Half the World's Best Players @ Russian Team Championship
The Russian Team Chess Championship has been in a tough competition with the Bundesliga for years for the title of the strongest national team chess championship. This year it will be held in Loo district of resort city Sochi (the host of 2014 Olympics) from April 8th to April 16th. The format is a 7-round Swiss for men and a round robin for women.
Men's section
Half the world's chess elite players are coming to the championship, including World Cup'2011 winner Peter Svidler and the European Chess Champion'2012 Dmitry Jakovenko. To be precise, 22 of the top-46 players in the world are participating:
|
# |
Player |
Rating |
World Rank |
Fed. |
Team |
Board |
|
1 |
|
2767 |
7 |
ITA |
SHSM-64 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
2766 |
8 |
RUS |
Tomsk-400 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
2765 |
9 |
RUS |
Economist-SGSU |
1 |
|
4 |
|
2744 |
15 |
RUS |
SPB-Federation |
1 |
|
5 |
|
2736 |
17 |
RUS |
Economist-SGSU |
2 |
|
6 |
|
2733 |
19 |
CHN |
SHSM-64 |
2 |
|
7 |
|
2730 |
20 |
CUB |
SPB-Federation |
3 |
|
8 |
|
2729 |
21 |
RUS |
Ugra |
2 |
|
9 |
|
2727 |
23 |
UKR |
Tomsk-400 |
2 |
|
10 |
|
2720 |
24 |
HUN |
SHSM-64 |
3 |
|
11 |
|
2718 |
26 |
RUS |
Economist-SGSU |
3 |
|
12 |
|
2717 |
27 |
NED |
SHSM-64 |
4 |
|
13 |
|
2710 |
28 |
RUS |
SHSM-64 |
5 |
|
14 |
|
2709 |
30 |
RUS |
SPB-Federation |
2 |
|
15 |
|
2706 |
33 |
UKR |
Economist-SGSU |
4 |
|
16 |
|
2705 |
35 |
RUS |
SHSM-64 |
6 |
|
17 |
|
2705 |
36 |
RUS |
Ugra |
3 |
|
18 |
|
2704 |
37 |
UKR |
Economist-SGSU |
5 |
|
19 |
|
2703 |
38 |
IND |
Navigator |
2 |
|
20 |
|
2702 |
41 |
ARM |
SPB-Federation |
4 |
|
21 |
|
2701 |
44 |
LAT |
Ugra |
1 |
|
22 |
|
2700 |
46 |
ISR |
Navigator |
1 |
A few more are rated over 2700 on the live rating list (Inarkiev - 2707, Dreev, RUS - 2704, Bologan, MOL - 2704, Andreikin, RUS - 2704), or were rated above 2700 in the past (Alekseev, RUS - top rating of 2725, Motylev - top rating of 2710, Efimenko, UKR - top rating of 2708, Rublevsky, RUS - top rating of 2704).
It is easy to guess by looking at the table which teams are the main favorites. The reigning champion SHSM-64, European Club Chess Champion SPB-Federation and three more super clubs - two-times European Club Chess Champion Economist-SGSU, 4-times Russian Team Chess Champion Tomsk-400 and a very well-rounded team Ugra coached (!) by ex-FIDE World Chess Champion Alexander Khalifman himself.
Searching for new impressions and a challenge, Natalia Pogonina decided to take part in the men's event. Her team, Chess Club Rakita, is by far not the rating favorite, but nearly all the players have a very decent potential:
GM Boris Savchenko (2580) - a formidable attacking player; top rating - 2655
GM Ivan Popov (2605) - a young padawan of Mark Dvoretzky; top rating - 2617
GM Alexander Danin (2539) - a very original player; top rating - 2545
GM Alexandr Ivanov (2433) - the most experienced player in the team; top rating - 2503
IM Grigoriy Oparin (2487) - #1 player in the world born in 1997; top rating - the same
IM Mikhail Antipov (2435) - #3 player in the world born in 1997; top rating - 2436
WGM Natalia Pogonina (2449) - a top female player; top rating - 2501
Vitaly Babynin (2021) - 2nd reserve player
Women's section
In the women's section this time there are only 7 teams. With the absence of the European Club Chess Champion, AVS (the team Natalia Pogonina usually plays in), the main favorites are the extremely powerful Ladia Kazan', the reigning champion SHSM-RGSU and a rather solid team Ugra.
|
# |
Player |
Rating |
World Female Rank |
Fed. |
Team |
Board |
|
1 |
|
2535 |
9 |
RUS |
Ladia-Kazan |
1 |
|
2 |
|
2511 |
14 |
RUS |
Ladia-Kazan |
2 |
|
3 |
|
2490 |
21 |
RUS |
Ladia-Kazan |
5 |
|
4 |
|
2448 |
38 |
RUS |
SHSM-RGSU |
1 |
|
5 |
|
2435 |
46 |
UKR |
Ladia-Kazan |
3 |
|
6 |
|
2419 |
50 |
RUS |
SHSM-RGSU |
2 |
|
7 |
|
2417 |
53 |
RUS |
Ugra |
3 |
|
8 |
|
2412 |
57 |
RUS |
SPb. Chigorin’s Club |
1 |
|
9 |
|
2406 |
62 |
GEO |
Yamal |
1 |
|
10 |
|
2406 |
63 |
RUS |
Ugra |
1 |
