Participants of Russian Championships Superfinal Announced

The competition will take place at the State Museum of Political History of Russia in Saint Petersburg.

The Superfinals of 70th Russian men's championship and 67th Russian women's championship will take place on December 2-15 at the State Museum of Political History of Russia (2-4, Kuybysheva St., Saint Petersburg). 

The organizers are the Russian Chess Federation, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, the State Museum of Political History of Russia, Chess Federation of Saint Petersburg, and Physical Culture, and Sports Committee of Saint Petersburg. The competition is also supported by Renault Russia Company, Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System (FGC UES), and PhosAgro. Logistics partner of the Russian Chess Federation is Russian Post.

The tournament is a part of the Chess in Museums program, carried out by the RCF together with Timchenko Foundation since 2012. During this period, a number of high-level chess competitions were organized in museums: World Chess Championship 2012 took place in the Tretyakov Gallery, Alekhine Memorial – in Louvre (Paris) and Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), Russian Superfinals – in Rukavishnikov Estate (Nizhny Novgorod), State Art Museum of Tatarstan (Kazan), and the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local History, all-Russian Higher League competition – in Fort #5 (Kaliningrad), and the 10th Tal Memorial – in the Museum of Russian Impressionism. 

Line-up, men:

Peter Svidler, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxim Matlakov, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ernesto Inarkiev, Vladimir Malakhov, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Riazantsev, Sanan Sjugirov, Sergey Volkov, and Evgeny Romanov. 

Line-up, women:

Olga Girya, Valentina Gunina, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Natalija Pogonina, Alina Kashlinskaya, Alisa Galliamova, Anastasia Bodnaruk, Marina Nechaeva, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Polina Shuvalova, Evgenija Ovod, and Oksana Gritsayeva. 

Total prize fund is 9,000,000 roubles. 

Besides, the winners of men's and women's tournaments will also receive a special prize – a four-wheel-drive crossover Renault Kaptur. On May 31, 2016, Renault Russia company signed a partnership deal with the RCF. The papers were signed by Andrey Pankov, General Director of Renault Russia, and RCF President, Head Coach of the Russia men's national chess team Andrey Filatov. According to the deal, Renault Kaptur became an official car of the Russian Chess Federation. 

The tournaments are round-robin events with 11 rounds. Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds increment for every move played starting from the move one. Chief arbiter is IA Igor Bolotinsky (Saint Petersburg). 

Schedule. Opening ceremony: December 2. Playing days: December 3-7 and 9-14, rest day – December 8. Rounds start at 3 p.m., the last round begins at 1 p.m. Closing ceremony will start in 40 minutes after the end of the last game. 

On December 8, the participants will give simuls to young chess players.  All chess events running under Chess in Museums project feature a special social program for a rest day, which primarily aims at children. Master-classes and simultaneous displays give chess fans a chance to meet their heroes in person, test their own chess ability, and sometimes even defeat a renowned grandmaster.

Press accreditation: Press officer of the Russian Chess Federation Eteri Kublashvili, e-mail kublashvili@yandex.ru.