All the games on the first boards of the seventh round of the RSSU Women’s Cup of Russia tournament within the frames of the Moscow Open have finished with a certain result. The permanent leader of this tournament is Oksana Gritsayeva, who managed to win seven times in a row. Alina Kashlinskaya and Olga Babiy are occupying the next lines in the table. We have decided to talk to Olga Babiy right after her victory over Polina Shuvalova in the seventh round.

- Hello, Olga! How is the tournament going on personally for you?

- In principle, everything is going on pretty well for me in this tournament. I played quite successfully in some games, in others I managed to score points in already lost positions.  Last round I played against a very serious opponent (Oksana Gritsayeva – editorial remark), but my strengths have been coming to the end by the start of the fifth round, at some point I was very nervous and lost. 

Two days to the end of the International RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open the struggle in the main tournaments of the festival is becoming sharper and sharper. However, multiple World Champion of the veteran competitions Galina Strutinskaia shows impressive superiority in one of the tournaments – the competition of female veterans. The chess player from Moscow scored 6,5 points in 7 rounds and is far ahead of her main rivals – Elena Fatalitbekova and Elena Krasenkova (both from Moscow) with 5 points. 

The player from the Crimea Oksana Gritsayeva continues her triumphant march in the RSSU Women’s Cup of Russia tournament. Today she won for the seventh time in a row, this time over Ukrainian player Iulija Osmak. Alina Kashlinskaya (Moscow) and Olga Babiy (Ukraine) with 6 points are chasing the leader. 

The international RSSU Cup, Moscow Open is famous for its extensive program and the competitions for chess players of any level and age. Thus, mainly players, who have come to the capital to enjoy the game, are participants of the RSSU Amateur Cup. Our attention was drawn by a group of boys in the military uniform, and we have decided to talk to their representative Stepan Lisov – a course educator of the Suvorov Military Academy in St. Petersburg.

- Good afternoon, Stepan! Tell us about the participation of the Suvorov Academy students in the tournament.

- The troop of the St. Petersburg Suvorov Military Academy was sent to the Moscow Open thanks to the victory in the Team Championship of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. And besides the main awards, the RSSU Rector Natalya Pochinok granted the guys with the certificate for the team’s participation in the Moscow Open.

Oksana Gritsayeva’s sixth victory in a row is probably the top news of the sixth game day of the RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open. The grandmaster from Feodosia (Republic of Crimea) is the only participant in all the main tournaments of the festival, who manages to keep a 100% result. This round Oksana defeated Olga Babiy from Ukraine. 

Five female chess players are chasing the leader: Olga Babiy and Iulija Osmak (both from Ukraine), Alina Kashlinskaya and Polina Shuvalova (both from Moscow), Baira Kovanova (Saratov), all of them scored 5 points.

The leaders of the Men’s tournament – Muscovites Boris Grachev and Dmitry Gordievsky – finished their game of the sixth round in a draw. After that they were caught by Vladislav Artemiev (Omsk), all three of them scored 5,5 points. 

The Russian State Social University is still enjoying the struggle in the individual and team Championships of the National Student Chess League. Today the games of the seventh round have been played.

Two rounds to finish the Ural State Mining University (Vitaliy Bernadskiy, Alfia Nasybullina) took the lead in the team event. Together they managed to score 10 of 14 points.

epresentatives of the Novosibirsk State University (Roman Kezin, Anna Koshevaya) and the hosts – the Russian State Social University (Akzhan Shopanov, Elena Orshonova) scored 9,5 points. The teams of the North-Eastern Federal University-2 (Vasily Vasilyev, Ayyyna Egorova) and the Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism (Tagir Taalaibekov, Ludmila Leolko) remain one point behind the leaders.

Almost 2,000 chess players are participating in the RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open. Young talents and experienced grandmasters have arrived in the capital of Russia to struggle for the prizes. Today we’ve decided to talk to the most titled participant of the festival – Gata Kamsky, playing in the Men’s Cup of Russia tournament.

- Hello, Gata! You’re playing in the Moscow open for the first time. How do you like it here?

- Yes, I’m playing in the Moscow Open for the first time but of course I’ve heard much of it. Last year I was playing in Gibraltar, so I couldn’t come to Moscow. Now I’ve decided to play here. Besides, the organizers provide good conditions, and special thanks go to them for this.

Quite strong young players are playing in this tournament. A day before yesterday one of them started to exchange all pieces from the debut that resulted in a quick draw.

Time of the decisive battles in the competitions of the XIII International RSSU Chess Cup, 2017 Moscow Open is approaching. Four chess players managed to pass the major part of the distance – five rounds – without any losses in the Cup of Russia tournaments.

The Muscovites Boris Grachev and Dmitry Gordievsky with 5 points are sharing the first place in the Men’s tournament. This time Grachev won over Ramil Faizrakhmatov (Kazan), Gordievsky was stronger than young Semen Lomasov (Moscow).

