Sjugirov leads Russian Championship, Higher League

Sanan Sjugirov is in sole first place after 6 rounds at the 'Higher League' of the Russian Championship. The 18-year-old Russian grandmaster scored 5/6 and is followed by Artyom Timofeev who is the only player with 4.5 points. The tournament is a qualifier for the main championship later this year.

A banner in a Taganrog street advertising the tournament The Higher League of the Russian Championships for Men and Women takes place June 15-26, 2001 in Taganrog, Russia. As always the title of the tournament is slightly misleading as it is basically a qualifier for the Russian Championships that will be held at the end of the year.

The top players in the men's section are Nikita Vitiugov (2733), Dmitry Jakovenko (2732), Evgeny Tomashevsky (2707), Alexander Morozevich (2694), Vladimir Potkin (2682), Sergei Rublevsky (2682), Mikhail Kobalia (2679) and Ernesto Inarkiev (2679). They're all trying to finish among the first three places, who qualify for the 'Super Final'. (In the women's section the first five qualify.)

Taganrog, where the tournament is held, is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay (Sea of Azov), several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River.






The city is also famous for being the birthplace of one the greatest playwrights and short-story writers in the history of world literature, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904). Anna Burtasova, who reports for the Russian Chess Federation's website, visited Chekhov's house during an excursion:







Back to the tournament. At a press conference before the opening ceremony the chairman of the Russian Chess Federation Ilya Levitov said that it was logical to hold the tournament in the Rostov region. "It's one of the most active regions in Russia as far as chess is concerned." When Alexander Morozevich was asked about his ambitions, the famous grandmaster answered: "I haven't taken part in tournaments for a long time. My goal is to see if I can still play chess."



During the first couple of rounds the talk of the town was about GM Dmitry Chuprov. In the first round he arrived too late for the round - in Taganrog a 15-minute delay is allowed but Chuprov still wasn't there a quarter past the starting time. When he arrived after about half an hour, he was told that his opponent, Denis Khismatullin, had won the game by default.

And then, during the second round, Chuprov lost his second game by default as well, when he was found walking in the street and in the lobby during the game, which was not allowed according to the regulations. Subsequently, Chuprov was disqualified from the tournament. He then appealed, and the arbiters decided there was no clear regulation saying they could disqualify him, so Chuprov is still playing.



18-year-old Sanan Sjugirov had an excellent start with five points out of six games. Yesterday he defeated co-leader Evgeny Najer with the black pieces. Artyom Timofeev scored 4.5/6 and then nine players follow with 4/6, among them Alexander Morozevich.

Selection of games rounds 1-6

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Russian Championship 2011 | Higher League | Round 6 Standings (top 40)

Rk	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Sjugirov Sanan	GM	RUS	2629	5.0	18.5	18.5	4
2	Timofeev Artyom	GM	RUS	2665	4.5	17.5	15.0	3
3	Najer Evgeniy	GM	RUS	2643	4.0	20.0	16.5	3
4	Kurnosov Igor	GM	RUS	2633	4.0	20.0	15.5	3
5	Matlakov Maxim	GM	RUS	2632	4.0	20.0	14.5	2
6	Galkin Alexander	GM	RUS	2598	4.0	19.5	16.0	2
7	Khismatullin Denis	GM	RUS	2656	4.0	19.0	14.5	3
8	Zvjaginsev Vadim	GM	RUS	2659	4.0	18.5	15.5	2
9	Volkov Sergey	GM	RUS	2615	4.0	18.5	15.5	2
10	Tomashevsky Evgeny	GM	RUS	2707	4.0	18.5	15.0	2
11	Vitiugov Nikita	GM	RUS	2733	4.0	17.0	14.0	2
11	Morozevich Alexander	GM	RUS	2694	4.0	17.0	14.0	2
13	Alekseev Evgeny	GM	RUS	2673	4.0	16.5	15.0	2
14	Khalifman Alexander	GM	RUS	2627	3.5	18.5	13.5	1
15	Grachev Boris	GM	RUS	2669	3.5	18.0	13.5	1
16	Romanov Evgeny	GM	RUS	2624	3.5	18.0	13.5	1
17	Lysyj Igor	GM	RUS	2629	3.5	18.0	12.5	1
18	Reshetnikov Alexey	IM	RUS	2487	3.5	18.0	10.5	2
19	Savchenko Boris	GM	RUS	2630	3.5	17.5	13.5	3
20	Ponkratov Pavel	GM	RUS	2582	3.5	17.5	13.0	2
21	Jakovenko Dmitry	GM	RUS	2732	3.5	17.0	13.0	2
22	Lintchevski Daniil	GM	RUS	2543	3.5	17.0	11.0	2
23	Inarkiev Ernesto	GM	RUS	2679	3.5	16.5	12.5	2
24	Potkin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2682	3.5	16.0	12.5	1
25	Bukavshin Ivan	IM	RUS	2502	3.5	16.0	11.5	3
26	Kryakvin Dmitry	GM	RUS	2551	3.5	16.0	11.0	3
27	Rublevsky Sergei	GM	RUS	2682	3.5	13.5	10.5	2
28	Fedoseev Vladimir	GM	RUS	2506	3.5	13.5	10.0	3
29	Sakaev Konstantin	GM	RUS	2629	3.5	13.0	11.0	1
30	Landa Konstantin	GM	RUS	2613	3.0	18.5	12.0	1
31	Bocharov Dmitry	GM	RUS	2580	3.0	17.0	9.5	2
32	Kornev Alexei	GM	RUS	2511	3.0	16.5	11.5	2
33	Danin Alexandre	GM	RUS	2534	3.0	16.0	10.0	1
34	Evdokimov Alexander A	GM	RUS	2561	3.0	15.5	10.0	2
35	Khairullin Ildar	GM	RUS	2649	3.0	15.5	9.0	1
36	Sek Konstantin		RUS	2432	3.0	15.0	8.0	2
37	Kosintseva Tatiana	GM	RUS	2559	3.0	13.0	7.0	2
38	Frolyanov Dmitry	GM	RUS	2599	2.5	19.0	11.5	1
39	Chadaev Nikolai	GM	RUS	2577	2.5	18.5	9.5	1
40	Papin Vasily	GM	RUS	2565	2.5	18.0	11.5	1

Photos © Anna Burtasova for the Russian Chess Federation

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