Russian Team Championships 2008 in Sochi
The Russian Team Championships 2008 took place in Dagomys, Sochi, from April
1st-14th, 2008. A total of 91 grandmasters (and three IMs) participated as members
of twelve different teams. 61 GMs were rated higher than 2600, 16 were 2700
or higher.
The event was won by the team from Ural Yekaterinburg, consisting of Teimour
Radjabov, Alexei Shirov, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Grischuk, Vladimir Malakhov,
Vladimir Akopian, Alexey Dreev, and Alexander Motylev. Note that the team had
an average rating of over 2700 (in kursive with an exclam: an average rating
of over 2700!), that five players were 2700 or higher, and that the lowest
board player had a rating of 2644. Bozhe moi!
Final standings
Rnk |
Team |
Pts |
B.-pts |
1 |
Ural Yekaterinburg |
17 |
39.5 |
2 |
Economist 1 Saratov |
15 |
37.0 |
3 |
TPS Saransk |
14 |
37.0 |
4 |
Finek St Petersburg |
14 |
35.5 |
5 |
Spasio-Swiss Moscow |
12 |
34.5 |
6 |
Shatar Buryatia |
12 |
34.0 |
7 |
64 Moscow |
11 |
32.0 |
8 |
SHSM Moscow |
10 |
33.5 |
9 |
Tomsk 400 Tomsk |
10 |
31.0 |
10 |
Politekhnik Nizhny Tagil |
9 |
31.0 |
11 |
South Ural Chelyabinsk |
5 |
27.5 |
12 |
Economist 2 Saratov |
3 |
23.5 |
The top winning teams and their average ratings were the following:
1. Ural Ekaterinburg |
2702.25 |
GM Radjabov, Teimour |
2751 |
GM Shirov, Alexei |
2755 |
GM Kamsky, Gata |
2732 |
GM Grischuk, Alexander |
2711 |
GM Malakhov, Vladimir |
2689 |
GM Akopian, Vladimir |
2700 |
GM Dreev, Alexey |
2633 |
GM Motylev, Alexander |
2644 |
|
2. Economist-1 Saratov |
2653.5 |
GM Alekseev, Evgeny |
2711 |
GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny |
2646 |
GM Eljanov, Pavel |
2692 |
GM Ni, Hua |
2703 |
GM Roiz, Michael |
2659 |
GM Moiseenko, Alexander |
2650 |
GM Galkin, Alexander |
2606 |
GM Khairullin, Ildar |
2554 |
|
3. «TPS-Saransk» |
2639.38 |
GM Ivanchuk, Vassily |
2740 |
GM Sakaev, Konstantin |
2649 |
GM Volokitin, Andrei |
2684 |
GM Sutovsky, Emil |
2630 |
GM Kobalia, Mikhail |
2627 |
GM Volkov, Sergey |
2633 |
GM Najer, Evgeniy |
2627 |
GM Popov, Valerij |
2525 |
|
4. «FINEK» St. Peterburg |
2638.13 |
GM Svidler, Peter |
2746 |
GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim |
2674 |
GM Movsesian, Sergei |
2695 |
GM Navara, David |
2672 |
GM Vitiugov, Nikita |
2617 |
GM Turov, Maxim |
2583 |
GM Yemelin, Vasily |
2583 |
GM Makarov, Marat |
2535 |
|
The big disappointment, of course, was Tomsk-400, one of the top teams with
Alexander Morozevich, Sergey Karjakin, Dmitry Jakovenko, Loek van Wely, Artyom
Timofeev, Andrei Kharlov, and Andrei Belozerov, all GMs and with an average
playing strength of 2645.75. The team were apparently celebrating something,
and appeared inebriated
for round seven – behaviour that was punished with a fine of tens
of dollars.
Picture gallery
By WGM Irina Sudakova, Anna Ushenina and Julia Gromova

Teammates Gata Kamsky and Teimour Radjabov playing for Ural Ekaterinburg

5.5/9: Alexei Shirov, performing at 2734 on board two for the winning Ural
team

6.5/11 Sergey "You-talkin'-to-me?" Karjakin, with a 2726 performance
on board two for Tomsk

1.0/5: Pavel Tregubov with a disappointing 2439 board four performance for
Shatar Buryatia

4.5/9: Boris Gelfand playing at 2713 on board one for 64 Moscow

6.5/10: Bu Xiangzhi with a sterling 2770 performance on board two for Shatar
Buryatia

The Southern Ural team with Alexander Riazantsev, Viktor Korchnoi, Evgeny Sveshnikov
and Evgeny Romanov

Kamsky vs Korchnoi in the encounter Ural Ekaterinburg vs Southern Ural (Kamsky
won)

7.5/11: Sergei Movsesian, playing at 2767 on board three for «FINEK» St.
Peterburg

8.0/11: top scorer Wang Hao with a 2795 performance on board five for «64»
Moscow

4.0/9: Pentala Harikrishna performed at 2596 on board four for «64»
Moscow
Women's Team Championship
Alongside the men's championship, a women's championship also took place.
This featured many of the world's top female players, including Antoaneta Stefanova,
Natalia Zhukova, Viktorija Cmilyte, Zhao Xue, Xu Yuhua, Elisabeth Paehtz, Kateryna
Lahno, and others.
As the final
table shows, the winners were Finec St Petersburg, who fielded a team of
Ekaterina Korbut, Viktorija Cmilyte, Natalia Zhukova, Julia Demina and Irina
Turova. They finished a point clear of top-seeded Spartak Vidnoye (Zhao Xue,
Xu Yuhua, Tatiana and Nadezhda Kosintseva and Elena Tairova), whom they defeated
in the final round.

The winners Finec-1, with Ekaterina Korbut, Vladimir Bykov, Viktoria Cmilyte,
Natalia Zhukova, Irina Turova, Julia Demina

Clicking cups: the winners of the men's and women's section, Alexander Grischuk
and Natalia Zhukova, who happen to be married to each other
Economist of Saratov, led by Anna Ushenina, took third spot in tie-break from
ABC of Krasnoturinsk, led by ex-world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Rather in
the fashion of the famous St. Petersburg 1914 tournament, the event consisted
on a preliminary section of eight rounds, with the top teams then carrying their
scores over into a four-round final group.

Anna Ushenina played board one for Economist Saratov

GM Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine playing for Sounth Ural

Viktorija Cmilyte playing for Finec-1 St Petersburg

Anna Muzychuk, originally from Ukraine, now living in Slovenia and playing
for AVS

Natalia Pogonina playing for AVS

Sunset in Sochi – the end of the 2008 Russian Team Championships

Glamour shot of our photographer WGM Irina Sudakova
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