Chigorin Memorial in St. Petersburg
By WGM Irina Sudakova and Elena Mikheeva
The 17th International Chess Festival “M. Chigorin Memorial” took
place in St. Petersburg, Russia, from October 26 to November 5, 2010. The Rapid
section finished with six players tying for the first place with 7.0 points
out of 9, and Sergei Yudin (2521) winning on tiebreak. We reported on that section
with an extensive
pictorial. The first prize for the rapid was 75,000 Roubles = 1,700 Euros
or US $2,400.

The sole winner of the 17th International Chigorin Memorial was Eltaj
Safarli
from Azerbaijan, with 7.5 points out of 9 games. His performance: 2787.
Ivan Sokolov was leading from the beginning scoring 6 wins in a row, but in
round 7 Eltaj managed to defeat him and kept the success with two draws in the
end. There were no anti-draw rules applied at the Memorial, so some (but not
many) games in the last rounds were over after 10-15 minutes. A score of +5
was good enough for a small group of players who shared the 2nd-7th places,
and they clearly wanted to avoid any risk in the last round. But it also meant
that they had to win at least five games out of eight preceding this one!

Top scorers (with the St. Petersburg Chess Federation Vice Presidents):
Igor Blechzin,
Ivan Sokolov, Yuri Yakovlev, Vladimir Bykov, Eltaj Safarli, Alexander Areshchenko.
Final standings (after nine rounds)
# |
Name |
Fed. |
Rtng |
Pts |
TPR |
W-We |
BH |
HiLo |
1 |
GM
Safarli, Eltaj |
7.5 |
AZE |
2607 |
2787 |
+1.99 |
53.0 |
42.0 |
2 |
GM
Sokolov, Ivan |
7.0 |
BIH |
2641 |
2772 |
+1.50 |
56.5 |
44.0 |
3 |
GM
Areshchenko, Alexander |
7.0 |
UKR |
2664 |
2755 |
+1.03 |
53.5 |
41.0 |
4 |
GM
Andreikin, Dmitry |
7.0 |
RUS |
2669 |
2711 |
+0.58 |
52.5 |
40.5 |
5 |
GM
Dreev, Alexey |
7.0 |
RUS |
2649 |
2725 |
+0.92 |
52.0 |
40.5 |
6 |
GM
Sakaev, Konstantin |
7.0 |
RUS |
2607 |
2750 |
+1.69 |
51.5 |
40.5 |
7 |
IM
Fedoseev, Vladimir |
7.0 |
RUS |
2477 |
2742 |
+3.14 |
51.0 |
40.5 |
8 |
GM
Smirin, Ilia |
6.5 |
ISR |
2657 |
2700 |
+0.60 |
54.0 |
43.0 |
9 |
GM
Zhigalko, Sergei |
6.5 |
BLR |
2640 |
2684 |
+0.60 |
54.0 |
42.5 |
10 |
GM
Grachev, Boris |
6.5 |
RUS |
2668 |
2693 |
+0.38 |
53.0 |
42.0 |
11 |
GM
Andriasian, Zaven |
6.5 |
ARM |
2579 |
2722 |
+1.82 |
52.5 |
41.5 |
12 |
GM
Savchenko, Boris |
6.5 |
RUS |
2627 |
2683 |
+0.76 |
52.5 |
40.5 |
13 |
GM
Khairullin, Ildar |
6.5 |
RUS |
2620 |
2631 |
+0.29 |
52.0 |
40.5 |
14 |
GM
Chadaev, Nikolai |
6.5 |
RUS |
2574 |
2680 |
+1.38 |
50.5 |
40.0 |
15 |
GM
Khismatullin, Denis |
6.5 |
RUS |
2654 |
2613 |
-0.24 |
49.5 |
38.5 |
16 |
IM
Demchenko, Anton |
6.5 |
RUS |
2529 |
2665 |
+1.74 |
49.0 |
39.0 |
17 |
IM
Papin, Vasily |
6.5 |
RUS |
2534 |
2632 |
+1.30 |
48.5 |
38.0 |
18 |
GM
Volkov, Sergey |
6.5 |
RUS |
2595 |
2654 |
+0.80 |
48.5 |
37.5 |
19 |
GM
Burmakin, Vladimir |
6.5 |
RUS |
2593 |
2564 |
-0.11 |
47.0 |
36.5 |
20 |
GM
Stefansson, Hannes |
6.5 |
ISL |
2585 |
2639 |
+0.74 |
47.0 |
36.5 |
21 |
GM
Yemelin, Vasily |
6.5 |
RUS |
2571 |
2587 |
+0.30 |
45.5 |
35.5 |
22 |
GM
Swiercz, Dariusz |
6.5 |
POL |
2507 |
2560 |
+0.74 |
45.0 |
34.5 |
23 |
IM
Geller, Jakov |
6.5 |
RUS |
2544 |
2597 |
+0.76 |
44.5 |
34.0 |
24 |
GM
Matlakov, Maxim |
6.5 |
RUS |
2613 |
2565 |
-0.29 |
44.0 |
34.5 |
25 |
GM
Kryakvin, Dmitry |
6.5 |
RUS |
2591 |
2505 |
-0.71 |
42.0 |
32.5 |

