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


Russian Championship 2011 | Higher League | Round 11 (Final) Standings (top 40)

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

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