Botvinnik Memorial 2012 is forming to be one of the most exciting open competitions of the season. With a large field of 2600+ Grandmasters, the top positions are up for grabs after six rounds. GMs Alekseev, Areshchenko, Popov, Aleksandrov, Romanov, Bukavshin, Hovhannisyan, and IM Demchenko are leading the field after 6 rounds with 5,0/6.

They are closely followed by a large group of players with 4,5/6, among which GMs Onischuk, Khairullin, Lysyj, Zvjaginsev, Khismatullin, Inarkiev, Khalifman, etc.

GMs Timofeev, Tiviakov, Matlakov, Andriasian are trailing behind, but in a field of 237 players anything is possible to the end.

Follow the games daily live at the official website, see complete photo report here.