Morozevich Wins In Saratov
Alexander Morozevich has won the Saratov Governor's Cup in Russia with a score of 8½/11.
Morozevich dominated the 12-player single round robin tournament, and his powerful performance has lifted him to #9 on the unofficial world live ranking list.
Top seed Ruslan Ponomariov could only manage a mid-table finish with 5/11, and Alexei Shirov uncharacteristically drew all his games to score 5½/11.
Nikita Vitiugov withdrew due to illness after 9 rounds, and thereby defaulted his two remaining games to Peter Leko and Ni Hua.
Alexander Morozevich demonstrating his third round win in Saratov
The final results table:
| Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2737 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 8½ |
| Tomashevsky, Evgeny | RUS | 2710 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| Leko, Peter | HUN | 2728 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6½ |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2662 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6 |
| Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2713 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2758 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5 |
| Roiz, Michael | ISR | 2668 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5 |
| Moiseenko, Alexander | UKR | 2726 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5 |
| Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2683 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5 |
| Vitiugov, Nikita | RUS | 2726 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 4½ |
| Andreikin, Dmitry | RUS | 2705 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 4 |
| Ni, Hua | CHN | 2670 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | 4 |
The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes to a finish, with a 30 second increment from the first move.
Photo from the official website.
