
M.Chigorin Memorial 2012: Areschenko and Socko stand apart
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.

In round eight Boris Grachev faced and beat reigning world junior champion Darius Swiercz

Another important game was Alexander Shimanov against Alexander Areschenko (drawn),
here overseen by the famous theoretician GM Mark Taimanov.
Going into the final round eight players shared first with 6.5/8 and it was a hard fought round as they each tried to be the one to make a difference and get that larger share of the plunder. Of the eight players, only two were able to shine, and share the top honors: Ukrainian Alexander Areschenko (2718) who bested Alexander Lenderman (2614), and Polish Bartosz Socko (2619) who overcame Ilia Smirin (2648). Areschenko had the better tiebreak and came first with a 2784 performance, while Socko was second with a 2747 performance.

Areschenko ensured first place with this win over Lenderman in the final round
Here is Bartosz's deciding game in the final round:
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1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nh3 Bg7 5.Nf4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.Nc3 c6 8.e4 fxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 cxd5 11.Bxd5 e6 12.Bg2 0-0 13.0-0 Qc7 14.Rb1 d6 15.b3 a5 16.a4 Bd7 17.Ba3 Nf7 18.c4 Bh6 19.Bc1 Rae8 20.Re1 Bxf4 21.Bxf4 Bc6 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Qd2 g5? 24.Bxg5 Ne5 25.Rxe5! dxe5 26.Qxa5 Qf3 27.Be3 Rd8 28.Qxe5 Rd1+ 29.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 30.Kg2 Qf3+ 31.Kh3 Qf5+ 32.Qxf5 exf5 33.a5 Kf7 34.b4 Rc8 35.c5 Ke6 36.Kh4 36.b5! Ra8 36...Kd5 37.c6! bxc6 38.b6+- 36...Kd7 37.c6+! bxc6 38.b6 37.Bd2 Kd7 38.Kh4 36...Kd5 37.Kg5 Kc4 38.Kxf5 Kxb4 39.g4 Kxa5 40.h4 Kb5 41.g5 Kc6 42.Kf6 Kd5 43.h5 Rc6+ 44.Kf5 Rc8 45.g6 hxg6+ 46.hxg6 Rf8+ 47.Kg5 Rg8 48.Kf6 1–0
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Socko,B | 2619 | Smirin,I | 2638 | 1–0 | 2012 | A81 | Chigorin Memorial | 9.4 |
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As to IM Anton Demchenko (2610), one of the highlights of the previous report, he drew his game with Boris Grachev (2672), and came in fourth with 7.0/9 and a 2746 TPR. In third was Alexander Shimanov, also on 7.0/9.

16-year-old WFM Alina Bivol scored 5.0/9 and overperformed by
nearly 140 Elo.
Final standings
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