Morozevich wins Higher League
Alexander Morozevich yesterday won the Higher League of the Russian Championship. The former world's number 2 finished clear first with 8/11, half a point more than Artyom Timofeev and Alexander Galkin, who also qualified for the main championship later this year.General info
The Higher League of the Russian Championships for Men and Women took place June 15-26, 2001 in Taganrog, Russia. It was a qualifier for the Russian Championships that will be held in August. Top participants included Vitiugov (2733), Jakovenko (2732), Tomashevsky (2707), Morozevich (2694), Potkin (2682), Rublevsky (2682), Kobalia (2679) and Inarkiev (2679). More info here.Rounds 9-11
In our previous report we noted that in round 8 Morozevich grabbed the lead in Taganrog, refuting a piece sacrifice by Artyom Timofeev. The next round saw a great fight between Morozevich and Sjugirov.Morozevich-Sjugirov Taganrog 2011
50... Qh2+ 51. Nh4 Qe2 52. Nf5 Qh2+ 53. Kg5!?
Morozevich decides to go for more than a draw, and walks his king up the board.
53... Rg8+ 54. Kf6 
54... Qb2+?!
54... h5 seems enough for a draw: 55. Ne7 (55. Qe5 hxg4 56. Ke6+ Kh7 57. Qc7+ Kh8) 55... hxg4 56. Nxg8 Qh4+! 57. Kf7 (57. Ke6 Kxg8) 57... Qh7+ 58. Kf6 Qg7+ 59. Kf5 Qxg8.
55. Ke6 Re8+ 56. Kf7! Qe5 57. Qxc4!
Amazingly, not only doesn't Black have a check, but he cannot even seriously threaten one!57... Ra8
57... Rb8 58. Qe4! or 57... Rd8 58. Qc6.
58. Qd4! Qxd4 59. Nxd4 Rxa4 60. Ne6 and White won the ending.
Timofeev kept his chances to win the tournament. He remained half a point behind Morozevich by beating Inarkiev in a theoretical line of the 6.h3 King's Indian where Black sacrifices a piece.The next day Morozevich was under pressure against Rublevsky, who could safely play for a win holding the bishop pair in an ending. Eventually the game was drawn with only pawns and opposite-coloured bishops. Timofeev, also playing the black pieces, drew with Zvjaginsev. By then Alexander Galkin, the 1999 World Junior Champion, had joined Timofeev in second place.In the last round Morozevich, and probably also Galkin, needed a draw to secure the qualification for the Super Final - they did so in 15 moves. As Timofeev also drew his game with Tomashevsky, Morozevich finished in clear first place. It was an excellent return to the chess scene after six months of inactivity, and many chess fans eagerly await his participation in Biel next month.
Selection of games rounds 9-11
Game viewer by ChessTempo| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Morozevich Alexander | GM | RUS | 2694 | 8.0 | 63.0 | 47.5 | 5 |
| 2 | Timofeev Artyom | GM | RUS | 2665 | 7.5 | 66.5 | 47.0 | 5 |
| 3 | Galkin Alexander | GM | RUS | 2598 | 7.5 | 66.0 | 47.0 | 4 |
| 4 | Tomashevsky Evgeny | GM | RUS | 2707 | 7.0 | 65.5 | 43.5 | 3 |
