Vladislav Artemiev Becomes New Champion of Russia
Our congratulations!
Wednesday, October 11, Round 10 games of the Russian Championships Superfinals were played at Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site (Pushkin, Saint Petersburg).
The symbolic first move in Artemiev – Najer was made by Andrey Arshavin, the Russian footballer, former captain of the Russian national team and legend of the FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. The game ended in a draw, and Vladislav Artemiev became the new Russian champion. Our congratulations!
After the game, Artemiev said that he had tried to play solidly as the pressure was still there despite his two-point lead. "At the same time I knew that if Evgeniy started to play aggressively, I would have a chance to win, and a win feels much better than a draw. So, I tried to find a balance between playing solid and wanting to win, and I think I succeeded," added Vladislav. The winner also thanked the tournament organisers, stressing that it was a pleasure for him to return to St. Petersburg, where he had not been since 2018, and to play in such a beautiful historical place as Tsarskoe Selo.
"I congratulate Vladislav on his confident and brilliant victory," President of the Chess Federation of Russia Andrey Filatov told in his interview with TASS. – "There are not many early victories in the history of this tournament, and Artemiev's was a very vivid one. I hope that this will be an important step for his future victories at international events. I also hope that it will not be long before Vladislav is among the participants of the Candidates Tournament".
The games Rozum – Timofeev, Tomashevsky – Esipenko, Sychev – Matlakov, Lagno – Murzin, and Ponkratov – Goryachkina ended in a draw.
Standings after Round 10:
1. Vladislav Artemiev – 8 points
2-3. Pavel Ponkratov, Evgeniy Najer – 6
4. Maxim Matlakov – 5.5
5-7. Andrey Esipenko, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Evgeny Tomashevsky – 5
8. Volodar Murzin – 4.5
9-10. Artyom Timofeev, Ivan Rozum – 4
11-12. Kateryna Lagno, Klementy Sychev – 3.5 points.
Round 11 pairings:
Murzin – Ponkratov, Timofeev – Lagno, Matlakov – Rozum, Esipenko – Sychev, Najer – Tomashevsky, Goryachkina – Artemiev.
In the women's section, Valentina Gunina defeated Olga Badelka as White in the Italian Game. White managed to create threats on the kingside, thanks to which Black had to agree to certain positional concessions. White got a pair of bishops and seized control of the center file. Thanks to a nice tactical trick Gunina won a pawn and gradually pressed her advantage home.
The games Pogonina – Kovanova, Garifullina – Bivol, Korneva – Yakimova, Goltseva – Shukhman, and Matveeva – Shuvalova ended in a draw.
Standings after Round 10:
1. Baira Kovanova – 7.5 points
2. Olga Badelka – 7
3-4. Polina Shuvalova, Valentina Gunina – 6
5-6. Leya Garifullina, Marina Korneva - 5.5
7. Anna Shukhman – 4.5
8-10. Mariya Yakimova, Natalija Pogonina, Ekaterina Goltseva – 4.5
11. Alina Bivol – 3.5
12. Olga Matveeva – 2.5.
Round 11 pairings:
Yakimova – Gunina, Kovanova – Korneva, Shuvalova – Pogonina, Bivol – Matveeva, Shukhman – Garifullina, Badelka – Goltseva.
Games online (Open)
Games online (Women)
Official website
Tournament on Chess-Results
Tournament page
Pictures by Anastasia Vasina
