58th
Russian Individual Championship (Semi-Final)
The Russian Championship Qualifier is being held in Kazan from September 2nd
– 12th, 2005. The event is a nine-round Swiss tournament, with the games
starting at 15:00h Moscow time (13:00h CEST, 7:00 a.m. NY). Time controls are
100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and 10 minutes for the
rest of the game. There is a 30 seconds increment after each move, from the
first move on. The prize fund is US $100,000.
After five rounds GMs Mihail Kobalia and Sergey Volkov are in the lead with
four points each. Both won two black games and one white, with two games ending
in a draw. Kobalia defeated Bareev with black.

GM Mihali Kobalia, 2614, Russia

GM Sergey Volkov, 2622, Russia
The drawing average of all 165 games was 52%, with 33% white and 15% black
wins. The shortest draw given was in the official bulletin was Shaposhnikov-Popov(3),
which went 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 ½-½. But there
are 15 games given with no moves, only results, so it is possible that the
organisers are having dificulty getting complete gamescores.
Standings after five rounds
1 |
Kobalia,M |
2614 |
4.0/5 |
2 |
Volkov,S |
2622 |
4.0/5 |
3 |
Rublevsky,S |
2645 |
3.5/5 |
4 |
Inarkiev,E |
2618 |
3.5/5 |
5 |
Zvjaginsev,V |
2659 |
3.5/5 |
6 |
Motylev,A |
2675 |
3.5/5 |
7 |
Bareev,E |
2688 |
3.5/5 |
8 |
Chuprov,D |
2477 |
3.5/5 |
9 |
Tkachiev,V |
2625 |
3.5/5 |
10 |
Kharlov,A |
2619 |
3.5/5 |
11 |
Timofeev,Arty |
2661 |
3.5/5 |
12 |
Jakovenko,D |
2627 |
3.5/5 |
13 |
Shariyazdanov,A |
2592 |
3.0/5 |
14 |
Korotylev,A |
2604 |
3.0/5 |
15 |
Grigoriants,S |
2562 |
3.0/5 |
16 |
Najer,E |
2614 |
3.0/5 |
17 |
Khalifman,A |
2653 |
3.0/5 |
18 |
Lastin,A |
2583 |
3.0/5 |
19 |
Bocharov,D |
2574 |
3.0/5 |
20 |
Vitiugov,N |
2519 |
3.0/5 |
21 |
Alekseev,Evgeny |
2625 |
3.0/5 |
22 |
Smirnov,P |
2635 |
3.0/5 |
23 |
Khismatullin,D |
2583 |
3.0/5 |
24 |
Sakaev,K |
2669 |
3.0/5 |
25 |
Kurnosov,I |
2549 |
2.5/5 |
26 |
Galkin,A |
2598 |
2.5/5 |
27 |
Khairullin,I |
2538 |
2.5/5 |
28 |
Tomashevsky,E |
2555 |
2.5/5 |
29 |
Bryzgalin,K |
2480 |
2.5/5 |
30 |
Yakovich,Yur |
2560 |
2.5/5 |
31 |
Novikov,St |
2534 |
2.5/5 |
32 |
Riazantsev,A |
2599 |
2.5/5 |
33 |
Epishin,V |
2600 |
2.5/5 |
|
|
34 |
Dvoirys,S |
2589 |
2.5/5 |
35 |
Belov,Vl |
2596 |
2.5/5 |
36 |
Chebotarev,O |
2517 |
2.5/5 |
37 |
Sorokin,M |
2567 |
2.5/5 |
38 |
Magomedov,Ma |
2565 |
2.5/5 |
39 |
Gavrilov,Al |
2464 |
2.5/5 |
40 |
Tseshkovsky,V |
2599 |
2.5/5 |
41 |
Shaposhnikov,E |
2533 |
2.5/5 |
42 |
Balashov,Y |
2469 |
2.5/5 |
43 |
Tregubov,P |
2607 |
2.5/5 |
44 |
Lugovoi,A |
2556 |
2.0/5 |
45 |
Obolenskikh,D |
2437 |
2.0/5 |
46 |
Bezgodov,A |
2548 |
2.0/5 |
47 |
Vorobiov,E |
2552 |
2.0/5 |
48 |
Savchenko,B |
2534 |
2.0/5 |
49 |
Kosteniuk,A |
2516 |
2.0/5 |
50 |
Kosyrev,V |
2540 |
2.0/5 |
51 |
Yandemirov,V |
2515 |
2.0/5 |
52 |
Pokazanjev,N |
2410 |
2.0/5 |
53 |
Kabanov,N |
2508 |
2.0/5 |
54 |
Popov,Val |
2570 |
2.0/5 |
55 |
Bragin,Alex |
2396 |
2.0/5 |
56 |
Filippov,Va |
2621 |
2.0/5 |
57 |
Yemelin,V |
2530 |
1.5/5 |
58 |
Yevseev,D |
2537 |
1.5/5 |
59 |
Iljin,A |
2500 |
1.5/5 |
60 |
Iljushin,A |
2531 |
1.5/5 |
61 |
Loginov,Va |
2527 |
1.5/5 |
62 |
Galliamova,A |
2453 |
1.5/5 |
63 |
Feoktistov,A |
2424 |
1.5/5 |
64 |
Grebionkin,Vl |
2438 |
1.0/5 |
65 |
Nevostrujev,V |
2490 |
1.0/5 |
66 |
Shabanov,Y |
2451 |
0.0/5 |
|
Picture gallery
By Pufichek

Statues of Lenin can still be found in Kazan in 2005, 14 years after the
fall of communism

... alongside statues of the great poet Alexander Pushkin

The main street of the city, with lovely fountains, is lively and restricted
to pedestrians

Some streets are being redone entirely – here the continuation of Bauman
street

Russian women's champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in Kazan. Alexandra is playing
in this "men's" event and fighting out each game against strong male
GMs. She has taken time off to give us these pictures.

Alexandra points out the famous Kul Sharif Mosque for us

That is not a bat, it is Alexandra in the belfry (actually a viewing
tower)

The city is full of churches and coupolas

The Soviet-style Hotel Tatarstan, where the participants are logded

Soviet-style statues adorn the city and go well with the hotel

GM Evgeny Bareev, 2688, Russia

GM Alexander Motylev, 2675, Russia

GM Vadim Zvjaginsev, 2659, Russia

GM Sergei Rublevsky, 2645, Russia

GM Ernesto Inarkiev, 2618, Russia

IM Alisa Galliamova, 2453, Russia

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2516, Russia
All pictures were provided by Pufichek.
You can see many more on the Alexandra
Kosteniuk web site.