In the second round, there were no surprises, and by the third round, only dans-applicants for medals had 2 points each. The next two rounds – games for places began. Derby Evgeniev foreshadowed an interesting fight in 3B and in the course of the game Evgeny Myasoedov still had an advantage, but the game ended in a draw. And even earlier my game ended with the Rybinsk fifth dan Alexander Radzevelyuk, a game that, unfortunately, cannot be proud of.

I put 3B, but already according to co-op. Alexander changed color, I set my trademark 4th move with five-fifths (I started playing it two years ago, in my first first league and played with many strong players; perhaps that is why the statistics with such a fourth is not in my favor). Alexander took black. Of the fifths he gave, I chose the obviously weakest. I did not do a detailed analysis of the fifth moves here, and as a result, I could not realize the advantage, hastily making the 10th move. Home analysis showed that after the 9th move White has a not very difficult win, which I missed, perhaps due to accumulated fatigue, since the third round was played in the evening, and the previous two were not difficult, but not easy either. Apparently, this 5th move for black loses.
Oleksandr Radzevelyuk is known as a big fan of draws, it is he who holds the record for the number of unbeaten games in a row in the First Leagues – over 20. Having made the 11th move, he decided not to risk attacking and offered a draw. A draw at the beginning of the tournament, when 2/3 of the key games have not yet been played, is a good result. I, on the other hand, am notorious for not being a big fan of early draws. However, having assessed White’s weak prospects and taking into account my uncomfortable opponent (we have a personal score of 2-0 not in my favor), I agreed. It’s probably stupid to regret accepting a draw, given the not-so-pleasant position, but it’s rather disappointing to miss such a win. The beginning of the tournament, the first test of strength with a serious opponent, in general, an inglorious game and a draw.

Fourth round – morning game with sixth dan, one of the favorites of the tournament, Evgeny Smirnov. I have a very contradictory assessment of his game, on the one hand, he plays quite well over the board, especially with black, on the other hand, he is prone to critical mistakes (which, by the way, will still affect this tournament), and is also not strong in theory. We have a personal account 1-1

Zhenya prepared for me 9d according to cosyrv. Not wanting to wait for the weather by the sea, I decided to set the 4th move myself, and not to reverse. It is well known that yamaguchi’s 9d is a bad idea, since there are no equal options, all options are either for black or for white. Therefore, I decided not to put any generally accepted 4 moves, but chose what I somehow know – the 4th move is common with 8B, ordering 7 fifths (as it turned out, my opponent prepared this option for me). Evgeniy practically delivered all 7 fifth moves (as far as I remember, there are 4 or 5 winners in this variation, the rest are possible with a certain Black advantage). I decided to leave one of the most powerful fifth moves and made the right decision – my opponent did not know the correct play and made a mistake on the 9th move, after the 10th I was completely calm about the position. Perhaps he played the 14th move a little carelessly, which did not allow me to seize the initiative right away, and Evgeny was the first to move to the other flank. Having counted nothing from below, he made moves 25 and 27 and offered a draw. Indeed, if 27-A or 27-C, then 28-B, if 27-B, then 28-A or 28-C. One of these key points calmly holds the other.
In principle, the position for White after the 27th move is quite favorable, but it seemed to me that Black still had some definite threat from below (precisely after the 27th move), and being afraid of losing points in an important game, I accepted a draw, although, probably, it was worth trying to play for a win, especially since the position favored it. The game at the next table also ended in a draw.

Commented by Anton Golomarev