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Rublevski Leads Russian Championship

Sergei Rublevsky scored 6.5 points in the first nine rounds to take a full-point lead in the Russian Championship Superfinal. Three players - Evgeny Bareev, Dmitry Jakovenko and Vadim Zvjaginsev - are all tied for second with 5.5 points.

As usual, the Russian Championship features many of the world's top players. Surprisingly, the biggest names in the field are mired in the middle of the pack, and have yet to make any serious noise in the tournament.

Peter Svidler, who finished 3rd in the recent FIDE Championship, is tied for 5th place with 5 points. Tied with him is Alexander Morozevich, a staple in supertournament play.

Most surprising to many is the performance of Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Although he is the second-highest rated player in the field (2739, one point below Svidler), Kramnik has struggled, scoring just 4.5 points in the first nine rounds, good enough for 7th in the 12 player field.

The tournament is a single round-robin event. Two players withdrew shortly before the tournament began; Evgeniy Najer left due to illness, while Alexander Grischuk had disagreements with the prize structure.

With just two rounds to play, only one remaining game seems likely to have any impact on the winner: Rublevsky's upcoming match with Zvjaginsev. Should Rublesvsky lose, the championship would still be up for grabs; if not, he will likely win without much of a challenge from the field.

We will have final results from the Russian Championship next week. Here is a win by Rublevsky over Bareev:

White: Rublevsky, S (2652)
Black: Bareev, E (2675)
Russian Championship, Round 1
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Nf1 Re8 12. Be3 b5 13. c3 Qd7 14. Bd4 Rad8 15. Ne3 Nce4 16. Qb3 a6 17. Ne5 Qb7 18. Nd3 Qc6 19. a4 Nd2 20. Qc2 Nc4 21. axb5 axb5 22. Nf5 Bf8 23. b3 Nb6 24. Ne5 Qe6 25. f3 Ra8 26. Rad1 b4 27. Ng4 Qxe1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Kf2 Rea1 30. Nfh6+ Kh8 31. Nxf7+ Kg8 32. Nfh6+ Kh8 33. Nxf6 gxf6 34. Qf5 Bg7 35. Nf7+ Kg8 36. Qe6 1-0