The Women Russian Championship 2009-Higher League has been held at Voronezh in June, 1-9. The participants were rather strong players who were aiming at qualifying for the Russian Women Chess Superfinal. A lot of players and only 5 to succeed - that guaranteed exciting chess struggles.
 

Elena Tairova won first 5 games in a row, and has spared only three draws in the remaining rounds. 1st place and 7,5 out of 9.
 

While Tairova convincingly occupied the top spot, other players have been battling for the other 4 qualifying places. Only the last two rounds have put an end to the fight: the silver medal went to Elena Zaiatz (7 out of 9), who, just like Tairova, hasn't lost a single game. Places 3-5 went to players who scored 6 points: Gunina (3rd), Stepovaia (4th), Manakova (5th). Gunina and Manakova had been especially fierce ladies -  they hadn't made any draws!
 

So, now we know the names of 10 participants of the Russian Women Chess Superfinal (it's usually a 12-player round robin). Five people who qualified from the Higher League (see above), 3 winners of Superfinal-2008 - Kosintzeva Nadezhda, Kosintzeva Tatiana and Anastasia Bodnaruk. Also top-3 Russian women players by FIDE rating: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Natalia Pogonina (Tatiana Kosintseva has already been mentioned, so someone else will take part). Therefore, the organizers will have to find 2 more players, or opt for a 10-player event. The Superfinal will be held from 16 to 30 of December, 2009.

Press "Read more" for chess episodes of the tournament

A few tactical shots:

 

Iljushina– Gunina, round 5, 21.?
 

Molchanova – Girya, round 5, 19.?
 

Ìanakova – Ubiennykh, round 5, 32.?
 

Solomonova – Shaidullina, round 5, 22. ...?

And here's an interesting fragment of a game - you can look through my annotations & also study it yourself since it's very complicated. 
 

Tairova– Demina, round 5, 29. ...?

	1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 12:26 24 ñåíòÿáðÿ 2010 ã.
	Êàæåòñÿ, ó Âàñ îïå÷àòêà. Íàòàëèÿ, íà ïîñëåäíåé äèàãðàììå ïîçèöèÿ ÍÅ èç ïàðòèè Òàèðîâà-Äåìèíà, õîòÿ áû ïîòîìó â òîé ïàðòèè áåëûå åùå íà òðåòüåì õîäó óâåëè ïåøêó ñ f2.     ×òî æå êàñàåòñÿ ñàìîé ïîçèöèè, òî ÿ áû ñûãðàë Ëd8 ñ óãðîçàìè b4 è C:f2.

	2. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 18:31 26 ôåâðàëÿ 2012 ã.
	unFTwvcRlaWWyPdrp I don't know how to play chess, thoguh we have a star wars chess set.When I was younger, an ex-boyfriends younger brother was teaching me, however once we no longer saw each other my chess teacher was gone..Makes me want to try to learn how to play.. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003405495145

Write Comment

Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*