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The playoffs for the Russian Champion's title is today. If you remember (we'll excuse you for being engrossed in the WC), Jakovenko, Svidler and Alekseev tied for the first place. Svidler was lucky to be alive at this stage. His last ditch effort, beating Alekseev, fetched him a place in today's matchups. The players will battle over 6 games, double round robin (both colors) at 15 minutes+10 seconds increment times. Information is hard to come by. Here's what I could salvage. Alekseev vs Jakovenko 0-1 Alekseev vs Svidler 0.5-0.5 Jakovenko vs Svidler 0.5-0.5 Jakovenko vs Alekseev 1-0 Svidler vs Alekseev 1-0 Svidler vs Jakovenko 1-0 This means that Svidler must be the Russian Superfinals Champion. Jakovenko finished second and Alekseev third.

Evgeny Alekseev is in the sole lead with 7 points after 10 rounds at the Russian Superfinals. He beat Konstantin Sakaev in the 10th round. Favorites Svidler and Morozevich trail behind in 4th and 6th positions. Round 10 results Sakaev - Alekseev 0-1 Vitiugov - Timofeev 1-0 Tomashevsky - Riazantsev 1-0 Svidler - Jakovenko 0.5-0.5 Lastin - Morozevich 0.5-0.5 Maslak - Inarkiev 0.5-0.5 Standings after Round 10 Alekseev 7 Vitiugov 6.5 Jakovenko, Svidler, Timofeev 6 Morozevich, Tomashevsky 5.5 Lastin 4.5 Sakaev,Inarkiev 3.5 Maslak, Riazantsev 3

The news of Round no. 8 was of course Morozevich losing to Evgeny Tomashevsky. Just two mistakes sealed Moro's fate. With the first one, he lost the advantage, with the second, it was graveyard time. Tomashevsky must be given credit for the nice finish without giving Moro a second chance. As for the key game of the day, Svidler vs Vitiugov, it was drawn after 67 long moves just as we were about to stick our necks out and declare that it will be a draw. This means that Svidler retains the lead with 5.5 points with Alekseev, Vitiugov, and Timofeev hot on his heels with 5 points. Tomashevsky vs Morozevich Key Moments (See Diagram) 26. .... g5 (the simple 26 ... Ra8 actually is a slight plus for Morozevich. Be careful with your King pawn pushes, Moro. We know how many times you've shown magic with that though) 34. ... Na5 (handing the win on a platter. 34 ... Na3 35. Bxb6 Nxb5 exchanges pawns and is a draw with precise play.) Tomashevsky vs Morozevich 1-0 Standings: Svidler 5.5 Vi...

Peter Svidler seems to be in a hurry to reach back to where he really belongs. He's started with 3/3 in the gruellingly tough event, even beating World No. 2 Morozevich with black on the way. Watch the Morozevich vs Svidler game here. Leader Board after Round 3: Svidler 3 Lastin 2.5 Jakovenko, Vitiugov 2 Alekseev, Morozevich, Timofeev, Riazantsev 1.5 Sakaev, Tomashevsky 1.5 Maslak 0.5 Inarkiev 0

Update: -------------------------------------------- Radjabov won the ACP world rapid chess championship. He beat Grischuk 2.5-1.5 in the final. -------------------------------------------- The semi-finalists in the world cup rapid championships were spotted. Jakovenko beat giant-killer Inarkiev, Radjabov upset Ivanchuk, Grishchuk defeated Svidler and Karjakin eliminated Gelfand. In a tournament graced by ex-world champion Karpov and Judit Polgar, who lost earlier, the youngsters are surely grabbing the limelight. Results of the Quarterfinals: Jakovenko, Dmitry vs Inarkiev, Ernesto 1.5-0.5 Radjabov, Teimour vs Ivanchuk, Vassily 3-2 Svidler, Peter vs Grischuk, Alexander 0.5-1.5 Karjakin, Sergey vs Gelfand, Boris 3-1