Vladislav Artemiev (Kazan), Ivan Rozum (Vologda) and Valery Sviridov (Seversk) with half a point less are behind the leaders. 14 players scored 4 points.

Representatives of more than 30 foreign countries participate in the RSSU Cup, Moscow Open. Today we have decided to talk to two brothers – chess players from Vietnam –Tran Tuan Minh and Thang Minh Tran, playing in the main tournament – the Men’s Cup of Russia.

- Thang, Minh, hello! Are you for the first time in Russia?

Thang Minh Tran: We’ve been to Russia many times: took part in the Mikhail Chigorin memorial in St. Petersburg, played in the Junior World Championship (Khanty-Mansiysk – editorial remark), and even had a chance to play in the Team Blitz Chess Championship of Moscow.

- It’s interesting! And how did it come out that you played in the Team Championship of Moscow?

Tran Tuan Minh: Moscow is the best place for chess players from all over the world, including me. 

The RSSU Blind and Visually Impaired Fast Chess Cup will be held for the first time within the frames of the Moscow Open.

The competition for blind and visually impaired players will be held in the RSSU from February 3 (arrival day) to February 5. This tournament was included into the program of the International RSSU Cup, Moscow Open for the first time ever. Blind and visually impaired chess players from Russia and foreign countries will take part in the competition.

The accreditation of the participants will be arranged in the building 5, room 205 Feb 3 – from 17:00 to 19:00, Feb 4 – from 10:00 to 11:00. The Ceremony Opening of the competition will be held February 4 at 11:30.

A little bit less than a half of the distance is over in the main tournament of the RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open – Men’s and Women’s Cup of Russia tournaments. Four participants managed to keep a 100% result in both tournaments.

Dmitry Gordievsky, Semen Lomasov, Boris Grachev (all from Moscow) and Ramil Faizrakhmanov (Kazan) top the table in the men’s competitions.  Ramil managed to win over the ranking favorite Sanan Sjugirov (Kazan) in the fourth round. Nine chess players scored 3,5 points.

We should also mention that besides Sjugirov favorites of the women’s tournament also suffered losses – Anastasia Bodnaruk (St. Petersburg) and Alina Kashlinskaya (Moscow) – they lost correspondingly to Oksana Gritsayeva (Crimea) and Olga Babiy (Ukraine).

Tuesday, January 31 the games of the fifth round of the RSSU School Champions’ Cup were played in the lecture rooms of the Russian State Social University. We should remind you that more than 740 young chess players struggle these days for the entries for the participation in the School World Championship to be held in Iasi, Romania this April.

Nikita Fomin (Moscow region) and Tagir Vafin (Kazan) with 5 victories top the table in the tournament of the youngest age group – U9 Boys (born in 2008 or earlier). 6 participants scored 4,5 points.

Kamilla Olesk (Veliky Novgorod) with 5 points is the only leader in the U9 Girls’ competition. Olesya Vlasova (Voronezh) with half a point less is on the second place. Nine participants scored 4 points.

Monday, January 30 the Chess in the System of Education international research and practice conference was held in the hall of the RSSU Academic council. The event was organized with the support of the RSSU Cup, Moscow Open Organizing Committee and the Legacy Square Capital fund and caused much interest: all those wishing to listen to the reports could hardly accommodate themselves in the hall.

The conference was opened by the Russian State Social University Rector, Doctor of Science Natalya Borisovna Pochinok, Moscow Chess Federation first Vice-President, Head of the Chess in School fund Nikita Vladimirovich Kim, the world’s oldest grandmaster Yury L’vovich Averbach – a famous specialist in the field of chess history and culture.

The reigning winner of the Women’s Championship of Moscow 15-year old Polina Shuvalova is among the leading group in the Moscow Open Women’s Cup of Russia tournament. The chess player from the capital kindly agreed to answer several questions after the victory over Marina Baraeva in the third round. 

- Hello, Polina! How can you evaluate your performance in the tournament?

- Last year I played not that well, I started quite successfully but then something went wrong and the tournament was ruined. Now I’m trying not to repeat the same mistakes. I was very lucky in the game of the second round, so I will try to be onto the good thing.

- Last year your results seriously improved. Tell us, what happened?

- I can tell that the victory in the Junior Women’s Championship of Russia was a success as it was a very long-awaited victory

Three rounds have been played in the main tournament of the RSSU Cup, 2017 Moscow Open. The sole leaders will appear not so soon, and participants are trying to score the maximum number of points in the starting games. It’s worth saying, there are many very young chess players among the leaders.

Seven players keep a 100% result in the 2017 Moscow Open Men’s Cup of Russia tournament, including the reigning U16 World Champion Semen Lomasov (Moscow).

10 chess players scored 3 points in the 2017 Women’s Cup of Russia tournament. Bronze medalist of the U16 Women’s World Championship Polina Shuvalova (Moscow) and the bronze medalist of the Championship in the age category of the last year Alexandra Obolentseva (Moscow) are among them.