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Timofeev upset Svidler at the Russian Superfinals. Svidler dug his own grave and now descends to the earth from the stratospheric heights that he used to reside at in the early rounds. He is now playing at his current rating strength. Svidler has now lost the lead to Alekseev and Timofeev. Somehow, Svidler manages to do this all the time. He did it at one of the last important tournaments and went on to finish badly. Hope he does something different after this round. We don't know if he can be excused for overlooking the Rook sacrifice. For us mere mortals, its OK to miss that move, but for Svidler it should have been fairly simple. Bad day at the office! Key Moments of the Game (See Diagram) 15 ... Kh8 (The simple h6 was enough.) 17 ... Rxd7 ?? With the white pieces all set to attack the King, Svidler completely missed the Rook sacrifice that Timofeev discovered. Svidler was right in all variations except the Rook sac. The best for white except the Rook sacrifice was Qd3 and Svidl...

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...

Svidler keeps the lead at the Russian Chess Championships. But the news was that Morozevich outplayed Jakovenko. A player to watch is Nikita Vitiugov, who is quietly beating the weaker players(unfortunately 2600 is weak in Russia in such championships!), and drawing the stronger players. If you think Moro only plays those come-back-from-dead openings and shocking moves, think again. Take a look at this game where he displays amazingly innovative technique to beat a top class Grand Master that Jakovenko is. Leaders Svidler 4 Vitiugov 3.5 Morozevich, Lastin, Alekseev, Timofeev 3

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

The 61st edition of the Russian Higher League is being held at Novokuznetsk. Round 11 Standings 1. Timofeev, Artyom RUS 2650 8 2. Vitiugov, Nikita RUS 2616 7½ 3. Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 2675 7½ 4. Lastin, Alexander RUS 2639 7 5. Sakaev, Konstantin RUS 2635 7 6. Kobalia, Mikhail RUS 2618 7 7. Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2617 7 8. Galkin, Alexander RUS 2615 7 9. Maslak, Konstantin RUS 2521 7 10. Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2670 7

Artyom Timofeev won the Moscow Open chess tournament of 2008. 1 GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2664 7.5 2 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2628 7.0 3 GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2623 7.0 4 GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2638 7.0 5 GM Lastin Alexander RUS 2604 7.0 6 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2643 7.0 7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2681 7.0 8 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas KAZ 2594 7.0 9 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2643 7.0 10 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2577 7.0

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

Just when you thought Morozevich did the impossible by winning six games in a row, he made the other impossible possible. Now, Tomashevsky too has a chance of winning the title. Until yesterday, it seemed impossible that anyone will catch up. The veteran Alexey Dreev, who seems to be on a second wind inspired form, beat Morozevich in 49 moves of a Sicilian. And that too with black. Well, color doesn't really matter when Moro is on the board. Tomashevsky beat Amonatov and he is just half a point adrift now. Grischuk beat Timofeev to climb up to the third spot while Inarkiev beat Vitiugov. In the women's section, Tatiana Kosintseva continued her slide by losing to Gunina. Her sister made up for the dismal day by beating Kovalevskaya with the black pieces. Giriya beat Matveeva and Shadrina beat Stepovaia. The women's drawing quotient has been very low in this tournament. Standings after Round 9: Men Morozevich - 6.5 Tomashevsky - 6 Grischuk - 5.5 Dreev - 5 Women Tairova - 7 Ko...

The Moro magic continued into the 8th round of the Russian Superfinals of chess. Morozevich beat Svidler and with black and in 38 moves in a Sicilian Najdorf game. Morozevich's rating performance is a whopping 2900 now. The others seem to be tiring now with only one other game which saw a result when Timofeev beat Rychagov with the black pieces. Timofeev has salvaged a lot of points right at the end in what was otherwise a disastrous tournament for him. In the women's section, the competition is cut-throat. No moro-like performance from anyone. But there were 5 decisive games out of 6. The big upset of the round in this section was Stepovaia beating Tatiana Kosintseva. Results of the 8th round: Men Grischuk, Alexander - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½ Dreev, Alexey - Tomashevsky, Evgeny ½-½ Amonatov, Farrukh - Vitiugov, Nikita ½-½ Svidler, Peter - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Rychagov, Andrey - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1 Inarkiev, Ernesto - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ Women Tairova, Elena - Girya, O...

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 ...

The Russian superfinals got off to an explosive start with Andrey Rychagov beating fancied Peter Svidler. Rated almost 200 points below Svidler, Rychagov converted an advantage of a rook and knight endgame with an extra central pawn to win in 51 moves. Morozevich played his usual brand of chess to completely outplay Jakovenko but could not finish smoothly. They settled for a draw in 69 moves. There were wins by Farrukh Amonatov against Artyom Timofeev and Evgeny Tomashevsky against Nikita Vitugov (with Black) while Grishchuk drew his game against the solid Alexey Dreev. In the women's Russian superfinals, there were four first round winners, Svetlana Matveeva won against Tatiana Stepovaia, Natalija Pogonina beat Olga Girya, Elena Tairov defeated Tatiana Shadrina and Ekaterina Korbut beat Valentina Gunina. The two Kosintseva sisters drew their match in just 9 moves. The official site in Russian - http://russiachess.org/content/blogcategory/93/385/