Denis Makhnev, a Kazakhstani grandmaster from Pavlodar, and Ekaterina Goltseva, a Russian master competing under the FIDE flag, have become the 2024 Kazakhstan Chess Cup winners, according to the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KazChess).
The final knockout format contests started on Nov.12 in Almaty, where 16 men and women competed. At the end of the male semi-finals, Kazakhstani grandmaster Denis Makhnev (2,536) and international master Ramazan Zhalmakhanov (2,474) emerged victorious. Mikhail Nikitenko, a grandmaster from Belarus, took third place by outplaying Ayush Sharma, an international master from India.
In the women’s semi-finals, Liya Kurmangaliyeva (2,324) from Almaty and Ekaterina Goltseva (2,378) from Nizhny Novgorod both advanced with identical scores of 1½–½. However, in the final, Goltseva defeated Kurmangaliyeva. Zarina Nurgaliyeva (2,129) took third place.
The men’s winner received $10,056, while the finalist earned $8,045, and the third-place finisher gained $6,034. In the women’s category, the corresponding prizes were $5,028, $3,419 and $1,407, respectively. The total prize pool for the final amounted to $46,261.
KazChess hosted the Kazakhstan Chess Club tournament, organized in multiple stages followed by a final. The total prize pool for the event was $92,522
The first stage of the tournament, the Aktobe Open 2024, held in memory of Vladimir Dvorkovich, was won by Iranian super grandmaster Parham Maghsoodloo (2,732). In the second stage, the Oskemen Open 2024, Ukrainian grandmaster Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2,530) emerged as the winner. In the third stage, the Pavlodar Open 2024, Armenian grandmaster Aram Hakobyan (2,617) claimed first place.
Each stage consisted of 9 or 10 rounds played under the Swiss system with classical time control of «90+30.» After each stage, players earned points, and the top 16 men and women advanced to the knockout final stage.