The Second ACP World Rapid Chess Cup sponsored by Pivdenny Bank has started. Results so far: Ivanchuk vs Eljanov 1.5 - 0.5 Radjabov vs Drozdovskij 1.5 - 0.5 Jakovenko vs Savchenko 2 - 0 Inarkiev vs Shirov 1.5 - 0.5

Alexander Morozevich won the Russian Superfinals 2007. He finished with a win over Inarkiev and a 2800 + performance. The only other contestant for the title, Grischuk drew with Svidler. Thus Morozevich finished a full point ahead of Grischuk. In the women's section, there was a four way tie for the first place between Tatiana Kosintseva, Ovod, Tairova and Korbut. Round 11 main results (Will be updated soon): Men Morozevich beat Inarkiev Grischuk drew Svidler Tomashevsky drew Jakovenko Timofeev drew Dreev Sakaev beat Amonatov Vitiugov beat Rychagov Women Korbut lost to Ovod Stepovaia beat Tairova Pogonina lost to Tatiana Kosintseva Shadrina drew Nadezhda Kosintseva Kovalevskaya drew Matveeva Giriya beat Gunina Final Standings Men Morozevich 8 Grischuk 7 Tomashevsky 6.5 Women Tatiana Kosintseva 7 Ovod 7 Tairova 7 Korbut 7

Morozevich won again, this time against the very strong Grischuk. Svidler was shocked by Tomashevsky. Jakovenko beat Amonatov and Timofeev beat Sakaev with the black pieces. Morozevich now boasts a performance rating of 2867, which is pretty unusual after seven rounds. Grishuk resigned in just 27 moves when he was about to lose a piece for nothing. Tailender Timofeev finally earned a full point beating another trailer, Sakaev in 39 moves of the Semi-Slav. The women section was full of decisive results. Elena Tairova beat Pogonina and jumped into the lead (jointly with Korbut.) Tatiana Kosintseva was held to a draw by Ovod. Results of Russian Chess Championship - Round 7 Morozevich, Alexander - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Svidler, Peter 1-0 Vitiugov, Nikita - Dreev, Alexey ½-½ Jakovenko, Dmitry - Amonatov, Farrukh 1-0 Inarkiev, Ernesto - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½ Sakaev, Konstantin - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1 Results of Russian Chess Championship Women - Round 7 Korbut, Ekat...

Alexander Morozevich broke away to become the sole leader after the sixth round of the Russian Chess Superfinals. Today, he beat the tailender Artyom Timofeev with the black pieces. Timofeev gave up on the 36th move when he was about to lose a piece and his king under attack by Moro's marauding pieces. Grishchuk, Svidler, and Dreev were other winners over Tomashevsky, Vitiugov, and Jakovenko respectively. Dreev is clearly in good form and after this round, is performing above his rating expectation. Vitiugov dared to take the poisoned pawn on the King side of a Sicilian game and was duly punished. He did have his chances to survive, but eventually, Svidler asserted his class to prevail. Grishchuk vs Tomashevsky was a Queen's Indian defence game in which Grishchuk's doubled rooks on the "a" file did the damage to give him a winning edge which he converted to win in 45 moves. It is interesting to note the performance ratings of the men in this tournament. No one has...

No big surprises in round 4. The top seeds seem to have settled down to their usual business. Especially, Morozevich who beat who beat Rychagov in 50 moves with the black pieces. The leader board after round four has five players with 2.5 points each. And three of them already have lost a game ! Never seen such a tournament with swinging fortunes so early. The leaders are : Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov. Round 4 Results (Men): Grischuk, Alexander - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ Sakaev, Konstantin - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 0-1 Rychagov, Andrey - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Svidler, Peter - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½ Dreev, Alexey - Amonatov, Farrukh 0-1 Timofeev, Artyom - Vitiugov, Nikita 0-1 Standings after Round 4(Men): Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov - 2.5 Sakaev, Rychagov, Inarkiev, Svidler, Jakovenko - 2 Dreev - 1 Timofeev - 0.5

