On Sunday 1st September the tradition of Moscow Blitz Chess Championship was upheld for the 67th time at Krasnaya Presnya Park.
The tradition of this tournament is that it has always been held outdoors. Notwithstanding the cold and rainy weather, it attracted around 150 participants and many fans. The competition was held with several categories starting simultaneously and lasting for about six hours.
The championship was opened by Moscow Chess Federation (MCF) president Vladimir Palikhata. He remarked, “Chess is a unique social phenomenon. In this intellectual game you can play it in any weather outside as well as inside. Chess used to played primarily in yards, on boulevard benches, in parks and in squares. We want to restore this tradition, giving it a new flavor.”
A notable guest of the tournament was World Chess Federation (FIDE) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. “The winners of the Moscow Blitz Championship have become legendary chess players – Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Vasily Smyslov – I hope that among the participants of today’s tournament will be new future champions.” said Ilyumzhinov in his welcoming address.
For this first time the championship held a women veteran’s division. The winner was Galina Strutinskaya, the current world champion in this category. The men veteran’s division was won by Vladimir Voevodin.
The junior championships were won by Stanislav Romanov (boys) and Anna Vasenina (girls).
In the absence of world blitz champion Valentina Gunina, who was participating in the men’s division, the women’s division was convincingly won by Daria Charochkina, having a 2.5 point lead over second-place winner Olga Girya. Third place was won by Karina Ambartsumova.
The winner of the main event of the 67th Moscow Championship was Sergey Karjakin with the result 14.5 of 19 points. Second place winner Alexander Riazantsev trailed by one point. Third place was taken by Vladimir Malakhov with 13 points. Alexander Morozevich and Alexey Dreev scored 12,5 points and shared 4-5 places.
Eldar Mukhametov
Moscow Chess Federation
Press Officer
Photos by Galina Popova
Nice job by Karjakin.