10/10/2020 – The Russian city of Sochi will host the “Higher League” until October 17. Thanks to the large number of strong grandmasters in the country, this qualifying tournament to the Superfinal is heavily contested, so much so that it equals the level of the national championship in almost any other country in the world. Rating favourite Vladislav Artemiev (2716) already gave up a half point in the first two rounds. In the women’s tournament, Valentina Gunina is the rating favourite. | Photos: Eteri Kublashvili

7/3/2013 – The Higher League of the Russian Championship was held from June 19-30 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. It qualified the top five finishers into the Russian Championship, and also seeded the winner into the 2014 Tal Memorial. It was an exciting event through and through with revelations and masterpieces. Read all, see all, in the report with analysis by Shomoev and Nepomniachtchi.