The Pavlodar Open 2012 took place from 29th November to 9th December at the Kazakhstan Chess Palace in Pavlodar.
The tournament was devoted to the Republic of Kazakhstan Independence Day and organized by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Management of tourism, physical training and sports of the Pavlodar area, and Pavlodar Chess Federation.
107 players from nine countries, among them 21 Grandmasters and 40 title-holders, competed in the 10-rounds Swiss event.
Armenian Grandmaster Avetik Grigoryan performed splendidly to take a clear first place with 8,0/10 points. Grigoryan earned 3000 $ and 15 elo points for the effort.
Four players shared the second place with 7,5 points each, among them being the 14-years old Vladislav Artemiev from the nearby city of Omsk in Russia. Artemiev traditionally plays well in Pavlodar and this time was no exception as he took the 2nd place on tie-break, claimed a GM norm and added 28 elo points.
Final standings (top 25):
1 GM Grigoryan Avetik 2581 ARM – 8
2 IM Artemiev Vladislav 2461 RUS – 7.5
3 GM Shanava Konstantine 2565 GEO – 7.5
4 GM Dvoirys Semen I. 2534 RUS – 7.5
5 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej 2607 BLR – 7.5
6 GM Zubarev Alexander 2583 UKR – 7
7 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2545 KAZ – 7
8 GM Gabuzyan Hovhannes 2500 ARM – 7
9 GM Ponkratov Pavel 2589 RUS – 7
10 GM Ovetchkin Roman 2538 RUS – 7
11 GM Vokarev Sergey 2454 RUS – 7
12 GM Ismagambetov Anuar 2463 KAZ – 6.5
13 GM Andriasian Zaven 2604 ARM – 6.5
14 GM Kabanov Nikolai 2486 RUS – 6.5
15 Kassimov Baurzhan 2260 KAZ – 6.5
16 GM Malakhatko Vadim 2550 BEL – 6.5
17 Aitbayev Aslan 2416 KAZ – 6.5
18 GM Khusnutdinov Rustam 2509 KAZ – 6.5
19 IM Loskutov Oleg 2419 RUS – 6.5
20 GM Simonian Hrair 2459 ARM – 6.5
21 GM Belozerov Andrei 2523 RUS – 6.5
22 GM Kostenko Petr 2489 KAZ – 6
23 FM Akkozov Berik 2376 KAZ – 6
24 GM Pridorozhni Aleksei 2541 RUS – 6
25 IM Kuderinov Kirill 2452 KAZ – 6
Unibrow rules!