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina (2593), Alina Kashlinskaya (2494), Natalija Pogonina (2474), Alexandra Kosteniuk (2471), Olga Girya (2464), Polina Shuvalova (2456), Valentina Gunina (2451), Alisa Galliamova (2438), Marina Guseva (2359), Leya Garifullina (2348), Tatyana Getman (2302), and Yulia Grigorieva (2290). Aleksandra Goryachkina Photo: David Llada The events are 11-round all-play-all tournaments. The playing days are December 5-10 and 12-16. December 11 is a rest day. All rounds begin at 3 PM (Moscow time). In case of a tie for 1st place by two or more participants, an additional rapid tiebreak is played to determine the winner. The total prize fund of the event is 10 million rubles (approximately $133,000). The organizers are the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR)and the Timchenko Foundation. The tournaments are supported by the Russian Ministry of Sports. The general sponsor of the Russian national teams is the Federal Grid Company Unified Energy System (FGC UES). The CFR general partner is PhosAgro.
Vachier-Lagrave beats Aronian in close quarterfinal match
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (@Lyonbeast) defeated GM Levon Aronian (@LevonAronian) 14.5-12.5 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal of the Speed Chess Championship. The next match is Magnus Carlsen vs. Vladislav Artemiev on December 3 at 5 a.m. Pacific / 14:00 CET. Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave had played many times before but never in a Speed Chess Championship. In faster time controls, the Frenchman had a 20-9 plus score with 21 draws in over-the-board chess. He was the slight favorite and lived up to the expectations, but the match was really close. The match started with a draw, but not without one big moment that must have woken up both players if they weren’t fully awake just yet. Somewhere in the endgame, Vachier-Lagrave dropped his rook on a forbidden square but both players noticed it too late. Aronian, after the match: “The first game was of course a highlight. Maxime played a move that I would play, 30.Rc7, and then I didn’t take it through!” It was the French GM who took the early lead in game two after Aronian had surprisingly started the game with 1.b3. “It was not a good idea but I thought it was good to mix it up in blitz,” Aronian would later say. While he was piling up his pieces towards the black king, Maxime defended everything and let his c-pawn become the hero of the game. After three draws, Aronian leveled the score with a fine, positional game against Vachier-Lagrave’s Sicilian. The Frenchman did win the five-minute segment as he won the last game in that time control as Black. Vachier-Lagrave increased his lead to three points early in the three-minute portion. His 29.Nxe5+ in the third game (game 11 of the match) was impressive. However, before the bullet, the score was equal again as Aronian had a great comeback. He won his last three white games at the 3+1 time control. Vachier-Lagrave took a two-point lead straight away early in the bullet session and Aronian never managed to tie anymore. In the penultimate game, Aronian missed a huge chance to decrease the margin to just one point, thereby keeping hopes for a playoff. Instead, he lost the game and the match as the match clock allowed for just one more game. Aronian said afterward: “Generally I thought that I was playing slowly out of the gates and that proved to be a decisive factor in the bullet. But I thought it was a close match, it was fun.” “I thought I should be the favorite in bullet, clearly, but at the same time, I saw that Levon played extremely well in the bullet portion against Ian [Nepomniachtchi], said Vachier-Lagrave. The 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event is a knockout tournament among 16 of the best grandmasters in the world who will play for a $100,000 prize fund, double the amount of last year. The tournament runs from November 1 to December 13, 2020 on Chess.com. Each individual match will feature 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess. Text: Peter Doggers (chess.com)
Poland wins the first Chess Olympiad for the Disabled
As the world celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the first-ever Online Chess Olympiad for players with disabilities came to an end with the victory of Poland, over a field of 61 teams from 45 different countries. The final between Poland and Russia was a thrilling affair, since the Russian squad won the first round by 2½:1½ (two victories, one draw, and one defeat). However, the Polish players bounced back and, on the second day of play, they pulled off a brilliant victory by 3-1 (three victories, one loss) that turned the tables in their favor. GM Marcin Tazbir (pictured below) set the right tone by defeating Stanislav Babarykin on the first board after the Russian FM made a grave mistake in a roughly equal position. Marcin Molenda did his part on board 2 by gradually outplaying Marina Kaydanovich. Photo: Robert Pawlikowski Russia retaliated on board 3 as Alexey Smirnov crushed FM Lukasz Nowak after his opponent snatched a poisoned rook and scored a very important point. A real drama unfolded on board 4 where Denis Palin obtained an overwhelming position in his game Anna Stolarczyk. A victory would have secured Russia 1 the champion title but it was not meant to be. After missing several winning opportunities the Russian player pushed too far in a roughly equal position and suffered a debacle. “We knew that we had already secured the silver medal by reaching the final, so I believe that allowed us to shake off the pressure a little bit, and focus on fighting for the gold”, explains Marcin Tazbir, who defends the first board for Poland. “After losing the first match, we knew that we would need to win the second for at least 3-1. Achieving such a result against a very strong team like Russia is really difficult, but we managed to do it. Luck was on our side, to a certain extent, but I believe it was a deserved victory. I am really proud of our team and would also like to thank all participants, and especially, our team captain Michał Bartel, who was really supportive during the whole event.” “I really appreciate that FIDE has managed to organize this event for disabled players even despite the added difficulties caused by the pandemic. This Olympiad allowed many people with disabilities to feel and enjoy the atmosphere of a big sporting event”, added Marcin. There were two interesting guests in the virtual studio on the final day of the competition. European snowboard Champion Alena Alekhina recounted how she went through a difficult period of her life caused by a terrible injury back in 2013. FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan told how FIDE had adjusted to challenging times and elaborated on the prospect of chess to be included in the Olympic program. In a duel for third place, Ukraine 3 beat Poland 3 again this time by a score of 3-1 and took bronze. Final standings: 1. Poland 12. Russia 13. Ukraine 3