World-class chess: how the Qonaev Cup 2025 unfolded and who claimed the title

Indian grandmaster Aditya Mittal scores a cup hat-trick at the Almaty Region Open 2025, while Shymkent’s Abilmansur Abdilkhair claims Challengers title, DKNews.kz reports.

The Almaty Region Open. Qonaev Cup 2025, held near Almaty, served as the third stage of the Kazakhstan Chess Cup in classical chess. The event brought together top players from across the world alongside Kazakhstan’s strongest talents. The battle for the podium went down to the very last round, delivering plenty of drama and excitement.

Masters: Aditya Mittal’s triple crown

The festival’s main event – Masters (Stage 3 of the Kazakhstan Cup) – was won by 18-year-old Indian grandmaster Aditya Mittal (2560). Already well-known to Kazakh chess fans, Mittal had previously triumphed at the Astana and Pavlodar stages of the 2023 Kazakhstan Cup. This year, he made history by completing a rare Cup hat-trick.

The fate of the top spots was decided in the final round. Alexey Grebnev and S.P. Sethuraman agreed to a quick grandmaster draw, while Matlakov – Amin and Akopyan – Mittal also ended peacefully but featured much sharper play.

Tournament rating favorite, Egyptian grandmaster Bassem Amin (2633), finished in third place. The best Kazakh performance came from 22-year-old Ramazan Zhalmakhanov, who scored 5 points to place 17th.

Among women, the top result came from 19-year-old Amina Kairbekova (2297) with 4 points and 45th place overall, earning a $1,000 prize.

Masters prize winners:

1. GM Aditya Mittal (2560, India) – 6½ points ($18,000)
2. GM Alexey Grebnev (2595, FID) – 6½ ($14,000)
3. GM Bassem Amin (2633, Egypt) – 6 ($10,000)
4. IM Maxim Tsaruk (2470, FID) – 6 ($7,000)
5. GM S.P. Sethuraman (2569, India) – 6 ($6,000)
6. GM Aram Hakobyan (2625, Armenia) – 6 ($5,000)
7. GM Maxim Matlakov (2608, FID) – 6 ($4,000)
8. IM Rohit Krishna S. (2500, India) – 6 ($3,000)
9. GM Tin Jingyao (2579, Singapore) – 6 ($2,000)
10. GM Saparmurat Atabayev (2492, Turkmenistan) – 6 ($1,600)
11. GM Mikhail Nikitenko (2504, Belarus) – 6 ($1,500)
12. IM Uurtsaikh Agibileg (2428, Mongolia) – 6 ($1,400)
13. IM Ayush Sharma (2432, India) – 5½ ($1,300)
14. GM Narayanan S.L. (2595, India) – 5½ ($1,200)
15. GM Nikita Afanasiev (2499, FIDE) – 5½ ($1,000)

Challengers: Shymkent takes the crown

The second most important event, Challengers, saw a decisive game between leaders Askarov – Abdilkhair end in a draw. This allowed Konstantin Kornienko, winner of the previous Challengers in Öskemen, to catch up on points. However, on tiebreaks he overtook only Askarov, leaving 21-year-old Abilmansur Abdilkhair from Shymkent as the champion.

Challengers prize winners:

1. IM Abilmansur Abdilkhair (2380) – 7 points ($4,000)
2. CM Konstantin Kornienko (2305, FID) – 7 ($3,000)
3. IM Bakhtiyar Askarov (2295) – 7 ($2,000)
4. Nurgazy Zheenbekov (2176, Kyrgyzstan) – 6½ ($1,000)
5. IM Evgeny Pak (2317) – 6½ ($1,000)
6. Akylzhan Meirkhanuly (2230) – 6½ ($800)

Open: Kyrgyzstan guest holds the gold

In the Open tournament, Kyrgyzstan’s Azamat Nurdinov entered the final round with a one-point lead, needing only a draw to secure overall victory. However, he lost to 16-year-old Torekhan Molbay from Oral. This also allowed 15-year-old Aibek Tlekkabyl from Shymkent to catch up.

Still, the reduced Buchholz coefficient kept Nurdinov in first place.

Open prize winners:

1. Azamat Nurdinov (1807, Kyrgyzstan) – 7½ points ($2,000)
2. Torekhan Molbay (1860) – 7½ ($1,500)
3. Aibek Tlekkabyl (1880) – 7½ ($1,000)
4. Yan Zimo (1704, China) – 7 ($800)
5. Dinmukhamed Mels (1808) – 7 ($700)

Kazakhstan Cup final ahead

The Almaty Region Open. Qonaev Cup 2025 was the third stage of the 2025 Kazakhstan Chess Cup in classical chess, played under the Swiss system. The final, featuring 12 of the country’s top players in a round-robin format, is still to come.

2025 Kazakhstan Chess Cup stages:

• Stage 1 – Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial – Aktobe Open 2025 (Aktobe, 22–30 June)
• Stage 2 – Oskemen Open 2025 (Öskemen, 21–29 July)
• Stage 3 – Almaty Region Open. Qonaev Cup 2025 (Almalybak, Karasay district, Almaty region, 4–12 August)
• Final – Kazakhstan Chess Cup 2025 – Final (Almaty, 9–19 November)

This festival once again proved that Kazakhstan can host chess tournaments of truly international calibre, where young talents challenge established grandmasters and the winners’ geography stretches from India to Kyrgyzstan.