Dmitry Andreikin, RUS, 2669, was 4th on tie-breaks, with 7.0/9 and a 2711
performance

Hannes Stefansson of Iceland, 6.5/9

Sergey Zhigalko of Belarus, 6.5/9

Great debut: Dariusz Swiercz, the youngest GM of Poland, with 6.5/9

Dmitry Svetushkin of Moldova, 6.0/9

Life was not easy for the Elo -favorite Anton Korobov, and his
5.5 points was obviously not the result he had expected

Yuri Kuzubov in a good mood, despite his disappointing performance (5.5/9,
2542 perf.)

Krisztian Szabo of Hungary, 5.0/9

Davit Petrosian of Armenia, 5.5/9

Yaroslav Zherebukh, Ukraine, 5.5/9 with a 2477 performance

Egor Kuzmin, twelve years old, 4.0/9

Another unidentified very youthful player

Mothers waiting in the lobby for their youngsters

Vladislav Kovalev, 5.0/9 with an IM norm – playing blitz in the lobby

The queue at the "cash-point" to pick up prizes
Top women (after nine rounds)
# |
Name |
Fed. |
Rtng |
Pts |
TPR |
W-We |
BH |
HiLo |
54 |
WGM
Paikidze, Nazi |
5.5 |
GEO |
2376 |
2563 |
+2.35 |
46.5 |
38.5 |
57 |
IM
Ovod, Evgenija |
5.5 |
RUS |
2401 |
2480 |
+1.06 |
46.0 |
36.5 |
58 |
IM
Bodnaruk, Anastasia |
5.5 |
RUS |
2399 |
2512 |
+1.47 |
46.0 |
36.0 |
88 |
WIM
Charochkina, Daria |
5.0 |
RUS |
2303 |
2418 |
+1.29 |
45.5 |
35.0 |
95 |
WIM
Ivkina, Olga |
5.0 |
RUS |
2251 |
2433 |
+1.99 |
44.0 |
34.0 |
106 |
IM
Ushenina, Anna |
5.0 |
UKR |
2466 |
2418 |
-0.48 |
42.5 |
33.5 |
115 |
WGM
Demina, Julia |
5.0 |
RUS |
2336 |
2307 |
-0.19 |
39.0 |
31.5 |
128 |
WIM
Akatova, Ekaterina |
4.5 |
RUS |
2260 |
2380 |
+1.30 |
45.0 |
35.0 |
135 |
WIM
Komiagina, Maria |
4.5 |
RUS |
2263 |
2334 |
+0.57 |
43.5 |
33.5 |
138 |
WIM
Ambartsumova, Karina |
4.5 |
RUS |
2302 |
2318 |
+0.17 |
42.5 |
33.5 |
144 |
WIM
Butuc, Maria |
4.5 |
RUS |
2180 |
2205 |
+0.28 |
41.0 |
32.5 |
162 |
WGM
Shaydullina, Sandugach |
4.0 |
RUS |
2175 |
2333 |
+1.67 |
45.0 |
35.5 |
163 |
WIM
Tarasova, Viktoriya |
4.0 |
RUS |
2298 |
2309 |
-0.01 |
44.5 |
34.5 |
173 |
Sukhareva, Evgeniya |
4.0 |
RUS |
2176 |
2201 |
+0.27 |
40.5 |
31.0 |
186 |
WIM
Dolzhykova, Kateryna |
4.0 |
UKR |
2298 |
2244 |
-0.68 |
37.5 |
28.5 |
188 |
WIM
Sazonova, Elena N. |
4.0 |
RUS |
2118 |
2181 |
+0.58 |
36.0 |
27.5 |
190 |
WIM
Bronnikova, Elizaveta |
4.0 |
RUS |
2270 |
2163 |
-1.28 |
35.5 |
27.0 |
196 |
WIM
Solovjova, Valentina |
4.0 |
RUS |
2253 |
2075 |
-1.99 |
33.5 |
25.0 |

Nazi Paikidze, 5.5/9 with a 2563 performance – best woman in the
field

Elizaveta Bronnikova, 4.0/9
Anna Ushenina of Ukraine, 5.0/9

Elmira Mirzoeva, sports journalist on Russian TV and radio – still
eager to play chess!

Me – Irina Sudakova, WGM since 2004, who has finished her professional
career
(too late, maybe) and now works for the St. Petersburg Chess Federation

Armed and dangerous – our second photographer Elena Mikheeva

The Alexander Nevsky Bridge at night. It connects Alexander Nevsky Square
and Zanevsky prospect,
linking the southern and the northern parts of the city
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