As Bibisara Asaubayeva of Kazakhstan puts it, she has dedicated 17 of her 21 years of life to chess.
Was it worth it? Well, this month, FIDE, the Switzerland-based governing body of chess, awarded grandmaster status to Asaubayeva, making her the second Kazakhstani woman and the 43rd female player ever to earn the coveted title.
The announcement came on Monday after a FIDE council meeting on July 18 that approved nine other grandmasters, including 15-year-old Kazakhstani Edgar Mamedov. It wasn’t a surprise for the players from Kazakhstan because they had achieved the required ratings two months ago and were awaiting official confirmation.
Still, the accomplishment spurred reflections this week from Asaubayeva, who posted an Instagram slideshow of photos spanning her career, from a young girl perched in front of chessboards at tournaments to a young woman with a wealth of accolades and experience behind her. She described being “haunted” by missed chances or mistakes on the board and said chess was no longer a game for her because it is so much a part of her identity.
“It’s so strange sometimes to look at my childhood photos from tournaments,” she said. “The games, the trips, the emotions — everything seemed so big, so extraordinary back then. I remember how differently I saw chess at the time — with awe, excitement, as if I were entering a fairytale where anything was possible.”
Asaubayeva said losses hurt and she never gets used to them, but they make her more resilient.
“To me, chess isn’t just 64 black and white squares. It’s a whole world. My world. And there’s still so much left to explore,” she said. “And you know… If you ever give it a try — this game will never let you go.”
The first woman from Kazakhstan to become a grandmaster was Zhansaya Abdumalik in 2021.
Asaubayeva won consecutive titles at the Women’s World Blitz Championships in 2021 and 2022. Currently, she is ranked 10th among the world’s highest-rated women with a rating of 2509, according to Chess.com. It stated that she received a wildcard into the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas and played there a few days ago, but struggled against the world-class competition.
Kazakhstan has been pushing to develop homegrown talent, introducing chess into the curricula of hundreds of schools, training chess teachers, organizing numerous tournaments, and even supporting chess federations in some other Asian countries. At last week’s chess council meeting, delegates confirmed the dates for several upcoming events, including the 2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities, scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan in October this year.
