The first international tournament Tolstoy Cup featuring a stellar line-up started in the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana”, the Tula region, on the great Russian writer’s birthday, the 9th of September. The event lasted for four days and finished on the 12th of September.

The world and Russian chess stars took part in the round-robin rapid tournament: Anish Giri (Netherlands), Dmitry Andreikin, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Kirill Alekseenko, Maxim Matlakov, David Paravyan (all from Russia), Anton Korobov (Ukraine), Boris Gelfand (Israel), and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan).

The event was organised by the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate “Yasnaya Polyana” and the Chess Federation of Russia and was supported by the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation.

The opening ceremony took place on the 9th of September. Leo Tolstoy's descendants, FIDE President Akrady Dvorkovich, and other guests of honour were present at the event.

A 100-board simultaneous exhibition was held on the same day. The best participants got presents from the organisers. Moreover, the Chess Museum’s curator, Cand. Sc. History Dmitry Oleinikov gave a lecture and a quiz.

The additional programme continued on the 10th of September with a mass tournament for children. At the same time, the participants of the main event were offered a tour around the estate museum; after it, the drawing of lots took place. Children got a chance to take a photo with renowned grandmasters and ask them for an autograph.

The international tournament was held on the 11th and 12th of September. The participants competed in 9 rapid rounds in an all-play-all event. 

Final standings:

1. Anish Giri (Netherlands) – 8 out of 9 points

2. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) – 5.5

3. Boris Gelfand (Israel) – 5

4-5. David Paravyan, Dmitry Andreikin (both from Russia) – 4.5

6-8. Anton Korobov (Ukraine), Maxim Matlakov, Evgeny Tomashevsky – 4

9. Kirill Alekseenko – 3.5

10. Nikita Vitiugov (all from Russia) – 2.


Considering Leo Tolstoy’s devotion to chess, an exhibition featuring various thematic posters was organised during the event.

Tournament on Chess-Results