The 23rd Russian Team Championship was held in Zhemchuzhina Hotel, Sochi, between May 1 and May 10, 2016. It was a 5-team double round robin with eight-man teams, six players on both sides playing in each match; teams scored two points for a match win and one point for a tie. Sibir (Novosibirsk), who had won the 2015 championship with a perfect score, returned with a strong team led by Kramnik and Grischuk; the other top teams were ShSM Legacy Square Capital (Moscow), led by Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi, and Mednyy vsadnik (St. Petersburg), with Svidler on the top board.
Results
ShSM Legacy Square Capital defeated Sibir 4.5-1.5 in round 2, but dropped points with 3-3 ties against Mednyy vsadnik in round 1 and Zhiguli (Samara Oblast) in round 5; Sibir remained in contention with wins in all their other early matches. After the first round robin, ShSM Legacy Square Capital and Sibir shared the lead with 6 points, with Mednyy vsadnik on 5, Zhiguli on 3 and Ladya (Tatarstan) with no points.
The competition stayed close throughout the second half, with ShSM Legacy Square Capital losing 2.5-3.5 to Mednyy vsadnik in round 6 but recovering with a second win against Sibir in round 7. Mednyy vsadnik, who had lost 2.0-4.0 to Sibir in their first encounter, won the rematch in round 9 by a clear 4.5-1.5 margin, moving into a one-point lead with one round to go; they secured the championship with a 3.5-2.5 victory over Ladya in the final round, finishing with 13 points out of 16 possible. ShSM Legacy Square Capital took second place one point behind, with Sibir third on 10 points. Zhiguli, who placed fourth with 5 points, played the role of spoilers; their only point against any of the top three teams, the fifth-round 3-3 tie with ShSM Legacy Square Capital, ended up deciding the championship.
SPB ShSM Sibir Zhiguli Ladya MP GP
1st Mednyy vsadnik (St. Petersburg) *** *** 3.0 3.5 2.0 4.5 3.5 4.5 5.0 3.5 13 29.5
2nd ShSM Legacy Square Capital (Moscow) 3.0 2.5 *** *** 4.5 4.0 3.0 5.0 4.5 5.0 12 31.5
3rd Sibir (Novosibirsk) 4.0 1.5 1.5 2.0 *** *** 4.0 4.5 5.0 4.5 10 27.0
4th Zhiguli (Samara Oblast) 2.5 1.5 3.0 1.0 2.0 1.5 *** *** 3.5 4.0 5 19.0
5th Ladya (Tatarstan) 1.0 2.5 1.5 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 2.0 *** *** 0 13.0
Team line-ups
Mednyy vsadnik (St. Petersburg): Svidler (3.5/7), Dominguez (3.5/8), Vitiugov (4.0/6), Bu Xiangzhi (5.5/8), Matlakov (4.0/6), Rodshtein (3.5/6), Fedoseev (3.0/3) and Khairullin (2.5/4)
ShSM Legacy Square Capital (Moscow): Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi, Inarkiev, Najer, Zvjaginsev, Dubov, Malakhov and Popov
Sibir (Novosibirsk): Kramnik, Grischuk, Tomashevsky, Jakovenko, Rublevsky, Korobov, Kokarev and Bocharov
Zhiguli (Samara Oblast): Sjugirov, Lysyj, Oparin, Predke, Frolyanov, Brodsky, Yakovich and Geller
Ladya (Tatarstan): Kamsky, Artemiev, Timofeev, Yandemirov, Hasangatin, Sharafiev, Faizrakhmanov and Samusenko
Time control
90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1.
Pairings and detailed results
http://chess-results.com/tnr219768....
Previous edition
Russian Team Championship (2015)
Next edition
Russian Team Championships (2017)
Kibitzing
