St. Petersburg Win 2013 Russian Team Championship
The St. Petersburg team won the 2013 Russian Team Chess Championship after a nail-biting final round in Sochi.
St.Petersburg were undefeated going into the final round, but lost their last match by the narrowest of margins 3½-2½ to Rostov. That opened the door for nearest rivals Malakhit, but they could only draw 3-3 with SHSM Moscow. So St. Petersburg took first place on superior board points.
In the women's competition, Yugra took first place on superior board points from SHSM Moscow.
St.Petersburg (right) lost their final match, but still won the competition
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The final standings of the 2013 Russian Team Championship
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | SPb Chess Fed | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 26.0 |
| 2 | Malakhit Chess Club | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 24.5 |
| 3 | Yugra | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 25.0 |
| 4 | PGMB Rostov | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 24.0 |
| 5 | Economist-SGSEU | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 26.0 |
| 6 | Navigator | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 24.5 |
| 7 | Zhiguli | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 24.0 |
| 8 | SHSM Moskow | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 23.0 |
| 9 | AGU - Belorechensk | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 23.5 |
| 10 | Atom | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 16.5 |
| 11 | M.I.Chigorin Chess Club | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 21.5 |
| 12 | Kazan-2013 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 21.0 |
| 13 | Rakita Chess Club | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 20.5 |
| 14 | Yamal | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 19.5 |
| 15 | Politekhnik | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 18.5 |
| 16 | Tverskaya obl. | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 14.5 |
| 17 | EGU-Perspektiva | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 15.5 |
| 18 | Kaluzhskaya obl. | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10.0 |
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The winning St.Petersburg team were: Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, Leinier Domínguez Perez, Sergey Movsesian, Zahar Efimenko, Vadim Zvjaginsev, Ildar Khairullin and Maxim Matlakov.
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Playing for the winners Yugra, Natalia Pogonina achieved the best individual performance score of the competition with 4½/5 points for an amazing 2757 tournament performance rating!
Women's champions Yugra (left) drew 2-2 with Moscow in round four
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The final standings in the 2013 Russian Women's Team Championship
| # | Team | W | D | L | MP | BP |
| 1 | Yugra | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 14.0 |
| 2 | SHSM Moskow | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12.5 |
| 3 | AGU - Belorechensk | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10.5 |
| 4 | M.I.Chigorin Chess Club | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7.5 |
| 5 | Economist Saratov | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7.5 |
| 6 | Ladya Kazan | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8.0 |
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Photos: official website. Games via TWIC.
