Asian Continental Chess Championship kicks off in Almaty

On May 3, 2023, the Asian Continental Chess Championship kicked off in Almaty, Kazakhstan. With a prize fund of $100,000 in total, winners are expected to receive $3,000 each in blitz and $10,000, $8,000 and $7,000 for the top three places in classical chess for men. In the women’s category, these awards are $8,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively, according to Gulmira Dauletova, executive director of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF).

The press conference was opened by KCF President Timur Turlov, who is also CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.

«We are very pleased and proud that we have the opportunity to host such an important tournament. There is no doubt that the more such tournaments we host, the more experienced we become. Moreover, our chess players now have the opportunity to play with the best players from all over the Asian continent. On the other hand, the Asian Chess Federation has grown into a very powerful and respectable organization. Events we organize here in Kazakhstan attract more and more participants and I hope that our chess players show good results during this tournament,» Turlov said.

He also wished all the athletes good luck at the Asian Chess Championship.

According to Hisham Al Taher, the secretary general of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), the Asian Continental Chess Championship is the most important and significant tournament among more than 200 events held by the ACF. He also said that the championship’s winners (four Open finalists and two women’s championship finalists) will take part in the Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan this summer. This will be a good chance to compete for a chess crown.

«Each tournament is unique for chess players. For example, if someone has the best rating it doesn’t necessarily mean that he would demonstrate the best game in a certain tournament. And vice versa – nothing prevents players with relatively low ratings to do their best and achieve remarkable results,» Hisham Al-Taher said in response to a question about which of the chess players is the strongest in this tournament.

Panayappan Sethuraman, a prominent Indian grandmaster and the winner of the 2016 Asian Chess Championship, noted that chess players who are playing in Almaty during the tournament are the strongest chess players in Asia, so the fight is going to be quite intense. He also shared his impression of Almaty and the organization of the tournament.

«This is my third visit to Kazakhstan. I like it. Very nice nature and weather. The flight conditions were also very convenient. The level of the event organization is really high. We’ve been very welcomed here. Moreover, the time difference between Almaty and India is just 30 minutes, so it was very easy to adapt,» he said.

According to First Vice-President of KCF and Vice-President of ACF Darmen Sadvakasov, about 20% of pupils in Kazakhstan are expected to study chess by 2027. KCF is planning to establish at least 200 chess camps within the country’s educational system.

The federation has already done a huge amount of work in this sphere. It’s prepared a significant methodological basis for the move thanks to close cooperation with experts from the U.S., Europe and the CIS. For instance, KCF contacted a prominent chess expert from Spain, who was involved in the process of introducing chess into the school program. As Darmenov noted, the new subject is going to be optional for pupils. Currently, the federation is aimed at working with school teachers to improve their skills.

More generally, KCF wants Kazakhstani chess players to be ranked within the top ten best players in the world.

On June 3, 2023, Kazakhstani chess players Ksenia Balabaeva and Arystan Isanzhulov took first place in the blitz. On June 4, Rinat Zhumabaev, Murtas Kazhgaleev, Denis Makhnev and Nogerbek Kazybek – all from Kazakhstan – won their classical chess matches. Among female chess players from Kazakhstan, good results were shown by Arnash Bauyrzhan, Liya Kurmangalieva, Ksenia Balabaeva and Amina Kairbekova. Among the foreign players, Panayappan Sethuraman from India, Shamsutdin Vakhidov from Uzbekistan and Daneshvar Bardiya from Iran have shown the most interesting games.

The tournament consists of an Open Championship for men and a Championship for Women. They are held according to the Swiss system in nine rounds and follow FIDE rules.

The tournament was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, ACF, KCF and with the support of the Almaty city administration. The general partner of the cup is Freedom Holding Corp.