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Dmitriy Surin Wins First Tula Cup in Russia

The first Tula Go Cup went down to the wire March 16-17 as Dmitriy Surin 6d, Igor Nemliy 5d and Andrey Kashaev 5d battled it out in the final rounds. Kashaev won against Surin in the first round, then Nemliy defeated Kashaev, and later in the fourth round Surin won against Nemliy. Vasiliy Andrienko 4d, who defeated Andrey Kashaev in the fourth round, had a shot at getting into the top three; the final standings depended on the last round and the Berger and Buchholz scores also had major impact. Dmitry Surin defeated Vasiliy Andrienko in the last round to clinch the title win, with Nemliy in second and Kashaev taking third. The tournament was held in the ancient historical city of Tula, Russia, and was the first major event in this region. First mentioned in 1146, Tula is connected with many historic events and important battles of Russian history. The Russian go community was not active here until 2010 when Innokentiy Dmitriev 3d started to promote the game and work with students. His successful work allowed him to organize last weekend first big tournament, attracting 30 participants, including some top Russian top players. Ilya Shikshin 7d – the strongest Russian player – also attended but did not take part in the tournamen, instead playing two simuls. Tula has made a bid to host the Championship of Russian Central Federal District. Click here for results and a photo album. - Daria Koshkina, E-Journal Russia Correspondent; photo: Surin (grey sweater) plays Nemliy; photo by Michail Krylov/Russian Go Federation