7/1/2018 – It is hard to name favourites in such a competitive tournament, but having the 31st seed as sole leader after five rounds can be considered, even in this case, a surprise. The young Muscovite Alexey Sarana is heading the field on 4½/5 at the half-time of the Russian Higher League. The women's section has a clear leader as well — Elena Tomilova also won four and drew one to top the standings. | Photo: Dmitry Kryavkin / Russian Chess Federation

4/5/2018 – The Mediterranean Flower was a closed WGM tournament held from Feb 24th to March 3rd, 2018. The 10-player round-robin attracted players from six countries and was won by Russian WIM Elena Tomilova. Besides winning the tournament, Tomilova also scored her second WGM norm. Strong performances were also recorded by lower seeds like Patricija Vujnovic and Petra Kejza. WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili sends us a pictorial report. | Photo: Top three finishers (L to R): WIM Olga Prudnykova, WIM Elena Tomilova and WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova