The Superfinal of the 2013 Russian Chess Championship was the final stage of the national chess championship for men and women, held in Nizhny Novgorod from October 4 to 15, 2013. The tournament was organized by the Russian Chess Federation together with the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, with the support of the government of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1]
Venue and concept
The competition venue was the Nizhny Novgorod State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve ("Rukavishnikov Estate"); the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum also took part in organizing the tournament.[2] The Superfinal became part of the "Chess in Museums" program, which began with the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand, held in 2012 at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on the initiative of the businessmen Andrey Filatov and Gennady Timchenko.[1]
The opening ceremony on October 4, 2013, was attended by the Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Dmitry Svatkovsky. The cellist Alexander Knyazev and the pianist Nikolay Lugansky performed at the ceremony, playing works by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Johannes Brahms. Both musicians are chess enthusiasts with chess ratings, and were guests of honor at the World Championship match at the Tretyakov Gallery.[1] Before the opening, a press conference was held with the 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Dmitry Svatkovsky, the foundation's founder Gennady Timchenko, and the chairman of the board of the Russian Chess Federation Ilya Levitov.[1]
Participants and regulations
Ten grandmasters competed in the men's tournament: the 14th World Champion and 2013 World Cup winner Vladimir Kramnik; the six-time Russian champion and 2011 World Cup winner Peter Svidler; the 2012 World Rapid Chess Champion Sergey Karjakin; the reigning Russian champion and 2013 World Cup finalist Dmitry Andreikin; the 2010 European and Russian champion Ian Nepomniachtchi; the Higher League winner Ernesto Inarkiev; as well as Nikita Vitiugov, Alexander Motylev, Anton Shomoev, and Alexey Goganov.[1]
The women's tournament featured: the 12th Women's World Champion and Olympic champion Alexandra Kosteniuk; the reigning Russian champion and Olympic champion Natalia Pogonina; the 2012 European champion and World Blitz champion Valentina Gunina; the Olympic champion Tatiana Kosintseva; the Higher League winner Anastasia Bodnaruk; the Russian Women's Cup winner and World Junior (U-20) champion Alexandra Goryachkina; as well as Alina Kashlinskaya, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Daria Charochkina, and Baira Kovanova.[1]
Both tournaments were played as round-robins of nine rounds each. The playing days were October 5–9 and 11–14, with October 10 as a rest day. Games began at 3:00 p.m., and in the final round on October 14 at 1:00 p.m. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment added after each move. Players were prohibited from agreeing to a draw up to and including move 40. The chief arbiter was Anatoly Bykhovsky.[2]
Prize fund
The prize fund of the men's tournament was 4,300,000 rubles: 1,100,000 rubles for first place, 800,000 for second, 600,000 for third, then 500,000, 450,000, 350,000, 200,000, 125,000, 100,000, and 75,000 rubles. The prize fund of the women's tournament was 1,700,000 rubles: 450,000 rubles for first place, 330,000 for second, 240,000 for third, then decreasing down to 50,000 rubles. Prizes were not shared.[2]
Sources
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The Superfinal of the 2013 Russian Chess Championship among men and women starts on October 4 in Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny Novgorod News (archive)
- russiachess.org — Superfinal of the Russian Championship (archive)