Alisa Galliamova retains Russian chess title

Alisa Galliamova retains Russian chess title
November 28th, 2010 by Shani

MOSCOW: Alisa Galliamova successfully defended her domestic title for the first time on Saturday as she won the Russian Women’s National Chess Championship for the second time on trot.

The Grandmaster Alisa retained her title by defeating Natalija Pogonina in the speed chess tie-break in the Russian capital here.
Playing in White, Galliamova won the first blitz game and then extended her influence with Black which saw her claiming the title all the way to the seventh rank.

The championship proved to be a success as the excitement stayed till the penultimate round where Tatiana Kosintseva and Nazi Paikidze drew level with the defending champion to score 6.5 points each.

Tatiana got the better of Olga and Paikidze’s tie against Nadezhda ended in a draw, while Galliamova lost her match against Gunina in the ninth round of the championship.

After the exciting ninth round, stage was all set for a final showdown where three players finished on the same points. Paikidze and Shadrina lost their last matches while Galliamova and Tatiana drew their last encounter.

In a bid to decide the triplet tie, a blitz tie-breaker was played between Galliamova and Pogonina which the former won to retain her Russian chess title.

Tatiana Kosintseva managed to grab the third place and Paikidze finished fourth.

1. Galliamova, A. 7
2. Pogonina, N. 7
3. Kosintseva, T. 7
4. Paikidze, N. 6.5

http://www.sportsencounter.com