Altai Krai to Host Russia-China Junior Match of Friendship

Nikita Vitiugov to play a match against Hou Yifan.

A traditional Russia-China Junior Match of Friendship will be held at the Siberia Sanatorium (Altai Krai, Belokurikha) from July 14th till July 18th.  

The competition includes:

• A match between junior teams of Russia and China. Each team consists of 8 chess players (including at least 2 girls) born in 2004 or later.

• A grandmasters’ match between former Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Russian Vice-Champion Nikita Vitiugov.

Team composition:

Russia: Stefan Pogosyan, Dmitry Tsoi, Volodar Murzin, Grigori Ponomarev, Aleksey Grebnev, Alexey Grachev, Kamilla Baiburina, and Viktoriya Loskutova.

China: Chi Haoyuan, Liu Yunsong, Lu Jiahan, Shao Qiyu, Song Zihou, Yang Yuxuan, Zhang Di, and Zhang Fuhan.

The match between junior teams of Russian and China is held under the current FIDE Laws of Rapidplay (Article A.4). The competition will be held under the Swiss System in 8 rounds with fixed pairings. Time control: 15 minutes for the entire game, plus a 10-second increment per move starting from move one for each player.

The Grandmasters’ match between Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Russian Vice-Champion Nikita Vityugov is held under the current FIDE Laws of Rapidplay (Article A.3) and Blitz (Article B.3). Rapid chess: 8 games with the time control of 15 minutes for the entire game plus a 10-second increment per move starting from move one for each player.

On July 17th, simultaneous exhibitions with Hou Yifan, Nikita Vitiugov, and Mikhail Kobalia will be held. 

Tours to to the Sibirskoye Podvorye Tourist Centre, the Special Economic Zone for Tourism and Recreation Biryuzovaya Katun, and Tavdin caves will be offered for the participants.

The tournament is organized by the Russian Chess Federation and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation with support from the Altai Region Administration and the Altai Region Chess Federation.