Riazantsev and Kosteniuk new Russian Champs!
Exciting finish in both tournaments!
Riazantsev wins 1st national title; Kosteniuk 2nd time winner.
(Photo LINK)
One of the strongest championshps in recent years (both male and female) saw a lot of hard fought and competitive chess. And interesting! When the smoke cleared on Thursday, the day of the final round, no one could deny that Riazantsev and Kosteniuk were worthy winners. Congrats to both! (And especially to Riazantsev, who is a former team mate of mine in the championship winning Evora team in the Portuguese Team Championship!)
GAMES FROM LAST ROUND
Jakovenko–Riazantsev
A great game to win a tournament with! Riazantsev played the sharp h6 and g5 variation against the Advanced Caro, played with great courage (castling long!) and won on the other side of the board.
Bocharov–Tomashevsky
Another game with castling long! Must be a world record of sorts…Super sharp, Tomashevsky sacrificed his Queen (it was not necessary) but outplayed his opponent in the late middlegame.
Oparin–Fedoseev
Another sharp game, so typical of Russian championships. In a ‘boring’ Berlin, White next castled long and then thrust his pawns up the kingside. A sacrifice or two, ofcourse, and then the end.
Vitiugov–Svidler
Marshall Gambit featuring the hot idea: 14…Bg6!?. Both players seemed prepared, White got a tiny edge, but when it became clear that to play for a win was risky, both players repeated moves…
Grischuk–Kokarev
Grischuk really on fire! Castling Queenside and then a pawn attack on the other side. Black correctly sacrificed the exchange, but later blundered with a silly Queen intrusion on f2. A route…
Goganov–Inarkiev
Nice QueensIndian, original opening play by Black and he stood better at move 15. But White defended solidly, calmly, and in the end the players had to shake hands.
