Russian Team Championships 2008 in Sochi

Try and picture an event where all of the following hold true:

All but three of the 94 participants are grandmasters (the three are strong IMs);
61 of these grandmasters are rated higher than 2600; 16 are 2700 or higher;
Number 62 in the list according to playing strength is Viktor Korchnoi;
Anatoly Karpov is number 35 on the list;
Karpov and Korchnoi are playing in the same team.

A hint: the event is being played at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, actually in the district of Dagomys, which is 18 km from the city centre and is noted for its botanical garden as well as tea plantations and factories.

Sochi is very close to the Russian border with Georgia. It is famous for its spectacular scenery, with the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains overlooking the gentle shores of the Black Sea. The resort has a temperate climate and boasts many sanatoria and mineral baths.

To put things in perspective here is the location of Sochi on a map of Russia. Yes, it is BIG!

Russian Team Championships 2008 in Sochi

The Russian Team Championships 2008 are taking place in Dagomys, Sochi, from April 1st-14th, 2008. For your enjoyment we have put together a list of all participants sorted according to their ratings (January list).

1	Morozevich, Alexander	2774
2	Shirov, Alexei	2755
3	Mamedyarov, Shakh.	2752
4	Radjabov, Teimour	2751
5	Svidler, Peter	2746
6	Ivanchuk, Vassily	2740
7	Karjakin, Sergey	2732
8	Kamsky, Gata	2732
9	Gelfand, Boris	2723
10	Ponomariov, Ruslan	2719
11	Jakovenko, Dmitry	2711
12	Alekseev, Evgeny	2711
13	Grischuk, Alexander	2711
14	Bu, Xiangzhi	2708
15	Ni, Hua	2703
16	Akopian, Vladimir	2700
17	Movsesian, Sergei	2695
18	Rublevsky, Sergei	2695
19	Eljanov, Pavel	2692
20	Malakhov, Vladimir	2689
21	Volokitin, Andrei	2684
22	Inarkiev, Ernesto	2684
23	Wang, Hao	2684
24	Gashimov, Vugar	2679
25	Harikrishna, P.	2679
26	Bareev, Evgeny	2677
27	Van Wely, Loek	2676
28	Zvjaginsev, Vadim	2674
29	Navara, David	2672
30	Onischuk, Alexander	2664
31	Timofeev, Artyom	2664
32	Efimenko, Zahar	2660

33	Roiz, Michael	2659
34	Tkachiev, Vladislav	2657
35	Karpov, Anatoly	2655
36	Areshchenko, Alex.	2650
37	Moiseenko, Alexander	2650
38	Sakaev, Konstantin	2649
39	Amonatov, Farrukh	2649
40	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	2646
41	Motylev, Alexander	2644
42	Riazantsev, Alexander	2638
43	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2634
44	Volkov, Sergey	2633
45	Dreev, Alexey	2633
46	Avrukh, Boris	2632
47	Asrian, Karen	2630
48	Sutovsky, Emil	2630
49	Tregubov, Pavel V.	2629
50	Khalifman, Alexander	2628
51	Kobalia, Mikhail	2627
52	Najer, Evgeniy	2627
53	Rodshtein, Maxim	2626
54	Krasenkow, Michal	2624
55	Lastin, Alexander	2621
56	Miton, Kamil	2620
57	Potkin, Vladimir	2617
58	Vitiugov, Nikita	2617
59	Grachev, Boris	2610
60	Khenkin, Igor	2609
61	Galkin, Alexander	2606
62	Korchnoi, Viktor	2598
63	Lysyj, Igor	2595
64	Popov, Ivan	2594

65	Kurnosov, Igor	2593
66	Khismatullin, Denis	2584
67	Turov, Maxim	2583
68	Yemelin, Vasily	2583
69	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2582
70	Andreikin, Dmitry	2580
71	Kokarev, Dmitry	2579
72	Maletin, Pavel	2574
73	Grigoriants, Sergey	2573
74	Savchenko, Boris	2569
75	Bocharov, Dmitry	2569
76	Dyachkov, Sergej	2566
77	Novikov, Stanislav	2564
78	Shomoev, Anton	2559
79	Ovetchkin, Roman	2556
80	Khairullin, Ildar	2554
81	Iljushin, Alexei	2552
82	Shaposhnikov, Evgeny	2552
83	Evdokimov, Alexander	2551
84	Romanov, Evgeny	2547
85	Kornev, Alexei	2544
86	Makarov, Marat	2535
87	Popov, Valerij	2525
88	Kosyrev, Vladimir	2522
89	Belozerov, Andrei	2521
90	Kovchan, Alexander	2513
91	Sveshnikov, Evgeny	2506
92	Kharlov, Andrei	2499
93	Ponkratov, Pavel	2499
94	Lushenkov, Mikhail	2434
94	Matsenko, Sergei	2421

And here are the teams.The list gives you a chance to learn to read these names in Cyrillic. Many of us will remember the days of the famed Kapmob-Kacmapob matches, when we first learned to decipher these characters. This is especially useful if you want to follow the results of the Russian Team Championship on the official web site, which is monolinguistically in Russian (the English site has not started with coverage).

