Moscow too strong for Saint Petersburg
| Ian Nepomniachtchi: On the winning team. |
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Gazprom sponsorship enabled the 22nd match between Russia's two main cities to go ahead this year in Saint Petersburg. Moscow, on paper the stronger side on all ten boards, won with a late surge but the home team tied the first set of games and pushed the capital close in the second and final round.
The natural board ones for each team were occupied elsewhere (Peter Svidler from St.Petersburg and Moscovite Alexander Grischuk were playing in the World Cup final), but five of Russia's top ten were still present.
| Board | col. | Saint Petersburg | Rating | R1 | Rating | Moscow | col. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Nikita Vitiugov | 2726 | 0-1 | 2737 | Alexander Morozevich | W | |
| 2 | W | Evgeny Alekseev | 2662 | ½-½ | 2718 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | B | |
| 3 | B | Konstantin Sakaev | 2609 | ½-½ | 2716 | Dmitry Jakovenko | W | |
| 4 | W | Ildar Khairullin | 2642 | ½-½ | 2711 | Alexei Dreev | B | |
| 5 | B | Evgeny Romanov | 2639 | 1-0 | 2710 | Vladimir Malakhov | W | |
| 6 | W | Alexander Khalifman | 2627 | ½-½ | 2692 | Ernesto Inarkiev | B | |
| 7 | B | Maxim Matlakov | 2630 | ½-½ | 2688 | Alexander Riazantsev | W | |
| 8 | W | Vasily Emelin | 2568 | ½-½ | 2682 | Boris Grachev | B | |
| 9 | B | Alexander Shimanov | 2565 | ½-½ | 2666 | Vadim Zvjaginzev | W | |
| 10 | W | Valery Popov | 2545 | ½-½ | 2637 | Evgeny Najer | B | |
| Saint Petersburg | 5-5 | Moscow | ||||||
A good first day for Saint Petersburg. However, the underdogs were eventually overcome on the lower boards in the return leg.
| Board | col. | Saint Petersburg | Rating | R2 | Rating | Moscow | col. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Nikita Vitiugov | 2726 | 1-0 | 2737 | Alexander Morozevich | B | |
| 2 | B | Evgeny Alekseev | 2662 | ½-½ | 2718 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | W | |
| 3 | W | Konstantin Sakaev | 2609 | ½-½ | 2716 | Dmitry Jakovenko | B | |
| 4 | B | Ildar Khairullin | 2642 | ½-½ | 2711 | Alexei Dreev | W | |
| 5 | W | Evgeny Romanov | 2639 | ½-½ | 2710 | Vladimir Malakhov | B | |
| 6 | B | Alexander Khalifman | 2627 | 0-1 | 2692 | Ernesto Inarkiev | W | |
| 7 | W | Maxim Matlakov | 2630 | 0-1 | 2688 | Alexander Riazantsev | B | |
| 8 | B | Vasily Emelin | 2568 | 0-1 | 2682 | Boris Grachev | W | |
| 9 | W | Alexander Shimanov | 2565 | ½-½ | 2666 | Vadim Zvjagintsev | B | |
| 10 | B | Valery Popov | 2545 | 0-1 | 2637 | Evgeny Najer | W | |
| Saint Petersburg | 3.5-6.5 | Moscow | ||||||
So Moscow won 11.5-8.5 over the two rounds.
The rate of play was: 90' (+30") then 30' (+30").
Here again the rule of no draw offers until the first time control was applied. Maybe the Russians are showing the way to what will become standard everywhere in the near future?
Official site: www.russiachess.org
Published: 20/09/2011 09:25, modified: 20/09/2011 09:25