The outgoing year of 2024 has become the most successful in the history of Kazakhstan chess. At official international tournaments under the auspices of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), Kazakh chess players- juniors (aged 7 to 20), adults, seniors (over 50), and amateurs (rating not exceeding 2300 Elo points) - secured a record number of medals: 160 in total, including 55 gold, 54 silver, and 51 bronze, DKnews.kz reports.
One of the main achievements not only of the year but of all time in Kazakhstan chess is the second-place finish at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest. The silver medal won by our women’s team, whose average age is just 18 and a half years, is valued like gold. Bibisara Assaubayeva, Meruert Kamalidenova, Kseniya Balabayeva, Alua Nurman, and Amina Kairbekova, under the leadership of grandmaster duo Pavel Kotsur (captain) and Alexander Moiseenko (coach), caused a sensation in Budapest, yielding only to the champions from India.
The team leader, Bibisara Assaubayeva, confirmed her high class at the stages of the Women's Grand Prix 2024/25 season in Tbilisi (2nd place) and Shymkent (3rd place). Based on the results of these two stages, she is leading the overall standings, and as a reminder, the top two players will directly qualify for the Candidates Tournament for the Women’s World Chess Crown.
Special mention should be made of the gold medals won by our juniors at the World Championships - Kazbek Nogerbek (U20), Mark Smirnov (U12), and Alanna Berikkizi (U10), who successfully debuted in the finals of the adult Kazakhstan Championship immediately after her triumph. Adding to this, the silver medals of Khandzada Amanzhol (U12), Edgar Mamedov (U14), Aldiyar Ansat (U18), and Amina Kairbekova (U18), as well as the bronze of Sauat Nurgaliyev (U14), make for a record-breaking 8 medals at the Junior World Chess Championships in classical chess.
“This is the logical result of the painstaking work of the entire KazChess team, achieved with the support of the country’s leadership and personally the President. This year, the budget for just two of our programs - support for young talents and professional sports - amounted to almost 1 billion tenge. Simultaneously, tournaments were held, including international ones under the FIDE umbrella, and the chess education project in schools was expanded. Image-building events were also organized. All this has led to such a fantastic result, the creators of which, of course, are the chess players themselves. We intend to maintain this pace going forward to ensure Kazakhstan holds a worthy place on the global chessboard” Timur Turlov, President of KazChess
Our juniors also performed successfully at the World Championships in rapid chess, earning 9 medals, including gold by Alisha Bisaliyeva (G8), and in blitz, with 7 medals, including gold by Yelnaz Kaliahmet (G14) and Daniyal Sapenov (O16).
Numerous medals of various kinds were brought back by our juniors from the World School Championships, where we have 8 champions: Aiaru Altynbek (G13) in classical chess, Arlan Mirzhanov (O9), Alimzhan Zhauenbay (O11), Alihan Daulet (O15), Ailyn Zarkym (G13), and Zarina Nurgaliyeva (G15) in rapid chess, as well as Aldiyar Zhauenbay (O13) and Ayaulim Kaldarova (G17) in blitz.
Considering the dominance of Asian chess players at all levels, including the matches for the World Chess Crown for men (Gukesh Dommaraju vs. Ding Liren, with victory going to the Indian challenger) and for women (Ju Wenjun vs. Tan Zhongyi, which is yet to take place), the victories of our juniors and schoolchildren at the Asian and West Asian Championships are of particular value.
All these record achievements became possible thanks to the full implementation of two grant programs, made possible by the federation’s general partner, Freedom Holding Corp. These are the National Team Support Program and the Young Talent Support Program for the best chess players aged 9 to 16. Currently, under the latter program, 45 members of the children’s and youth national teams of the country receive free sponsorship support in three tiers - Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Depending on the tier, young chess players receive monthly monetary payments, equipment, coaching sessions via a voucher system (group and individual), participation in training camps, national and international tournaments, physical and psychological preparation, chess software, and literature - everything necessary for preparing high-level chess players.
At the end of each year, the list of children eligible for the Young Talent Support Program and sponsorship support is determined. Points are awarded for participation in the Kazakhstan Championship and international tournaments in classical, rapid, and blitz chess, such as World, Asian, and West Asian Championships for juniors and schoolchildren, as well as for achieving certain rating thresholds.
The Kazakhstan Chess Federation takes pride in the successes of our chess players, expresses gratitude to their coaches and parents, and wishes everyone good health, strong will, and new victories in the coming year.
