In a dramatic 6th round, defending champions St. Petersburg Chess Federation lost for the first time, 2.5:3.5 to SOCAR Azerbaijan.
They have been caught by the Azeris, as well as Ashdod who beat Economist Saratov 3.5:2.5 and Tomsk who crushed Ugra 4.5:1.5.
Before the final round St. Petersburg has a significantly better tiebreak than the other contenders, but the final round games will decide it all: SOCAR vs Tomsk and Ashdod vs St. Petersburg. Final round starts 10:30 on Wednesday 17/10. All top games will be broadcast live in this site, as well as live video by Chess TV in the LIVE VIDEO section.
By contrast, the fight for the first place in the women's event has been decided. Monte-Carlo won the cup deservedly after winning all of their six matches. Ugra club, which kept chances for the gold before the sixth round, lost against SHSM-Nashe Nasledie 3:1. Ugra, which placed second with 9 points before the last round, has already ensured the bronze medals but can try to fight for silver tomorrow. Mika won against Ashdot today and is on the third place with 8 points, AVS won against Chigorin Club with 4:0 score but has no chances to fight for the medals in the last round.

The official tournament web page is http://www.ecc2012-chesseilat.com/ 

Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich