The Superfinals of the 74th Russian Championship and the 71st Russian Women's Championship are held in Ufa from October 8-21. The tournament is a part of the Chess in Museums international programme realised by the Chess Federation of Russia and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

The line-up, open: Dmitry Andreikin (2728), Nikita Vitiugov (2727), Andrey Esipenko (2720), Kirill Alekseenko (2710), Vladimir Fedoseev (2704), Maxim Matlakov (2682), Alexandr Predke (2666), Pavel Ponkratov (2659), Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2657), Maksim Chigaev (2639), Alexander Motylev (2624), and Aleksandra Goryachkina (2602).

The second-rated Nikita Vitiugov is in a cheerful mood

The three-time Russian women's champion Aleksandra Goryachkina has become the first woman to take part in the Russian Championship Superfinal. She qualified for this competition from the Russian Championship Higher League, having won bronze.

The line-up, women: Polina Shuvalova (2509), Alina Kashlinskaya (2493), Natalija Pogonina (2467), Valentina Gunina (2462), Alisa Galliamova (2421), Anastasia Bodnaruk (2415), Olga Girya (2410), Leya Garifullina (2409), Marina Guseva (2394), Alina Bivol (2392), Daria Voit (2357), and Evgenija Ovod (2331).

The opening ceremony, drawing of lots, and press conference were held in the Bashkir Nesterov Art Museum in Ufa on the 8th of September.

Polina Shuvalova drew #1

Both tournaments are 11-round all-play-all events. The playing days are 9-14 and 16-20 October. The rest day is the 15th of October. The games will start at 3 PM local time (GMT +5).

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with a 30-second increment per move starting from move one.

The total guaranteed prize fund is 11 million rubles (roughly USD 152,000): 7 million rubles in the open section and 4 million rubles in the women's tournament. 

The Superfinals are organised by the Chess Federation of Russia with the support of the Russian Ministry of Sport, the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

The CFR general partner is PhosAgro.

Partners: Aeroflot, Art Russe, Chess Federation of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and the Bashkortostan State M.V. Nesterov Art Museum.

Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

About Chess in Museums programme

Since 2012, the Chess Federation of Russia and the Timchenko Foundation have organised chess tournaments in the leading museums of Russia and the whole world. The World Chess Championship match between Vishy Anand and Boris Gelfand took place in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) in 2012. In 2013, the CFR and the Timchenko Foundation held the Alekhine Memorial. The first half of the super tournament was played in the Louvre (Paris), the second part took place in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow hosted the Tal Memorials in 2016 and 2018.

Almost all Russian Championships Superfinals are held as part of the Chess in Museums programme. The tournaments took place in the Rukavishnikov's Mansion in Nizhny Novgorod (2013), the Museum of Art in the Kazan Kremlin (2014), the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local History (2016), and the State Museum of Political History of Russia in Saint Petersburg (2017). In 2018, the players competed for the titles in the Magnezit Palace of Culture in Satka, where the exhibition of the well-known Soviet and Russian painter Geliy Korzhev was opened. In 2019, the Superfinals were held in two venues in the Udmurt Republic - in the Tchaikovsky Museum in Votkinsk, and the Palace of Peoples' Friendship in Izhevsk. In 2020, the famous Cetral Chess Club in Moscow with a unique Chess Museum became the venue for the Superfinals.