On June 20, the opening of the “Aktobe Open. Memorial of Vladimir Dvorkovich” International Chess Tournament took place in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. This year, the championship is being held for the third time. The tournament is dedicated to the memory of Arkady Dvorkovich’s father, Vladimir Dvorkovich, an international chess arbiter. He quickly became one of the leading arbiters in the USSR, as he began officiating competitions while still a student. Aktobe was chosen as the venue not by chance – in this city of Kazakhstan a young Vladimir Dvorkovich was assigned after graduating from college and made a contribution to the development of local talents.
The championship was opened by the President of the International Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich himself. This year, Aktobe Open has attracted a record number of participants – 176
chess players from 15 countries: USA, Armenia, Israel, Iran, Croatia, Ukraine, Russia, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The tournament features 12 international grandmasters, 4 international masters, and 3 FIDE masters. Alongside the open tournament, 80 young chess players will compete in the under-14 category.
Among the well-known participants of the tournament are the Iranian champion and Asian vice- champion Bardia Daneshvar; American chess player Timur Gareev, the Guinness World Record holder for the most simultaneous blindfold games; Manuel Petrosyan from Armenia, the World Under-18 Chess Champion; Vladislav Kovalev, the winner of the Aeroflot Open tournament; and Arystan Isanzhulov from Kazakhstan, the Asian Blitz Chess Champion.
The tournament will run until June 28. The venue is the West Kazakhstan Medical University named after Ospanov in Aktobe, Kazakhstan.
The general sponsors of the tournament are Freedom Holding Corp and Aktobe Copper Company. The tournament prize fund amounts to 23,000,000 tenge (approximately $51,000).