Nepomniachtchi, Goryachkina Win Russian Championships

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won his second Russian Championship title, exactly 10 years after his first. A quick draw in the final round proved enough after co-leader GM Sergey Karjakin was beaten by GM Daniil Dubov in brilliant style. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina won the women’s tournament, her third, after defeating IM Polina Shuvalova in an armageddon game.

In the women’s segment, IM Polina Shuvalova had a very different second half of the tournament. After her stunning start of 6/6, she failed to win another game, losing one to three-time Russian women’s champion IM Alisa Galliamova and drawing four others.

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina scored 1.5 points better in the final five rounds and caught up with Shuvalova in the very final one. The regulations stipulated a playoff.

The 73rd Russian Championship and the 70th Russian Women’s Championship were held December 5-16 at the Central Chess Club in Moscow. The tournaments were among the very few over-the-board chess events with top players during the pandemic after Biel, the Bundesliga, Norway Chess, and next month Wijk aan Zee.