There were no real surprises on day 3 unlike day 1 and 2 in the Russian Championship superfinals mens section. Morozevich crushed Tomashevsky with the black pieces. The class of players like Svidler and Moro can be seen in the games after losing. They simply come back stronger. If you have ever observed other players who are not that sure of themselves in other tournaments, they lose a game, they will desparately try to draw the next. The the difference is the class ! OK and back to the results and Jakovenko beat Timofeev. The remaining games were drawn with Amonatov holding the strong Svidler. The women's section was an all clobbering day with 6/6 results. No, draw is not considered a decent result :-). Thousands of threads on the Sofia rule, how to eliminate draws and many such. A notable win was Matveeva's over N. Kosintseva. The results: Men Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Vitiugov, Nikita - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½ Inarkiev, Ernesto - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ ...

Peter Svidler, probably angered by his strange defeat to a low ranked player yesterday, beat Alexey Dreev in only 36 moves in a show of dominance to come back into the reckoning. The shock of the day was the defeat of Alexander Morozevich at the hands of Nikita Vitiugov. While no one in this tournament can really be called weak, Vitiugov is certainly not in Morozevich's class yet. But maybe this is his break out moment ? In other games, Sakaev upset Jakovenko and Grischuk beat Amonatov. The tournament is pretty amazing since these young guys don't seem to think much about the exploits of players like Svidler and Morozevich at the very top of world chess. More exciting games sure to come !

The incredibly strong Russian Superfinals starts today. The field includes Alekseev, Grischuk, Dreev, Morozevich, Svidler, Timofeev, Tomashevsky, Jakovenko and other strong contenders. The tournament will be over 11 rounds and Alekseev is the defending champion.

Magnus again showed his brilliance in beating Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov at the World Cup Chess being held at Khanty Mansiysk. In the first game of the quarter-finals, playing a risky game in which both Kings were exposed, Carlsen simplified the position to a won ending. However, he made some mistakes but Cheparinov missed the right continuations. Alexei Shirov beat Dmitry Jakovenko with authority. Jakovenko misplayed the middle game to give Shirov the advantage. Shirov drove home the advantage to win. Jakovenko resigned when he was a piece down for a pawn. The other two games, Karjakin - Alekseev and Ponomariov - Kamsky were drawn. Karjakin did not press with the white pieces and the game was a draw by the time the middle game was reached. Ponomariov had good advantage but made mistakes. Kamsky too showed his determination. His fighting spirit is his main weapon. Tomorrow Kamsky gets to try with the white pieces.

The Quarter finals of the World Cup Chess have started. Carlsen-Cheparinov Karjakin-Alekseev Jakovenko-Shirov Ponomariov-Kamsky Carlsen, Karjakin, Shirov and Ponomariov are my picks. There were two 1. d4 Nf6 and two 1.e4 e5. Nice balance ! The last 8 players are mostly teens or early twenties guys and two veterans. Carlsen must now be one of the favorites to win. He already has a lot of experience at the top levels of chess. Cheparinov is a determined fighter and his results in the past year have been spectacular. According to discussions on blogs: Carlsen leads by +2-1=1 against Cheparinov in their head-to-head clashes. This includes a win to eliminate Cheparinov in one of the previous editions of the World Cup of Chess. The winner of the World Cup will not only qualify to play Topalov in Bulgaria, but the last four will also be eligible to be picked up for the FIDE Grand Slam of chess. We'll keep you updated.

Peter Svidler of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia were shocked by Gata Kamsky and Dmitry Jakovenko respectively in the World Cup Chess tournament being held at Khanty Mansiysk. Svidler - Kamsky drew their first rapid game. In the second rapid game, Svidler lost from a plus position. Jakovenko played accurately to outplay Aronian. Alekseev completely outclassed Bareev in both the rapid games to advance to the quarter-finals. A lot of goodies not even counting the huge prize money awaits the quarter-finalists. It is said that the top four may be invited to the premier Grand Slams of chess.