The Russian Championship Superfinal runs from 17-30 December (rest days 21st and 25th) , at Moscow's Central House of Chessplayers (the former Moscow Central Chess Club). Both men's and women's championships are taking place, each as a 12-player all-play-all. The line-up for the men's event, in order of their numbers in the draw, is as follows:
| 1. | Peter Svidler | 2732 |
| 2 | Alexey Dreev | 2607 |
| 3 | Farrukh Amonatov | 2637 |
| 4 | Ernesto Inarkiev | 2674 |
| 5 | Dmitry Jakovenko | 2710 |
| 6 | Nikita Vitiugov | 2594 |
| 7 | Evgeny Tomashenko | 2646 |
| 8 | Alexander Morozevich | 2755 |
| 9 | Konstantin Sakaev | 2634 |
| 10 | Artyom Timofeev | 2637 |
| 11 | Alexaner Grischuk | 2715 |
| 12 | Andrey Rychagov | 2528 |
The time limit is a rather odd combination of classical and FIDE timings: 1hr 40 mins for the first 40 moves, then 50 minutes added for the next 20 moves, and 10 minutes more to finish, PLUS a 30 second increment from move 1. Draw offers are permitted only via the arbiter.
An explosive start saw Amonatov crush Timofeev with a brillliant kingside attack, capped with a queen sacrifice:
Amonatov,F (2637) - Timofeev,Arty (2637) [B89]
60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (1), 18.12.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.Bb3 Nd7 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.f4 Nc5 13.f5 Ne5 14.g4 b5 15.a3 Rb8 16.g5 Re8 17.h4 b4 18.axb4 Nxb3 19.cxb3 Rxb4 20.f6 Bd8 21.h5 Bb7 22.fxg7 h6 23.gxh6 Kh7 24.Rhg1 Rg8 25.Qg2 Qe7 26.Nf3 Bb6
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Alexander Morozevich was cruising to an equally impressive win as Black against the highly-rated Jakovenko, but spoilt things in time-trouble:
Jakovenko,D (2710) - Morozevich,A (2755) [C11]
60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (1), 18.12.2007
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Qf2 Qe7 12.Bd3 f6 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.h3 Bd6 15.Rhf1 Bd7 16.Rde1 Nb4 17.Qd2 Nxd3+ 18.cxd3 b5 19.Kb1 b4 20.Nce2 a5 21.Nf3 a4 22.Ned4 b3 23.a3 # 23...Bxa3 24.bxa3 Qxa3 25.Ne5 Rfb8 26.f5 b2 27.Nc2 Qd6 28.Nxd7 Nxd7 29.Rf4 a3 30.Ka2 e5 31.Rb4 d4 32.Bxd4 exd4 33.Rxd4 Qf6 34.Qc3 Qxf5 35.Nb4 Kh8 36.Re7 Qf1 37.Re1
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Another pre-tournament favourite, Peter Svidler, had a bad day at the office and lost with White against Alexey Rychagov.
Svidler,P (2732) - Rychagov,A (2528) [C13]
60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (1), 18.12.2007
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.Nf3 a6 8.c3 f5 9.Nc5 Bxc5 10.dxc5 Qxd1+ 11.Rxd1 Ke7 12.Be2 Nd7 13.b4 a5 14.a3 axb4 15.axb4 Ra3
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32.Rxe4 cxb5+ 33.Kxb5 Rd2 34.Kb6 Rb2 35.g4 h6 36.h4 Rb1 37.Ka7 Rb3 38.Kb6 Rb2 39.Ka7 Rb3 40.Kb6 Rb1 41.Ka7 Nd8 42.Kb6 Nc6 43.b5 Ne5 44.Rd4 Ke6 45.Rd6+ Ke7 46.Rxh6 Nd7+ 47.Ka5 Nxc5 48.Rb6 Rg1 49.g5 Rg4 50.Rh6 Nd7 51.Rh7 Kd6 0-1.
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Lots were drawn by selecting a bag, containing a chess clock and
calendar. The hands on the clock give the player his/her number. Farrukh Amonatov
displays his number three.
Sisters Tatiana (left) and Nadezhda Kosintseva, who were paired together
in round one. They drew in nine moves - luckily, there is no "Sofia rule"
in the women's championship!
What can you give a group of young ladies, in the week before Christmas?
Right, a white carrier-bag...
Sergey Dolmatov (left) chats with well-known trainer Alexander Filipenko.
Dolmatov is present to commentate on the games for spectators
Grandmaster guest Jan Nepomniashy, with a friend. Exactly who she is,
nobody seems to know – perhaps not even Jan himself...
All photos courtesy of Chesspro.ru
