Botvinnik Memorial 2012 is forming to be one of the most exciting open competitions of the season. With a large field of 2600+ Grandmasters, the top positions are up for grabs after six rounds. GMs Alekseev, Areshchenko, Popov, Aleksandrov, Romanov, Bukavshin, Hovhannisyan, and IM Demchenko are leading the field after 6 rounds with 5,0/6.
They are closely followed by a large group of players with 4,5/6, among which GMs Onischuk, Khairullin, Lysyj, Zvjaginsev, Khismatullin, Inarkiev, Khalifman, etc.
GMs Timofeev, Tiviakov, Matlakov, Andriasian are trailing behind, but in a field of 237 players anything is possible to the end.
Follow the games daily live at the official website.
Here is a large photo gallery by SPB Chess, followed by the full standings. Click on the images for full size view.
Leaders after 6 rounds
| 1 | GM Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 5 | |
| 2 | GM Areshchenko, Alexander | UKR | 5 | |
| 3 | GM Popov, Valerij | RUS | 5 | |
| 4 | GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej | BLR | 5 | |
| 5 | GM Romanov, Evgeny | RUS | 5 | |
| 6 | GM Bukavshin, Ivan | RUS | 5 | |
| 7 | IM Demchenko, Anton | RUS | 5 | |
| 8 | GM Hovhannisyan, Robert | ARM | 5 | |
| 9 | GM Onischuk, Vladimir | UKR | 4.5 | |
| 10 | GM Lintchevski, Daniil | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 11 | GM Khairullin, Ildar | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 12 | FM Lavrov, Maxim | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 13 | GM Ponkratov, Pavel | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 14 | GM Lysyj, Igor | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 15 | GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 16 | GM Ovetchkin, Roman | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 17 | GM Levin, Evgeny A. | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 18 | GM Rogozenco, Dorian | ROU | 4.5 | |
| 19 | IM Lovkov, Roman | i | RUS | 4.5 |
| 20 | IM Baryshpolets, Andrey | UKR | 4.5 | |
| 21 | GM Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 4.5 | |
| 22 | GM Dvoirys, Semen I. | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 23 | GM Khismatullin, Denis | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 24 | GM Inarkiev, Ernesto | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 25 | IM Pakhomov, Egor | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 26 | Iljiushenok, Ilia | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 27 | GM Khalifman, Alexander | RUS | 4.5 | |
| 28 | IM Kharchenko, Boris | UKR | 4.5 | |
| 29 | Predke, Alexandr | RUS | 4.5 | |
Wasn’t he 2700+?