The first tournament was held in 2010. This year’s tournament featured international grand masters from Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, as well as top Buryat players. The most particular trait of the 2011 tournament was that it included the International Grand Master and International Master qualifications. In addition, thanks to the support from IFC METROPOL, one day of the tournament took place on the shore of Lake Baikal. Many participants saw the famous lake for the first time in their lives.

“This is the first time I’ve been on Baikal. Its climate and landscape have made a unforgettable impression on me. I am charmed with the place”, said Bolat Asanov, a Grand Master from Kazakhstan. “I was sorry that I could not stay there longer. As for the tournament, I can say only one thing – very high level!”

The venue for the tournament was also high-level – it was the territory of the Ivoga datsan, which communicated a respective spiritual attitude. Ganjuntsiren Lama, a lecturer at the Buddhist University, highly appreciated METROPOL’s sponsorship, “There are not so many patrons around and we had to handle most of the arrangements ourselves, but METROPOL Group has helped us”.

This year’s winners are:
1st place – Oleg Badmatsyrenov, 7 points
2nd place – Dmitry Pushkarev, 5.5 points
3rd place – Serigdey Temirbaev, Aleksey Krusshiov, Sendorji Dondukov, 5 points each.