1	«ШСМ» Москва	2604.38	«ShSM» Moscow
1	мг Онищук Александр	2664	GM Onischuk, Alexander
2	мг Асрян Карен	2630	GM Asrian, Karen
3	мг Попов Иван	2594	GM Popov, Ivan
4	мг Григорянц Сергей	2573	GM Grigoriants, Sergey
5	мг Поткин Владимир	2617	GM Potkin, Vladimir
6	мг Красенков Михаил	2624	GM Krasenkow, Michal
7	мг Савченко Борис	2569	GM Savchenko, Boris
8	мг Новиков С.	2564	GM Novikov, Stanislav
2	«ТПС-Саранск»	2639.38	«TPS-Saransk»
1	мг Иванчук Василий	2740	GM Ivanchuk, Vassily
2	мг Сакаев Константин	2649	GM Sakaev, Konstantin
3	мг Волокитин Андрей	2684	GM Volokitin, Andrei
4	мг Сутовский Эмиль	2630	GM Sutovsky, Emil
5	мг Кобалия Михаил	2627	GM Kobalia, Mikhail
6	мг Волков Сергей	2633	GM Volkov, Sergey
7	мг Наер Евгений	2627	GM Najer, Evgeniy
8	мг Попов Валерий	2525	GM Popov, Valerij
3	«ФИНЭК» Санкт-Петербург	2638.13	«FINEK» St. Peterburg
1	мг Свидлер Петр	2746	GM Svidler, Peter
2	мг Звягинцев Вадим	2674	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim
3	мг Мовсесян Сергей	2695	GM Movsesian, Sergei
4	мг Навара Давид	2672	GM Navara, David
5	мг Витюгов Никита	2617	GM Vitiugov, Nikita
6	мг Туров Максим	2583	GM Turov, Maxim
7	мг Емелин Василий	2583	GM Yemelin, Vasily
8	мг Макаров Марат	2535	GM Makarov, Marat
4	«Спасио» Москва	2638.63	«Spasio» Moscow
1	мг Пономарев Руслан	2719	GM Ponomariov, Ruslan
2	мг Хенкин Игорь	2609	GM Khenkin, Igor
3	мг Мамедьяров Шахрияр	2752	GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
4	мг Инаркиев Эрнесто	2684	GM Inarkiev, Ernesto
5	мг Ткачев Владислав	2657	GM Tkachiev, Vladislav
6	мг Александров Алексей	2582	GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej
7	мг Хисматуллин Денис	2584	GM Khismatullin, Denis
8	мг Косырев Владимир	2522	GM Kosyrev, Vladimir
5	«Экономист-СГСЭУ-2» Саратов	2536.5	Economist-SGSEU-2 Saratov
1	мг Андрейкин Дмитрий	2580	GM Andreikin, Dmitry
2	мг Евдокимов Александр	2551	GM Evdokimov, Alexander A.
3	мг Илюшин Алексей	2552	GM Iljushin, Alexei
4	мг Шапошников Евгений	2552	GM Shaposhnikov, Evgeny
5	мг Корнев Алексей	2544	GM Kornev, Alexei
6	мг Дьячков Сергей	2566	GM Dyachkov, Sergej
7	мг Ковчан Александр	2513	GM Kovchan, Alexander
8	мм Лушенков Михаил	2434	IM Lushenkov, Mikhail
6	«Томск – 400»	2645.75	Tomsk-400
1	мг Морозевич Александр	2774	GM Morozevich, Alexander
2	мг Карякин Сергей	2732	GM Karjakin, Sergey
3	мг Яковенко Дмитрий	2711	GM Jakovenko, Dmitry
4	мг Ван Вели Люк	2676	GM Van Wely, Loek
5	мг Тимофеев Артем	2664	GM Timofeev, Artyom
6	мг Харлов Андрей	2499	GM Kharlov, Andrei
7	мг Белозеров Андрей	2521	GM Belozerov, Andrei
7	«Политехник» Нижний Тагил	2599.13	Polytechnik Nizhny Tagil
1	мг Ефименко Захар	2660	GM Efimenko, Zahar
2	мг Арещенко Алексадр	2650	GM Areshchenko, Alexander
3	мг Грачев Борис	2610	GM Grachev, Boris
4	мг Лысый Игорь	2595	GM Lysyj, Igor
5	мг Бочаров Дмитрий	2569	GM Bocharov, Dmitry
6	мг Малетин Павел	2574	GM Maletin, Pavel
