22 December 2016
Kings and Princes Drew 32-32 at the Nutcracker
Queens defeated Princesses 36-28.
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