The 81st Ukrainian Chess Championship took place from 26th July to 7th August in the President Hotel in Kiev. Twelve players competed in the round robin tournament.
Practically all the top national players, with exception of Vassily Ivanchuk, participated. Top seeded was the defending champion Ruslan Ponomariov.
However, GM Anton Korobov, seeded in the lower half of the starting list, convincingly won the Championship with 8 points (5 wins, 6 draws), leaving the nearest followers a full point behind.
GM Andrei Volokitin, who finished on shared 2nd place, was leading in the middle stage of the tournament but a pair of defeats deprived him from claiming the title.
Final standings:
1. GM Korobov Anton 2683 – 8
2-3. GM Areshchenko Alexander 2691 and GM Volokitin Andrei 2704 – 7
4. GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2726 – 6
5-7. GM Fedorchuk Sergey A 2630, GM Efimenko Zahar 2694 and GM Moiseenko Alexander 2706 – 5.5
8. GM Eljanov Pavel 2693 – 5
9-10. GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2632 and GM Vovk Yuri 2584 – 4.5
11. GM Zubov Alexander 2621 – 4
12. GM Kuzubov Yuriy 2629 – 3.5
With the average elo of 2666 this was the strongest Championship ever in the history of independent Ukraine.
Impressive!