The Russian Championship had been a dream for Sergey Karjakin but finished as a nightmare. He started the round half a point ahead of Ian Nepomniachtchi, and since the latter drew his final game Karjakin could win the title by following suit. Instead, he seemed to crack under the pressure and lost to Vladimir Malakhov, who had been -1 up to that point.
Unfortunately for Karjakin, the title was determined by a playoff rather than tiebreaks, and after a pair of draws in rapid games - both of which saw Karjakin enjoy an edge at some point - it was on to an Armageddon game. Here it is:
Drawing with Black, Nepomniatchi thus won the playoff and the title. A real pity for Karjakin, but a great tournament and year for both players.
Meanwhile, in the Women's World Championship, Hou Yifan again got nothing - or less than nothing - with White against Ruan Lufei. Indeed, it was Ruan who won a pawn and pressed for the win - but without success. Hou held, continues to lead (2-1 now), and will become the women's world champion with any positive result in game 4.