June 7, 2023, Almaty. Today, the 5th round of the Continental Asian Chess Championship is taking place at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, with four more rounds ahead. The participants have reached the halfway point of the tournament, which means it’s time to summarize the intermediate results.
After the completion of the first four rounds in the Open Championship for men, Grandmaster Rinat Zhumabaev is leading the standings. Alongside another experienced member of the Kazakhstani national team, Murtas Kazhgaleev, they had a strong start. In the 2nd round, they had to face their opponents with the black pieces, which is always associated with considerable difficulties and risks. While Murtas quickly tilted the balance in his favor with an elegant yet not overly complex tactical strike against the multiple-time champion of Kyrgyzstan, Semetei Tologontegin, Rinat secured his victory through a tough battle. His opponent, Mohammad Rahman from Bangladesh, entrenched himself on the first two ranks and refused to yield an inch of his territory until he lost a pawn close to the time control. It was later revealed that it was a positional sacrifice by the grandmaster, who
had calculated the consequences much further than his opponent, ultimately proving to be correct.
In the 3rd round, Rinat Zhumabaev defeated International Master Aditya Samanta from India, and the 4th round ended in a draw against Iranian player Daneshvar Bardia, who currently occupies the second position after four rounds. Grandmaster Shamsiddin Vokhidov from Uzbekistan is in the third position. Several Kazakhstani players made it into the top ten, including Alisher Suleimenov, Azamat Utegaliyev, Ansar Aldiyar, Murtas Kazhgaleev, and Kazybek Nogerbek. Overall, we have six positions in the top ten.
In the women’s section, Amina Kairbekova had a good performance in the 2nd round, playing on the first board against experienced Iranian player Mobina Aminasab. Asel Serikbay and Liya Kurmangaliyeva faced each other right from the start. The game was played interestingly, and both girls showed a lot of creativity and a will to win, but Asel emerged victorious. Kseniya Balabaeva also started with two consecutive wins. Her opponent, Adelya Ospanova, held the initiative for quite some time as White but eventually succumbed to Kseniya’s precise play. Nazerkke Nurgali, too, started with a perfect score of 2 out of 2, defeating Ayana Abaeva from Kyrgyzstan in a technically precise manner.
After the third and fourth rounds, Alua Nurmanova and Meruert Kamalidenova earned a score of “minus five” as they garnered one and a half points from the two rounds. The game between Nazerkke Nurgali and Meruert Kamalidenova lasted 124 moves and ended in a draw.
After four rounds, Alua Nurmanova, Meruert Kamalidenova, and Nazerkke Nurgali are in pursuit, trailing the leaders by just half a point. The top position after the fourth round is held by Grandmaster B. Munguntuul from Mongolia.
Considering the intensity of the competition at the start, we can anticipate exciting emotions in the middlegame and, especially, at the finish of the championship. It is worth noting that today there is also a simultaneous game session for young chess players with the First Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF)
and Vice President of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), Darman Sadvakasov.
The Continental Asian Chess Championship (Open Championship for men and Championship for women) will continue until the end of this week. The closing ceremony and the awarding of the winners will take place on June 11.
The tournament is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, the Asian Chess Federation, and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation with the support of the Akimat of Almaty. The general partner of the tournament is Freedom Holding Corp.
Media Contact:
Daria Burkova
daria@kazchess.kz
+7 701 351 95 50
– Kazakhstan Chess Federation Press Release