Russian Summer

August is generally the month in chess where we seldom see elite tournaments. But this year is different, with the rescheduling of the über-strong Russian Championship Super-final from December to guarantee the participation of former world champion and Russian No.1, Vladimir Kramnik.

Something had to give, as Kramnik again had accepted an invitation to play in the London Chess Classic through early December, so the only option to have the strongest Russian Championship of recent years was to move it from its usual time slot of late December to August. The switch secured Kramnik - who is on a hot streak, after his big win win last month at Dortmund, that saw him reclaim the Russian No.1 spot - to lead an elite Moscow line-up that also includes: Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Artyom Timofeev and Alexander Galkin.

Rd	Date	Commentator	Game		WATCH			FREE
7	Mon, 15 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Alexander Galkin GM Vladimir Kramnik
6	Sun, 14 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Ian Nepomniachtchi GM Peter Svidler
5	Sat, 13 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Artyom Yimofeev GM Peter Svidler
4	Thurs, 11 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Sergey Karjakin GM Alexander Grischuk
3	Wed, 10 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Sergey Karjakin GM Vladimir Kramnik
2	Tue, 9 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Alexander Morozevich GM Alexander Grischuk
1	Mon, 8 Aug	GM Alex Yermolinsky	GM Peter Svidler GM Vladimir Kramnik

And Kramnik has had a remarkable four round roller-coaster ride so far in Moscow, with four decisive games, winning two and losing two. But at the top, in joint first place, on 3/4, going into rest-day is Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich, who are the only two in the field still unbeaten. And each day, GM Alex Yermolinsky has his Game of the Day spin on the Russian Championship Super-final. Play resumes on Saturday, 13 August, with live games from ICC starting at 7:00am ICC Server Time.