GM Dmitry Kokarev and IM Semen Khanin kept their slim lead at the Alexander Panchenko Memorial in Chelyabinsk, Russia, after all the top board matches ended in draws in Round 8.
With one round to go in the 125-player Swiss event, it’s still a toss-up as to who will win gold at Chelyabinsk. Kokarev and Khanin, who each has 6½ points, are chased by seven grandmasters just half -a-point behind them. These are GMs Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Maksim Chigaev. Aleksei Pridorozhni, Alexey Goganov, Alexandr Predke, Mikhail Demidov and Artyom Timofeev who have six markers each.
In Round 8, Kokarev was held by Goganov while Khanin split the point with Predke, the top seed. The noteworthy decisions came from Boards 5 and 7 where Pridorozhni plucked GM Nikita Afanasiev out of the top ten and Timofeev improving his winning chances of winning the gold by thumping IM Maksim Schekachikhin.
The final round pairings on the top boards are Kokarev vs Pridorozhni, Rakhmanov vs Khanin, Predke vs Timofeev, Chigaev vs Demidov, and GM Pavel Ponkratov vs Goganov. Fireworks are expected in these boards since all are mathematically able to win the championship.
Goganov, A (2565)-Kokarev, D (2611) [E81]
Chelyabinsk (8.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Qa5 8.Nc1 cxd4 9.Nb3 Qh5 10.Nxd4 Nc6 11.Qd2 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bh6 13.Qf2 Qa5 14.Be2 e5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 Be6 17.Kf2 Rac8 18.Rhd1 Bxc4 19.Rxd6 Bxe2 20.Nxe2 Nh5 21.Qd2 Qxd2 22.Rxd2 Rfd8 23.Rad1 Rxd2 24.Rxd2 Kf8 25.Ke3 Ke7 26.Nc3 Nf6 27.Rd3 a6 28.Kd2 Ke6 29.Nd1 Ne8 30.Rc3 Rd8+ 31.Ke2 Nd6 32.a4 h5 33.Nf2 Rc8 34.Rxc8 Nxc8 35.h4 Nd6 36.g4 a5 37.Kd3 b5 38.b3 bxa4 39.bxa4 f6 40.gxh5 gxh5 41.Nd1 f5 42.Nc3 fxe4+ 43.fxe4 Kf7 44.Ne2 Kf6 45.Nc1 Ke6 46.Nb3 Nb7 47.Kc4 Nd6+ 48.Kd3 Nb7 49.Kc4 ½-½
Khanin, S (2482)-Predke, A (2684) [B15]
Chelyabinsk (8.2) 2020
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Qc2 g6 9.Ne2 c5 10.Be3 Qc7 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Bxc5 Qxc5 13.0-0 Nc6 14.Be4 Re8 15.Rfe1 Kg7 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Nd4 Bb7 18.Rad1 Qd5 19.Nb3 Ba6 20.Qc1 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Rd8 22.Qe3 Bc4 23.Nc5 Qe5 24.b3 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Rd5 26.Ne4 Ba6 27.c4 Rd8 28.Kf2 Bc8 29.Re2 Bf5 30.Rd2 Rxd2+ 31.Nxd2 Bc2 32.b4 f5 33.Nf3 Kf6 34.Nd4 Be4 35.a4 Ke5 36.Nf3+ Kd6 37.Ng5 Bc2 38.Nxf7+ Ke7 39.Ne5 Bxa4 40.Ke2 c5 41.bxc5 Kf6 42.Nd3 Bb3 43.Nb2 Bc2 44.Kd2 Be4 ½-½
Pridorozhni, A (2597)-Afanasiev, N (2507) [C91]
Chelyabinsk (8.5) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.d4 Bg4 10.d5 Na5 11.Bc2 c6 12.dxc6 Nxc6 13.h3 Bh5 14.Nbd2 d5 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Qe2 Rfe8 17.Ne4 Bg6 18.Rd1 Qc4 19.Bd3 Qe6 20.Nfg5 Qc8 21.Be3 Nxe4 22.Bxe4 Bxg5 23.Bxg5 Bxe4 24.Qxe4 Qe6 25.a4 f5 26.Qd5 b4 27.Qc5 Rec8 28.Rd6 Qe8 29.Rad1 bxc3 30.bxc3 h6 31.Bxh6 gxh6 32.Rxh6 Nd8 33.Qb6 Nf7 34.Qg6+ Kf8 35.Qxf5 Qxa4 36.Rdd6 Qf4 37.Rh8+ Kg7 38.Qh7# 1-0
Timofeev, A (2580)-Schekachikhin, M (2406) [B23]
Chelyabinsk (8.7) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.Nf3 b5 4.d3 Bb7 5.Be2 e6 6.0-0 d6 7.Re1 Nf6 8.Bf1 Be7 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Ng3 h5 11.Ne2 e5 12.Bg5 Nh7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.c3 h4 15.a4 b4 16.d4 cxd4 17.cxd4 a5 18.d5 Nb8 19.Nc1 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Rxa6 21.h3 0-0 22.Nb3 Ng5 23.Rc1 Nxf3+ 24.Qxf3 Qe8 25.Ra1 Nd7 26.Rec1 Nf6 27.Rc7 Qd8 28.Rac1 Nd7 29.Rb7 Rb6 30.Ra7 Nc5 31.Nxc5 dxc5 32.Rxc5 Qg5 33.Qf5 Qd2 34.Rc8 Rxc8 35.Qxf7+ 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rg3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Ke5, Sg6 2.Sg4#; 1…Sxe6 2.Sd7#; 1…Sd5/h5/h3/e2/g2 2.Q(x)d5#; 1…Sd3, Be4+ 2.Q(x)e4#./PN
