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The incredibly strong Russian Team Championship is under way in Sochi, Russia. The single round robin tournament features the strongest Russian squads. The matches are 6v6, with each team having six player in their line-up plus two reserves.
With only one round to go in Sochi it is the Siberian team that is currently leading, and that should be no surprise as they field an incredibly impressive line-up:
| 8. Siberia (Novosibirsk) (RtgAvg: 2726 / TB1: 12 / TB2: 23.5) | |||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | FideID | Pts. | Games | |
| 1 | GM | Kramnik Vladimir | 2777 | RUS | 4101588 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 2 | GM | Aronian Levon | 2776 | ARM | 13300474 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 3 | GM | Jakovenko Dmitry | 2738 | RUS | 4122356 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| 4 | GM | Wang Yue | 2724 | CHN | 8601429 | 3.5 | 6.0 |
| 5 | GM | Anton Korobov | 2708 | UKR | 14105730 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| 6 | GM | Kokarev Dmitry | 2635 | RUS | 4132181 | 3.5 | 6.0 |
| 7 | GM | Bocharov Dmitry | 2577 | RUS | 4138716 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| 8 | GM | Pavel Maletin | 2587 | RUS | 4146786 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
They are the highest rated team and are currently leading with 12.0/12, having won every single one of their matches. However it is not as if their rating advantage was very big. The second rated team is from Saint Petersburg:
| 5. Bronze Horseman (St. Petersburg) (RtgAvg: 2711 / TB1: 8 / TB2: 22) | |||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | FideID | Pts. | Games | |
| 1 | GM | Peter Svidler | 2734 | RUS | 4102142 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| 2 | GM | Vitiugov Nikita | 2736 | RUS | 4152956 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| 3 | GM | Dominguez Perez Leinier | 2734 | CUB | 3503240 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 4 | GM | Maxim Matlakov | 2694 | RUS | 4168003 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| 5 | GM | Maxim Rodshtein | 2682 | ISR | 2806851 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| 6 | GM | Khairullin Ildar | 2649 | RUS | 4151348 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 7 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2683 | RUS | 24130737 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| 8 | GM | Saric Ivan | 2641 | CRO | 14508150 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
However they are currently in third place. The team lead by Radoslaw Wojtaszek is sitting in second:
| 3. University (Belorechensk) (RtgAvg:2692 / TB1: 10 / TB2: 21.5) | |||||||
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | FED | FideID | Pts. | Games | |
| 1 | GM | Wojtaszek Radoslaw | 2746 | POL | 1118358 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| 2 | GM | Dmitry Andreikin | 2723 | RUS | 4158814 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| 3 | GM | Jobava Baadur | 2699 | GEO | 13601520 | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| 4 | GM | Rublevsky Sergei | 2698 | RUS | 4115309 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 5 | GM | Evgeny Alekseev | 2653 | RUS | 4138147 | 2.5 | 5.0 |
| 6 | GM | Landa Konstantin | 2634 | RUS | 4101685 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| 7 | GM | Tregubova Pavel V. | 2571 | RUS | 4115341 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| 8 | GM | Aleksandrov Alexei | 2605 | BLR | 13500139 | 2.5 | 4.0 |
Siberia has really been dominating the event. After winning by the minimum margin against Malachite, Saint Petersburg and Lada, they proceeded to mercilessly crush their opponents. Despite Kramnik's loss in the first round to Shirov he has had quite a good tournament. Aronian's 3.5/5 isn't hurting either, but even better is Jakovenko's brilliant performance with 4.0/5. Wang Yue's and Kokarev;s +1 results have been good enough to give the team the victories it needs, not to mention Bocharov's 2.0/2.
With Siberia playing Yamal, who currently sits in last, it seems as if the tournament is really wrapped up. However things are not so clear in the fight for second place. Saint Petersburg is in third, but still holds their own fate in their hands. A victory over Belorechenks will allow them to catch up on match points and easily pass them on board points.
These are the current standings:
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Sibir (Novosibirsk) | * | 4 | 3½ | 3½ | 4½ | 3½ | 4½ | 12 | 23.5 | 0 | |
| 2 | University (Belorechensk) | 2 | * | 3½ | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 4½ | 10 | 21.5 | 0 | |
| 3 | Bronze Horseman (St. Petersburg) | 2½ | * | 2½ | 3½ | 3½ | 4 | 6 | 8 | 22.0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Malachite (Sverdlovsk region) | 2½ | 2½ | 3½ | * | 2½ | 4 | 4 | 6 | 19.0 | 0 | |
| 5 | SHSM-Our Heritage (Moscow) | 1½ | 2½ | 2½ | 3½ | * | 3½ | 3½ | 6 | 17.0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Lada (Samara region) | 2½ | 2 | 2½ | 2 | * | 4 | 3½ | 4 | 16.5 | 0 | |
| 7 | Rook (Kazan) | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 2½ | 2 | * | 3 | 1 | 13.0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Yamal (YaNAO) | 1½ | 0 | 2 | 2½ | 2½ | 3 | * | 1 | 11.5 | 0 |
Alexander Grischuk is Malachite's first board
University of Belorechensk is currently in second place.
This is in no small part thanks to Sergei Rublevsky's strong performance.
Dmitry Andreikin with 3.0/5 on board two (University of Belorechensk)
Life isn't so bad when you have two top-10 players on your team
Dmitry Jakovenko has been a star for Siberia
Gata Kamsky, board one for Kazan
The always creative Baadur Jobava
Wojtaszek's team has to hold the draw tomorrow to retain their second place
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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