Russian Higher League Championship Concludes
The heyday of unchallenged Soviet domination of world chess is long gone, but modern day Russia still has an astonishing strength in depth at the royal game.
The Russian Championship 'Higher League' Final is an 11-round Swiss event which serves as a qualifier for the actual Russian championship, which will be held later next month.
The 2008 'Higher League' Final recently concluded, with Artyom Timofeev (pictured) emerging victorious with an impressive 8/11 against a strong field.
23-year old Timofeev is currently ranked 73rd on the FIDE ranking list and will now have a chance to play for the Russian Championship.
The final standings below give an idea of how fierce the competition was, and emphasises that Russia has more top quality players than you can shake a stick at.
Here is Timofeev's impressive win in a tactical tussle with Ernesto Inarkiev in round 8.
| 1 | Timofeev, Artyom | 2650 | 8 |
| 2 | Vitiugov, Nikita | 2616 | 7½ |
| 3 | Inarkiev, Ernesto | 2675 | 7½ |
| 4 | Lastin, Alexander | 2639 | 7 |
| 5 | Sakaev, Konstantin | 2635 | 7 |
| 6 | Kobalia, Mikhail | 2618 | 7 |
| 7 | Riazantsev, Alexander | 2617 | 7 |
| 8 | Galkin, Alexander | 2615 | 7 |
| 9 | Maslak, Konstantin | 2521 | 7 |
| 10 | Najer, Evgeniy | 2670 | 7 |
| 11 | Grachev, Boris | 2640 | 7 |
| 12 | Motylev, Alexander | 2674 | 6½ |
| 13 | Smikovski, Ivan | 2554 | 6½ |
| 14 | Maletin, Pavel | 2545 | 6 |
| 15 | Volkov, Sergey1 | 2636 | 6 |
| 16 | Tregubov, Pavel V | 2658 | 6 |
| 17 | Kokarev, Dmitry | 2582 | 6 |
| 18 | Kornev, Alexei | 2523 | 6 |
| 19 | Yakovich, Yuri | 2566 | 6 |
| 20 | Lysyj, Igor | 2596 | 6 |
| 21 | Bocharov, Dmitry | 2582 | 6 |
| 22 | Sjugirov, Sanan | 2545 | 5½ |
| 23 | Landa, Konstantin | 2615 | 5½ |
| 24 | Smirnov, Pavel | 2592 | 5½ |
| 25 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2602 | 5½ |
| 26 | Vorobiov, Evgeny E | 2550 | 5½ |
| 27 | Khalifman, Alexander | 2634 | 5½ |
| 28 | Deviatkin, Andrei | 2567 | 5½ |
| 29 | Chadaev, Nikolai | 2535 | 5½ |
| 30 | Potkin, Vladimir | 2629 | 5½ |
| 31 | Kryakvin, Dmitry | 2565 | 5½ |
| 32 | Shaposhnikov, Evgeny | 2558 | 5½ |
| 33 | Amonatov, Farrukh | 2650 | 5½ |
| 34 | Khismatullin, Denis | 2613 | 5½ |
| 35 | Chuprov, Dmitry | 2577 | 5½ |
| 36 | Matlakov, Maxim | 2484 | 5 |
| 37 | Zvjaginsev, Vadim | 2663 | 5 |
| 38 | Lintchevski, Daniil | 2506 | 5 |
| 39 | Malakhov, Vladimir | 2689 | 5 |
| 40 | Korotylev, Alexey | 2609 | 5 |
