Kings and Princes Drew 32-32 at the Nutcracker

Queens defeated Princesses 36-28.

The Nutcracker generation tournament ended at the Central House of Chess Player on December 22, when the second round of rapid games was played. The more experienced Kings won the classical part with 17 to 15 score (2 points for a win, 1 points for a draw), and prevailed on the first day of the rapid play 8.5-7.5 (1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw). However, the final day of the event clearly showed that the Princes preserved more energy, as they completely dominated the opposition, won 9.5-6.5 and equalized the match score. 

Kings vs. Princes 

Round 5: Gelfand-Fedoseev 1-0, Artemiev-Dreev 1-0, Oparin-Shirov 1-0, Morozevich-Dubov draw (1.5-2.5 in Princes' favor)

Round 6: Oparin-Morozevich 1-0, Dubov-Gelfand 1-0, Dreev-Fedoseev 0-1, Shirov-Artemiev 1-0 (1-3 total)

Round 7: Morozevich-Artemiev 0-1, Dubov-Dreev 1-0, Fedoseev-Shirov 0-1, Gelfand-Oparin draw (1.5-2.5 total)

Round 8: Shirov-Dubov 1-0, Fedoseev-Morozevich, Artemiev-Gelfand, Dreev-Oparin draws (2.5-1.5 total).



Individual results:

1-2. Oparin, Shirov – both 10 points, 3-4. Artemiev, Gelfand – both 9, 5. Dubov – 7.5, 6-7. Dreev, Morozevich – both 6.5, 8. Fedoseev – 5.5.

The main prize of the men's tournament was an opportunity to participate in the Korchnoi Zurich Chess Challenge supertournament (April 2017). Grigoriy Oparin and Alexey Shirov competed for it on the tie-break. The luck was on the young grandmaster's side – Grigoriy won 1.5 to 0.5. Boris Gelfand already had a personal invitation to Zurich.  



The Queens were leading 26.5-21.5, coming into the final day (17-15 in classical chess and 9.5-6.5 on the first day of the rapid). The more experienced team was unstoppable on the second day of the rapid as well, winning 9.5 to 6.5 and securing the overall match victory 36-28.

Queens vs. Princesses

Round 5: Strutinskaia-Dimitrova 0-1, Galliamova-Solozhenkina 1-0, Shuvalova-Kovalevskaya 1-0, Maltsevskaya-Zaiatz draw (1.5-2.5 in Princesses favor)

Round 6: Maltsevskaya-Strutinskaia 0-1, Dimitrova-Galliamova 0-1, Kovalevskaya-Solozhenkina 1-0, Zaiatz-Shuvalova 0-1 (3-1)

Round 7: Strutinskaia-Shuvalova 1-0, Dimitrova-Kovalevskaya 1-0, Solozhenkina-Zaiatz 0-1, Galliamova-Maltsevskaya (2.5-1.5)

Round 8: Solozhenkina-Strutinskaia 1-0, Shuvalova-Galliamova 0-1, Kovalevskaya-Maltsevskaya 1-0, Zaiatz-Dimitrova draw (2.5-1.5)

Individual results:

1. Galliamova – 12.5 points, 2. Zaiatz – 9.5, 3. Shuvalova – 9, 4. Kovalevskaya –  8.5, 5. Maltsevskaya – 7.5, 6. Dimitrova – 6, 7-8. Solozhenkina, Strutinskaia – 5.5.



This traditional tournament was organized by Russian Chess Federation, Ladya Foundation For Supporting Social, Educational, Innovative and Sports Projects, and the entrepreneur Oleg Skvortsov, who also organizes the traditional supertournament in Zurich. 

Photos by Vladimir Barsky