Russian Championship Superfinals to Open at the State Museum of Political History of Russia  to Open at the State Museum of Political History of Russia in Saint Petersburg on December 2

The Superfinals of 70th Russian men's championship and 67th Russian women's championship will take place on December 2-15 at the State Museum of Political History of Russia (2-4, Kuybysheva St., Saint Petersburg).

The organizers are the Russian Chess Federation, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, the State Museum of Political History of Russia, Chess Federation of Saint Petersburg, and Physical Culture, and Sports Committee of Saint Petersburg. The competition is also supported by Renault Russia Company, Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System (FGC UES), and PhosAgro. Logistics partner of the Russian Chess Federation is Russian Post.

The Opening Ceremony will be held on December 2. The exhibition “USSR – A Great Chess Power” will be represented at the Museum’s atrium. One will manage to see the Soviet chess posters of the 1930s-1960s, rare archival photos and many other interesting items. The exposition will be presented by its author, Deputy Head of the Museum's Scientific and Exhibitory Department Margarita Samoylova at 6 p.m.

The press conference with the organizers and two participants will be held from 6:30 till 7 p.m. A Chess Schools: Second Academic Level tutorial (author is Vladimir Barsky), issued by the RCF with support of the Timchenko Foundation, will be presented during the press conference.

The Opening Ceremony, which will include drawing of lots, will start at 7:30 p.m.

President of the Russian Chess Federation, Head Coach of the Russia men's national chess team Andrey Filatov:

- Russian Championships Superfinals always carry on an intrigue and are very interesting for amateurs and professionals because not only well-known chess stars take part in them, but also those athletes who have gained the right to participate through a number of qualification events. I am sure that young players will manage to assert themselves. Participation of repeated Russian champions Peter Svidler, Valentina Gunina, and Alisa Galliamova will give a special status to the event. It is wonderful that the tournament will take place in Saint Petersburg, which, by the way, hasn’t hosted the Russian Championship since 1998. I hope that a new member of the Chess in Museums programme - the State Museum of Political History of Russia – will be no less interesting for the spectators than Russian Museum, which hosted Alekhine Memorial in 2013 together with the Louvre.

Line-up, men:

Peter Svidler, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxim Matlakov, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ernesto Inarkiev, Vladimir Malakhov, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Riazantsev, Sanan Sjugirov, Sergey Volkov, and Evgeny Romanov.

Line-up, women:

Valentina Gunina, Olga Girya, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Natalija Pogonina, Alina Kashlinskaya, Alisa Galliamova, Anastasia Bodnaruk, Marina Nechaeva, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Polina Shuvalova, Evgenija Ovod, and Oksana Gritsayeva.

Total prize fund is 9,000,000 roubles.

Besides, the winners of men's and women's tournaments will also receive a special prize – a four-wheel-drive crossover Renault Kaptur. On May 31, 2016, Renault Russia company signed a partnership deal with the RCF. The papers were signed by Andrey Pankov, General Director of Renault Russia, and RCF President, Head Coach of the Russia men's national chess team Andrey Filatov. According to the deal, Renault Kaptur became an official car of the Russian Chess Federation.

The tournaments are round-robin events with 11 rounds. Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds increment for every move played starting from the move one. Chief arbiter is IA Igor Bolotinsky (Saint Petersburg).

Schedule. Opening ceremony: December 2. Playing days: December 3-7 and 9-14, rest day – December 8. Rounds start at 3 p.m., the last round begins at 1 p.m. Closing ceremony will start in 40 minutes after the end of the last game.

The tournament is a part of the Chess in Museums programme, carried out by the RCF together with Timchenko Foundation since 2012. During this period, a number of high-level chess competitions were organized in museums: World Chess Championship 2012 took place in the Tretyakov Gallery, Alekhine Memorial – in the Louvre (Paris) and the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), Russian Superfinals – in Rukavishnikov Estate (Nizhny Novgorod), State Art Museum of Tatarstan (Kazan), and the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local History, all-Russian Higher League competition – in Fort #5 (Kaliningrad), and the 10th Tal Memorial – in the Museum of Russian Impressionism.

On December 8, the participants will give simuls to young chess players. All chess events running under Chess in Museums project feature a special social program for a rest day, which primarily aims at children. Master-classes and simultaneous displays give chess fans a chance to meet their heroes in person, test their own chess ability, and sometimes even defeat a renowned grandmaster.

Press accreditation: Press officer of the Russian Chess Federation Eteri Kublashvili, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .