Andrey Esipenko wins his first Russian chess championship

The 24-year-old grandmaster Andrey Esipenko secured his first Russian championship title in Rostov-on-Don on October 11, with one round remaining in the Superfinal.

Esipenko drew with David Paravyan in round ten. Evgeny Najer also drew against Alexey Goganov, the Chess Federation of Russia reported.

Esipenko has seven points after ten games. Najer, Paravyan and Pavel Ponkratov have 5.5 each. His 1.5-point lead cannot be overturned with one game remaining.

Esipenko faces Savva Vetokhin in the final round. The men's tournament has a seven-million-rouble prize fund. The grandmaster finished third at the World Cup in 2025. He has now won his first national championship title.