Vitiugov and Gunina win 2021 Russian Championship Superfinals

Fifteen times is the charm for GM Nikita Vitiugov, who won his first national title at the 2021 Russian Championship Superfinals, scoring 7½/11 to take clear first place over GM Maxim Matlakov. After three third-place finishes and a playoff loss to GM Peter Svidler in 2017, the St. Petersburg native had a lot to celebrate, including (as he told Etery Kublashvili in an interview for ruchess.ru) the recent birth of his son!

Vitiugov won three games to go along with eight draws in Ufa. Here is perhaps the most impressive of those victories.

This year’s Open Superfinal included a woman for the first time. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina finished with a reputable 4½ points, although the 23-year-old could have bettered her debut with a bit more technical precision. Her second-round win over longtime Russian national team trainer GM Alexander Motylev is an excellent example of how to play against two weaknesses.

GM Valentina Gunina took top honors in the Women’s Superfinal with 8/11. Her victory was assured only after her final round battle with IM Polina Shuvalova, one of Russia’s most promising talents. With just a half-point separating the two, Gunina had to overcome an opening misstep to complicate and eventually wrangle the necessary draw.

For more games from the Superfinal, visit our Lichess Study. To replay the live video coverage from Ufa, check out the Russian Chess Federation YouTube channel.

2021 Russian Championship Superfinal
October 9-20, 2021 | Ufa, Russia

Open Superfinal:

1: GM Nikita Vitiugov, 7/11. 2: GM Maxim Matlakov, 6½. 3-5: GMs Andrey Esipenko, Dmitry Andreikin, Vladimir Fedoseev, 6. 6-8: GMs Pavel Ponkratov, Alexander Motlyev, Kirill Alekseenko, 5½. 9: GM Alexandr Predke, 5. 10-11: GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, 4½. 12: GM Maksim Chigaev, 4.

Women’s Superfinal:

1: GM Valentina Gunina, 8/11. 2-3: IMs Evgenija Ovod, Polina Shuvalova, 7½. 4: IM Alina Kashlinskaya, 6½. 5-6: WGMs Natalija Pogonina, Leya Garifullina, 6. 7: IM Alisa Galliamova, 5½. 8: GM Olga Girya, 4½. 9: IM Marina Guseva, 4. 10-12: IM Alina Bivol, WGM Daria Voit, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk, 3½.