Aleksandr Kocheev surprises everybody at Minsk Open
The 2013 edition of the Minsk Open had a surprise winner. Even though there was a player with an Elo over 2600 and many more close behind on the 2500s, an untitled local player was the clear champion of the event. Aleksandr Kocheev did not need tiebreaks to claim first place after getting 7.5/9 points.
Kocheev put himself in a position to dream about first place when he beat first seed GM Sergei Zhigalko in the fifth round. From then on, the Belorussian proved it was not just a fluke and kept first place with great play against strong opposition.
Six players arrived with 7/9, but Zhigalko got second place on tiebreaks, followed by Ukrainian IM Vitaliy Bernadskiy, who got the bronze medal.
The 9-round event had 128 participants from six countries, including ten Grandmasters and ten International Masters.
Official website
Final Standings (top finishers):
1 Kocheev Aleksandr BLR 2309 7,5
2 GM Zhigalko Andrey BLR 2604 7
3 IM Bernadskiy Vitaliy UKR 2500 7
4 GM Brodsky Michail UKR 2562 7
5 GM Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 2535 7
6 IM Nozdrachev Vladislav RUS 2463 7
7 IM Bortnyk Olexandr UKR 2418 7
8-9 IM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2558 6,5
8-9 IM Pavlov Sergey UKR 2479 6,5
10 GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2582 6,5
11 IM Smirnov Valerij BLR 2332 6,5
12 GM Podolchenko Evgeniy BLR 2447 6
13 FM Meribanov Vitaly BLR 2433 6
14 IM Gorovets Andrey BLR 2481 6
15 Vorontsov Pavlo UKR 2313 6
16 IM Aliavdin Nikolai BLR 2349 6
17 FM Grib Roman BLR 2362 6
18 GM Lutsko Igor BLR 2377 6
19 IM Romanko Marina RUS 2368 6
20 GM Minasian Artashes ARM 2493 6
21 GM Tunik Gennady RUS 2435 6
22 Harshkou Mikita BLR 2194 6
23 IM Kolesnik Eduard BLR 2314 6
24 Maksimov Dmitri RUS 2006 6
25 GM Teterev Vitaly BLR 2518 5,5
26 FM Burdalev Kirill UKR 2265 5,5
27 Bazeev German RUS 2322 5,5
28 GM Tihonov Jurij BLR 2421 5,5
29 Cherepov Alexej BLR 2213 5,5
30 Prikhodko Anton RUS 2319 5,5
Pure genius.