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Although there might not be any Super GM round-robins underway, there is no lack of good chess to enjoy at Playchess, whether it be rapid games or classical. Among the events currently running is the traditional Chigorin Memorial held in St. Petersburg, Russia, which also serves as a stage of the Russian Cup. It is a swiss tourney over nine rounds, and as one would expect of the chess-saturated country, it has a generous prize fund of 40 thousand Euros, and includes a plethora of very strong players, including four rated 2700, the most famous of whom is Mr. Fire-on-the-Board Shirov.
Chess legend Lajos Portisch is also playing
Observing the starting lineup, one oddity sticks out, the kind of which Russia seems to have no end of: the high-rated non-GM. In this case, it is 25-year-old Anton Demchenko, who is not even a GM-elect according to the FIDE site, yet holds a non-negligible 2610 FIDE rating. At the Chigorin, despite being only 23rd in the starting list, he is doing more than just being the odd-man out. His first mark was in the rapid tournament they held prior to the main open, where he came second (on tie-break) behind the impressive victor, Denis Khismatullin, who owned the tournament from end to end with 8.0/9.
Jorge Cori watches Kirill Stupak vs Denis Khismatullin
Rk |
Name | Pts |
Fed |
Rtg |
TPR |
TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
GM Khismatullin, Denis | 8.0 |
RUS |
2618 |
2859 |
52.0 |
2 |
IM Demchenko, Anton | 7.0 |
RUS |
2610 |
2731 |
52.5 |
3 |
GM Fedoseev, Vladimir | 7.0 |
RUS |
2556 |
2719 |
52.0 |
4 |
GM Halkias, Stelios | 7.0 |
GRE |
2581 |
2678 |
50.5 |
5 |
GM Lysyj, Igor | 7.0 |
RUS |
2646 |
2697 |
50.0 |
6 |
GM Grachev, Boris | 7.0 |
RUS |
2692 |
2771 |
49.5 |
7 |
GM Lenderman, Aleksandr | 7.0 |
USA |
2614 |
2726 |
47.5 |
8 |
GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim | 7.0 |
RUS |
2660 |
2715 |
47.5 |
9 |
GM Vocaturo, Daniele | 7.0 |
ITA |
2534 |
2683 |
44.5 |
10 |
GM Hovhannisyan, Robert | 6.5 |
ARM |
2610 |
2657 |
54.5 |
11 |
GM Epishin, Vladimir | 6.5 |
RUS |
2574 |
2657 |
49.5 |
12 |
GM Andriasian, Zaven | 6.5 |
ARM |
2604 |
2637 |
49.0 |
13 |
GM Socko, Bartosz | 6.5 |
POL |
2619 |
2645 |
48.0 |
14 |
GM Grigoriants, Sergey | 6.5 |
RUS |
2519 |
2611 |
48.0 |
15 |
IM Stukopin, Andrey | 6.5 |
RUS |
2456 |
2641 |
47.5 |
16 |
GM Vorobiov, Evgeny E. | 6.5 |
RUS |
2578 |
2620 |
46.0 |
17 |
GM Levin, Evgeny A. | 6.5 |
RUS |
2516 |
2573 |
45.0 |
18 |
IM Bajarani, Ulvi | 6.5 |
AZE |
2436 |
2509 |
40.5 |
Evgeny Alekseev
The top finishers in the rapid:
Denis Khismatullin (1st), organizer Vladimir Bykov,
Anton Demchenko (2nd), and Vladimir Fedoseev (3rd).
The classical game open is also doing well for him, where he is tied with three others at 6.0/7 for first, and second on tiebreak as it stands. Considering his current performance of 2799, it seems unlikely he will be able to hold the title for highest rated non-grandmaster for long (meaning he will get the title), and he will certainly be one of the names to observe here.
Ekaterina Ustich playing against Julia Pankova
Ulvi Bjarani has something to say about his dad's game
Veteran GM Mark Tseitlin
| Rk | Name | FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
TB |
|
| 1 | GM |
Shimanov Aleksandr | RUS |
2599 |
6.0 |
34.5 |
| 2 | IM |
Demchenko Anton | RUS |
2610 |
6.0 |
33.5 |
| 3 | GM |
Smirin Ilia | ISR |
2638 |
6.0 |
33.5 |
| 4 | GM |
Areshchenko Alexander | UKR |
2710 |
6.0 |
29.5 |
| 5 | GM |
Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM |
2610 |
5.5 |
33.5 |
| 6 | GM |
Vitiugov Nikita | RUS |
2691 |
5.5 |
33.5 |
| 7 | GM |
Negi Parimarjan | IND |
2657 |
5.5 |
32.0 |
| 8 | GM |
Jumabayev Rinat | KAZ |
2545 |
5.5 |
32.0 |
| 9 | GM |
Lenderman Aleksandr | USA |
2614 |
5.5 |
31.0 |
| 10 | GM |
Swiercz Dariusz | POL |
2609 |
5.5 |
30.5 |
| 11 | GM |
Bartel Mateusz | POL |
2635 |
5.5 |
30.5 |
| 12 | GM |
Neverov Valeriy | UKR |
2494 |
5.5 |
30.0 |
| 13 | FM |
Belyakov Bogdan | RUS |
2388 |
5.5 |
30.0 |
| 14 | GM |
Socko Bartosz | POL |
2619 |
5.5 |
30.0 |
| 15 | GM |
Kovalyov Anton | ARG |
2593 |
5.5 |
29.5 |
| 16 | GM |
Eljanov Pavel | UKR |
2681 |
5.5 |
29.0 |
| 17 | GM |
Akopian Vladimir | ARM |
2703 |
5.5 |
28.5 |
| 18 | GM |
Popov Ivan | RUS |
2614 |
5.5 |
28.5 |
| 19 | GM |
Shirov Alexei | LAT |
2718 |
5.5 |
28.0 |
| 20 | GM |
Grachev Boris | RUS |
2672 |
5.5 |
27.5 |
| 21 | GM |
Andriasian Zaven | ARM |
2604 |
5.5 |
25.5 |
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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