MOSCOW - Austrian player Alexander Doppelhofer did not score the hattrick in Moscow he had dreamed of. The winner of the two preceding Russian open (MCR) championships ended on twelfth position.

This time, the Russian championship had a real Russian winner: Igor Birukov. Runner-up was Dmitry Maksakov and the third prize went to Mahjong News columnist Vitaly Novikov; he is the creator of the Sherlock Holmes Mahjong Mysteries, which soon will start again in the Independent Internet Mahjong Newspaper.

34 players participated in the competition; apart from Mr. Doppelhofer and Italian player Andrea Verpelli, who ranked number 4 in the final classification, all from Russia.