Chess - The Scotsman 15/08/2012

DURING the October Revolution of 1917, the players competing in the Russian Chess Championship threatened to go on strike because they demanded more bread. They said the extra bread was needed to fortify them for the demands of playing in one of the most notoriously toughest tournaments in the world.

The present-day Russian Championship Superfinal at Moscow’s Radisson Hotel had a “strike” problem of a different variety, of not being able to strike home the win. The tournament has a very high draw rate, over 70 per cent and the result is a logjam at the top with just about everyone tied for first place.

Six of the ten-player field tied for first place. Peter Svidler, the defending six-time champion, Sergey Karjakin, Dmitry Jakovenko, Dmitry Andreikin, Vladimir Potkin and Evgeny Alekseev all top-scored on 5/9, followed by Alexander Grichuk (4.5), 16-year-old sensation Daniil Dubov and Nikita Vtugov (4) and Sanan Sjugirov (2.5).

The six had to return to play a rapid playoff. Unlike the tournament proper, the playoff ended dramatically, with 22-year-old Andrekin, the 2010 world junior champion, beating his higher-rated and more experienced opponents on 4/5 to capture his first Russian Championship title, ahead of Karjakin (3.5), followed by Svidler (3), Jakovenko (2.5), Potkin (1.5) and Alekseev (0.5).

To his credit though, in a tournament plagued by too many draws, Andrekin did produce one of the very few sparkling attacking gems on display in Moscow with today’s miniature against tail-ender Sjugirov.

D Andreikin - S Sjugirov

Russian Championship Superfinal, (6)

Caro-Kann Defence

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Bc4 Ngf6 6 Ng5 e6 7 Qe2 Nb6 8 Bd3 h6 9 N5f3 c5 10 dxc5 Bxc5 11 Ne5 0–0 12 Ngf3 a6 13 g4 Nbd5 14 Rg1 Bb4+ 15 Kf1 Be7 16 g5 hxg5 17 Nxg5 Bd6 18 Nh7 Qc7 19 Bh6! Ne8 20 Bxg7 Nxg7 21 Rxg7+ Kxg7 22 Qg4+ Kh8 23 Nf6 1–0