Kazakhstan reaches the final of FIDE World Women’s Team Championship for the first time

According to Darmen Sadvakasov, first vice president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) and vice president of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), the Kazakhstani female chess players have reached the final of the World Women’s Team Championship for the first time.

What happened? Sadvakasov wrote on his Facebook page that the Kazakhstani famous chess players have reached the final of the FIDE Women’s Team Championship. As he noted, the Kazakhstani women’s team has done this for the first time in the country’s history.

«Hooray!!! We are in the finals of the Women’s Team Championship!!! Victory over the French team in the third additional match led to a team victory of 2-1 and brought our women’s team to the final against the Georgian team. For the first time since its independence Kazakhstan is going to win medals at the Women’s Team Championship!!! This great result is based on very hard work! Let’s cheer for our team in the final match tomorrow. Alga Kazakhstan!» the grandmaster wrote on the social platform.

The prominent chess player congratulated the national team, the coaching staff, and all colleagues and fans of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. He also underlined that previously Kazakhstan had two big victories when Bibisara Ausabaeva won the World Blitz Championship and Dinara Saduakasova obtained a silver medal at the World Rapid Championship, and now the entire national team is going to take at least second place at the world team tournament.

Who did the Kazakh chess players beat at this championship? In the semi-finals, the Kazakh team beat the French team with a score of 2:1. The Kazakh team’s victory over the German team with a score of 3:1 in the quarterfinals of the World Cup allowed the Kazakh team to advance to the semifinals.

Among the main goals of the KCF is the entry of the national team, as well as the chess players of Kazakhstan, into the top 10 in the world. By 2027, KFC plans to cover 20% of primary school students with chess and to open at least 200 new chess clubs in educational organizations.

What major chess tournaments took place in Kazakhstan? From April 7 to May 1, 2023, the FIDE World Chess Championship was held in Astana. The championship prize fund was 2 million euros. Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and Chinese Ding Liren competed for the title.

As a result, Ding Liren became China’s first-ever world chess champion, defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the fourth game of the tiebreaker. The Chinese representative became the seventeenth world chess champion. The general partner of the FIDE World Chess Championship was Freedom Holding Corp.

The Asian Continental Chess Championship ended in Almaty in June. The prize fund of the event was $100 thousand. Kazakhstanis won two gold and two bronze medals in blitz and classical chess.

In August, the country hosted the World Schools Team Championship, the world’s first chess championship among schoolchildren. The tournament was attended not by students of chess clubs and sections, but by ordinary schoolchildren – chess lovers.

KFS management. In January 2023, Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov became president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. The Vice-president of the KFS is Grandmaster Darmen Sadvakasov. In addition, in March this year, he was elected vice-president of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF). The organization includes national organizations from 54 countries, including Kazakhstan and Russia. According to Sadvakasov, the appointment is a recognition of the development of chess in Kazakhstan, success at the international level and the role of the federation in organizing championships on a worldwide scale.