Shirov Favourite at Poikovsky Tournament
The 10th International Poikovsky tournament starts tomorrow in errr...Poikovsky, Russia. It's also known as the 'Karpov Tournament in Poikovsky', since it is held in honour of the former world champion.
The event takes place from 3-12 June, and top seed this year is Alexei Shirov (pictured) who arrives in good form after his recent win at Mtel. The full line-up is:
| Alexei Shirov | 2745 |
| Vugar Gashimov | 2730 |
| Sergei Rublevsky | 2702 |
| Arkadij Naiditsch | 2700 |
| Viktor Bologan | 2690 |
| Alexander Onischuk | 2684 |
| Zahar Efimenko | 2682 |
| Alexander Motylev | 2677 |
| Ernesto Inarkiev | 2676 |
| Emil Sutovsky | 2660 |
Games start at 3pm local time, except the final round which starts at 1pm, and there is a rest day on 8 June.
Last year's edition had a similar line-up but Shirov couldn't quite win first place outright after losing in the penultimate round to Gashimov (see game below). Perhaps he can go one better this time, but it's a strong field. The official site (in Russian) is here.
