A unique chess match took place in the British Parliament as a team from Kazakhstan faced representatives of the House of Lords and Westminster staff. According to the press service of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KazChess), this was the first game in history played at such a high political level with participation from international athletes, DKnews.kz reports.
The match was organized at the initiative of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom, with the support of KazChess.
The Kazakh delegation included the country’s leading grandmasters:
- Kazybek Nogerbek
- Alisher Suleymenov
- Kseniya Balabayeva
- Gulmira Dauletova
- Darmen Sadvakasov
The British opponents proved to be formidable, demonstrating the level of first-rank players and candidate masters.
The UK team included:
- Jamie Njoku-Goodwin – former Strategy Director under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
- Lord Harold Carter
- Lord Patrick Lawrence
- Lord Dafydd Wigley
- Chris Fegan – a Parliament staff member and the strongest player on the British team, who gave a serious challenge to Alisher Suleymenov
After the match, the Kazakh delegation was invited on a guided tour of Westminster. The chess players attended a session of a working group on labor market issues — a topic of global concern amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The visit to Parliament was not the only goal of the Kazakh delegation’s trip. The players are in London to participate in the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships, taking place from June 10 to 16. Five Kazakh players are competing as part of Team KazChess, with others representing two additional teams: Barys and Rookies.
Team KazChess includes:
- Aldiyar Ansat (2489)
- Meruert Kamalidenova (2330)
- Elnaz Kaliahmet (2218)
- Darmen Dauren (1932)
- Darmen Sadvakasov (2587, rapid)
- Richard Rapport (2714, #27)
- Parham Maghsoodloo (2691, #38)
- Andrey Esipenko (2689, #39)
- Alexander Grischuk (2667, #57)
The team is captained by KazChess Executive Director Gulmira Dauletova.
The championship is held in a club format. Unlike the Olympiads and national championships, teams here are formed by federations, partners, or directly by sponsors. Teams from India, Uzbekistan, Germany, the UK, Kazakhstan, and others are competing in the London event.
