The 15th Chess Festival Sagaalgan 2017 was held on 24-26th March at the Buddhist University in Ivolginsky datsan, near Ulan-Ude in the Russian Republic of Buryatia.
The 13-round rapid tournament with the time control 15′+10” was a stage of the Rapid Grand Prix of Russia. An impressive number of 557 players participated in the single section.
Grandmaster Maksim Chigaev (2608) from St. Petersburg took a clear first place with 11,5 points.
Maksim Chigaev receiving the prize
Half a point behind the winner was former Dmitry Bocharov (2611), while GM Pavel Smirnov (2611), FM Dmitry Anikonov (2431) and local IM Zhamsaran Tsydypov shared the third place with 10,5 points each.
The total prize fund was 653,000 RUB (approx 10600 EUR), with 100,000 RUB reserved for the winner.
A lecture and simultaneous exhibition also took place.
Ulan-Ude is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga. The city is the center of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia.
Full standings (Cyrillic alphabet) on the official website