7	мг Кокорев Дмитрий	2579	GM Kokarev, Dmitry
8	мг Овечкин Роман	2556	GM Ovetchkin, Roman
8	«Экономист-СГСЭУ-1» Саратов	2653.5	Economist-SGSEU-1 Saratov
1	мг Алексеев Евгений	2711	GM Alekseev, Evgeny
2	мг Томашевский Евгений	2646	GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny
3	мг Эльянов Павел	2692	GM Eljanov, Pavel
4	мг Ни Хуа	2703	GM Ni, Hua
5	мг Ройз Михаил	2659	GM Roiz, Michael
6	мг Моисеенко Александр	2650	GM Moiseenko, Alexander
7	мг Галкин Александр	2606	GM Galkin, Alexander
8	мг Хайруллин Ильдар	2554	GM Khairullin, Ildar
9	«Урал» Екатеринбург	2702.25	Ural Ekaterinburg
1	мг Раджабов Теймур	2751	GM Radjabov, Teimour
2	мг Широв Алексей	2755	GM Shirov, Alexei
3	мг Камский Гата	2732	GM Kamsky, Gata
4	мг Грищук Александр	2711	GM Grischuk, Alexander
5	мг Малахов Владимир	2689	GM Malakhov, Vladimir
6	мг Акопян Владимир	2700	GM Akopian, Vladimir
7	мг Дреев Алексей	2633	GM Dreev, Alexey
8	мг Мотылев Александр	2644	GM Motylev, Alexander
10	«Шатар» Республика Бурятия	2637.13	Shatar Buryatia
1	мг Гашимов Вугар	2679	GM Gashimov, Vugar
2	мг Бу Сяньджи	2708	GM Bu, Xiangzhi
3	мг Митонь Камиль	2620	GM Miton, Kamil
4	мг Трегубов Павел	2629	GM Tregubov, Pavel V.
5	мг Шомоев Антон	2559	GM Shomoev, Anton
6	мг Аврух Борис	2632	GM Avrukh, Boris
7	мг Амонатов Фаррух	2649	GM Amonatov, Farrukh
8	мг Ластин Александр	2621	GM Lastin, Alexander
11	«Южный Урал» Челябинск	2557.13	Southern Ural Chelyabinsk
1	мг Карпов Анатолий	2655	GM Karpov, Anatoly
2	мг Рязанцев Александр	2638	GM Riazantsev, Alexander
3	мг Корчной Виктор	2598	GM Korchnoi, Viktor
4	мг Курносов Игорь	2593	GM Kurnosov, Igor
5	мг Свешников Евгений	2506	GM Sveshnikov, Evgeny
6	мг Романов Евгений	2547	GM Romanov, Evgeny
7	мм Понкратов Павел	2499	IM Ponkratov, Pavel
8	мм Маценко Сергей	2421	IM Matsenko, Sergei
12	«64» Москва	2668.25	«64» Moscow
1	мг Гельфанд Борис	2723	GM Gelfand, Boris
2	мг Рублевский Сергей	2695	GM Rublevsky, Sergei
3	мг Непомнящий Ян	2634	GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian
4	мг Харикришна Пентала	2679	GM Harikrishna, P.
5	мг Ван Хао	2684	GM Wang, Hao
6	мг Бареев Евгений	2677	GM Bareev, Evgeny
7	мг Халифман Александр	2628	GM Khalifman, Alexander
8	мг Родштейн Максим	2626	GM Rodshtein, Maxim

You can follow the results on the official Russian web site (with the help of our "translation tables" above). All games are being broadcast live on Playchess.com.

Standings after four rounds

Rnk	Team	Pts	B.-pts
1	Ural Yekaterinburg	8	16.5
2-3	Economist-SGSEU-1 Saratov	6	14.0
2-3	Shatar Buryatia	6	13.0
4-5	Finek St. Petersburg	5	12.5
4-5	64 Moscow	5	12.5
6-8	ShSM Moscow	4	12.5
6-8	TPS Saransk	4	12.0
6-8	Spasio Moscow	4	11.5
9-10	Polytechnik Nizhny Tagil	3	11.0
9-10	Economist-SGSEU-2 Saratov	3	10.0
11-12	Southern Ural Chelyabinsk	0	9.5
11-12	Tomsk 400	0	9.0

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