| 5 | Sjugirov Sanan | GM | RUS | 2629 | 7.0 | 65.0 | 48.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Matlakov Maxim | GM | RUS | 2632 | 7.0 | 63.5 | 43.5 | 3 |
| 7 | Inarkiev Ernesto | GM | RUS | 2679 | 7.0 | 63.5 | 41.0 | 5 |
| 8 | Volkov Sergey | GM | RUS | 2615 | 7.0 | 63.0 | 44.5 | 3 |
| 9 | Zvjaginsev Vadim | GM | RUS | 2659 | 7.0 | 62.0 | 44.5 | 3 |
| 10 | Grachev Boris | GM | RUS | 2669 | 7.0 | 61.0 | 41.0 | 3 |
| 11 | Rublevsky Sergei | GM | RUS | 2682 | 7.0 | 60.0 | 39.5 | 4 |
| 12 | Fedoseev Vladimir | GM | RUS | 2506 | 7.0 | 55.0 | 35.5 | 6 |
| 13 | Vitiugov Nikita | GM | RUS | 2733 | 6.5 | 62.5 | 41.5 | 2 |
| 14 | Alekseev Evgeny | GM | RUS | 2673 | 6.5 | 61.5 | 41.5 | 3 |
| 15 | Kornev Alexei | GM | RUS | 2511 | 6.5 | 59.0 | 36.0 | 4 |
| 16 | Khairullin Ildar | GM | RUS | 2649 | 6.5 | 57.5 | 35.0 | 3 |
| 17 | Najer Evgeniy | GM | RUS | 2643 | 6.0 | 66.0 | 42.5 | 3 |
| 18 | Savchenko Boris | GM | RUS | 2630 | 6.0 | 64.0 | 41.0 | 5 |
| 19 | Lysyj Igor | GM | RUS | 2629 | 6.0 | 63.5 | 38.0 | 2 |
| 20 | Romanov Evgeny | GM | RUS | 2624 | 6.0 | 61.0 | 36.0 | 3 |
| 21 | Lintchevski Daniil | GM | RUS | 2543 | 6.0 | 60.5 | 35.0 | 3 |
| 22 | Potkin Vladimir | GM | RUS | 2682 | 6.0 | 59.0 | 37.0 | 2 |
| 23 | Kobalia Mikhail | GM | RUS | 2679 | 6.0 | 58.0 | 34.0 | 4 |
| 24 | Kryakvin Dmitry | GM | RUS | 2551 | 6.0 | 57.0 | 36.5 | 4 |
| 25 | Shomoev Anton | GM | RUS | 2566 | 6.0 | 57.0 | 32.5 | 4 |
| 26 | Kurnosov Igor | GM | RUS | 2633 | 5.5 | 62.0 | 39.5 | 3 |
| 27 | Reshetnikov Alexey | IM | RUS | 2487 | 5.5 | 61.5 | 34.0 | 2 |
| 28 | Jakovenko Dmitry | GM | RUS | 2732 | 5.5 | 61.0 | 38.5 | 3 |
| 29 | Landa Konstantin | GM | RUS | 2613 | 5.5 | 60.0 | 37.0 | 3 |
| 30 | Bukavshin Ivan | IM | RUS | 2502 | 5.5 | 59.5 | 36.5 | 4 |
| 31 | Evdokimov Alexander A | GM | RUS | 2561 | 5.5 | 59.0 | 33.0 | 3 |
| 32 | Papin Vasily | GM | RUS | 2565 | 5.5 | 57.0 | 34.0 | 3 |
| 33 | Bocharov Dmitry | GM | RUS | 2580 | 5.5 | 57.0 | 31.0 | 3 |
| 34 | Grigoriants Sergey | GM | RUS | 2562 | 5.5 | 56.0 | 32.5 | 2 |
| 35 | Danin Alexandre | GM | RUS | 2534 | 5.5 | 54.0 | 31.5 | 3 |
| 36 | Kosintseva Tatiana | GM | RUS | 2559 | 5.5 | 52.0 | 29.5 | 4 |
| 37 | Khismatullin Denis | GM | RUS | 2656 | 5.0 | 63.0 | 36.0 | 3 |
| 38 | Ponkratov Pavel | GM | RUS | 2582 | 5.0 | 60.5 | 34.0 | 2 |
| 39 | Chadaev Nikolai | GM | RUS | 2577 | 5.0 | 59.5 | 29.0 | 2 |
| 40 | Vorobiov Evgeny E | GM | RUS | 2570 | 5.0 | 56.0 | 29.0 | 2 |
Tatiana Kosintseva played in the men's section and finished 36th. The women's tournament was won by IM Elena Zaiatz, who qualified for the Women's Super Final together with Baira Kovanova, Valentina Gunina, Daria Charochkina and Tatiana Shadrina.
Photos © Anna Burtasova for the Russian Chess Federation
