Russian Championship Superfinals: Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi Lead; Shuvalova Stuns With 6/6

GM Sergey Karjakin and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi are tied for first place after six rounds at the Russian Championship Superfinal that is underway in Moscow. IM Polina Shuvalova, who started with 6/6 in the women's section, is the surprise of the event so far.

The 73rd Russian Championship and the 70th Russian Women's Championship are underway in the Central Chess Club in Moscow. The tournaments are among the very few over-the-board chess events with top players during the pandemic. We've only had Biel, the Bundesliga, Norway Chess, and next month Wijk aan Zee.

The playing conditions are similar as in Biel. Plexiglass screens are placed over the boards between the players, and face masks are not mandatory. The coronavirus has taken its toll in Russia as well. In a population of 145 million, 2,597,711 cases and 45,893 deaths have been confirmed. The numbers are likely to be higher than officially reported.

Russian Championships Superfinals are officially opened in Moscow. The drawing of lots was held https://t.co/RumuoKQJtS#CFR #Superfinal2020 pic.twitter.com/Rrc9ujP2T9

— Chess Federation of Russia (@ruchess_eng) December 4, 2020

There were different ways for the players to qualify for the Superfinals. For starters, the top three players from last year were eligible, as well as the top five of the Russian Championship Higher League. The remaining players were selected based on rating.

This report is published on the rest day after the first six rounds have been played. Among the men, Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi are both on 4.5/6. It's hard to believe but Karjakin is chasing his first-ever Russian title; Nepomniachtchi has one title that he obtained one decade ago. The two will face each other in round seven on Saturday.

Russian Championship Superfinal | Standings

Karjakin has been quite active with online chess in 2020 (including a lot of Titled Tuesdays), but he hadn't played over-the-board chess since the World Blitz Championship that ended December 30, 2019. (The only exception was his game against cosmonauts in June, but even then his opponents weren't exactly close by!)

His last classical game was on December 16, 2019 at the Jerusalem FIDE Grand Prix. As he jokingly tweeted afterward, Karjakin had a year to prepare for his nice win against GM Mikhail Antipov:

Played a classical game after one year of preparation!🤪🥳😀 pic.twitter.com/uWRg6TvkhJ

— Sergey Karjakin (@SergeyKaryakin) December 5, 2020

Karjakin also won against the St. Petersburg grandmasters GM Nikita Vitiugov and GM Maxim Matlakov and drew his other three games.

Nepomniachtchi is undefeated as well. He also beat Antipov and Matlakov, as well as GM Aleksey Goganov. Also for Nepomniachtchi, we give the game from the first round:

All games

In the women's segment, IM Shuvalova is having a sensational tournament so far. She won all of her initial six games, and her victims include two of the three grandmasters in the field: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and GM Valentina Gunina.

The third, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, is currently in second place, 1.5 points behind. The 10th round will see the clash between Goryachkina and Shuvalova.

Russian Championship Superfinal (Women) | Standings

A very interesting game was Shuvalova's clash with IM Alina Kashlinskaya in the second round. 

All games