Vladislav Artemiev and Marina Guseva win Russia's Chess Championship Higher League

The Russian Higher League, the 4th stage of the 68th Russian Men's Chess Championship and the 65th Women's Championship, took place from June 21 till July 2 in Kaliningrad as part of the international program Chess in Museums held by the Russian Chess Federation jointly with Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation. The event became the battleground for 57 men and 39 women.

After 9 rounds of the men's tournament, three participants scored 6.5 points: Vladislav Artemiev (the Omsk region), Alexander Motylev (the Moscow region) and Ivan Bukavshin (the Samara region) ―and this is the order in which their rank was determined by the additional indicators. Invitations to the Russian Championship Superfinals, scheduled in Chita on August 8 21, were also awarded to Ildar Khairullin (St. Petersburg) and Daniil Dubov (Moscow), who gained 6 points each.

The women's tournament was dominated by Marina Guseva (the Stavropol region) with 7.5 points. The silver medal winner, Alina Kashlinskaya, lagged a full point behind, while the bronze went to Anastasiya Savina (both from Moscow), who scored 6 points. Anastasia Bodnaruk (St. Petersburg) and Evgenija Ovod (the Leningrad region) also made it to the Superfinals.

To recap, the competition's grand opening took place on June 21 within the walls of a unique fortification structure Fort No. 5 built in the late 19th century. The participants were greeted by Maria Morozova, General Director of the Timchenko Foundation; Minister Oleg Kosenkov, head of the Sports Agency of the Kaliningrad Region; and Alexander Tkachev, Deputy Executive Director of the RCF.

On June 27, a day off at the tournament, a children's program was organized. The Museum of the World Ocean hosted a simultaneous exhibition for 69 young chess players who faced famous grandmasters: Europe's Reigning Champion Evgeny Najer and the winners of many international competitions, Ernesto Inarkiev and Konstantin Landa.

Both at the opening and on the children's day, visitors could see two exhibitions brought from Moscow: Chess in the War Years 1941-1945 from the collection of the Moscow Museum of Chess and Our Chronicle provided by Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation.

The tournament's official website: http://ruchess.ru/