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Chess

Kyrgyzstan Opens National Chess Academy in Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan is linking school chess programs with advanced training as it seeks greater success internationally. The National Chess Academy opened in Bishkek on September 13, while a pilot program is introducing chess clubs for students in grades three to five at 500 schools across the country. The academy, established under the Kyrgyz Chess Union, will identify and train promising young players. It will also organize competitions and provide a permanent base where they can prepare for national and international tournaments. The academy is part of a national chess development program for 2026–2030. The program also provides for teacher training to support the school clubs and annual presidential awards for the country’s best player and coach. At the opening ceremony, Adylbek Kasymaliyev, chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, said he expected the academy to train talented players and develop a new generation capable of representing Kyrgyzstan internationally. Aida Salyanova, president of the Kyrgyz Chess Union, has said the longer-term goal is to build a system that allows players to progress from school programs to international competition. Creating that system will take longer than opening an academy or launching hundreds of clubs. Young players need years of coaching and regular competition before they can reach that level. Kyrgyzstan already has young players competing at a high level. At the 2025 national championship, International Master Eldiyar Orozbaev won the open event, while Begimai Zairbek Kyzy won the women’s title. Five of the top 10 finishers in the open event were under 20. International Master is the second-highest open title awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), below Grandmaster. Kyrgyzstan has produced one grandmaster, Leonid Yurtaev, who received the title in 1996. No player representing the country has since followed him. This expansion comes at a time of growing chess success across Central Asia. Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the Tata Steel Chess Masters in the Netherlands in early 2026, one of the world’s most prestigious annual tournaments. Abdusattorov later won the Prague International Chess Festival Masters and rose to fourth in FIDE’s world rankings. Uzbekistan is also hosting the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. The event opened on September 15, and play began the following day. The Olympiad is FIDE’s flagship international team competition. Kazakhstan is pursuing a similar approach to chess education. Its Chess in Education program now covers 1,500 schools, while KazChessLab trains future chess teachers and develops teaching methods.

Chess

Turkmenistan’s Allayar Shirliev Wins Abu Dhabi Chess Tournament

Allayar Shirliev was a conscripted soldier when he became Turkmenistan’s national chess champion in 2024 and has said he wants to break the world record for playing the most games simultaneously while blindfolded. The 22-year-old Turkmen player has now won a chess tournament in the United Arab Emirates, the Turkmenportal platform and other media reported. Shirliev won the Open A tournament at the 32nd International Chess Festival in Abu Dhabi, which was held from August 15 to August 24. The Open A category is for players with a rating of 2299 and below under the rules of FIDE, the international governing body of chess. The top ten players in the world all have ratings above 2750. Shirliev, whose chess title is candidate master, entered the Abu Dhabi tournament with a classical chess rating of 2184, and his victory is expected to raise his rating by about 40 points when FIDE publishes new figures. He won eight out of a possible nine points in the competition, drawing with two players who have the more advanced international master title, Bashir Eiti of Syria and Richilieu III Salcedo of the Philippines. In a separate category, Uzbek grandmaster Jakhongir Vakhidov won the masters tournament for players with a rating of 2,300 and above in Abu Dhabi. Next month, Uzbekistan will host the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, fielding a team led by Javokhir Sindarov, winner of the FIDE Candidates Tournament in April. Born in Ashgabat, Shirliev is eager to push his limits. In April 2021, he played 25 games simultaneously while blindfolded and was planning another 30-game event, state media in Turkmenistan reported. Then, in July of that year, he played 40 games blindfolded, according to the InAshgabat news site. The world record for simultaneous games while blindfolded is held by Uzbek-born Timur Gareyev, according to Guinness World Records. He played 48 games at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas in 2016. He won 35 games, drew seven, and lost six. Hungarian grandmaster János Flesch played 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded in Budapest in 1960. But the performance wasn’t recognized as a world record.

Chess

Sindarov and Asaubayeva: Two Top Chess Players from Central Asia Form Friendship

He’s from Uzbekistan, and she’s from Kazakhstan. They’re elite chess players and good friends accustomed to the high-pressure environment of international tournaments. They went horse-riding together during downtime in South Africa and, on another occasion, played a game in which they had to guess each other’s character quirks. Both are competing right now in Cyprus, where Uzbekistani Javokhir Sindarov is the frontrunner in the eight-player FIDE Candidates Tournament that will determine who challenges the world champion later this year. On the women’s side, Kazakhstani Bibisara Asaubayeva was tied for first place in the early stages of the event but has since slipped further down in the field. Sindarov, 20, became a grandmaster at the age of 12, won the 2025 World Cup in Goa, India, and has impressed the chess community with his commanding performance in Cyprus so far. Asaubayeva, 22, won the Women’s World Blitz Championship in 2021, 2022, and 2025, and achieved grandmaster status last year as well. Sindarov and Asaubayeva talk with each other about chess, and the player from Kazakhstan said her friend from Uzbekistan wrote to her when he won last year’s World Cup, which led to his qualification for this year’s candidates tournament. In an interview with the TimesofIndia.com, Asaubayeva said she was delighted when her “closest friend” won in Goa. FIDE, the international governing body of chess, described the pair as “2 Happy Winners!” after they won their round three games in Cyprus and left the venue together. In December, Sindarov and Asaubayeva took a horse-riding break together during the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals, which was held at the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve near Cape Town in South Africa. They took a selfie together. Predictably, the friendship has led to social media chatter about whether there is a romance, as well as speculation about whether chess might one day have a “king” and “queen” if they become world champions or eventually reach the top of the rankings. One thing seems sure: They don’t mind poking fun at each other and themselves. A Freestyle Chess video short shows them answering questions, including “Who is more likely to blunder the queen in time trouble?” and “Who gets angry more quickly?” and “Who has the better haircut?” and “Who would survive longer in a zombie apocalypse?” The answer to the last one: Asaubayeva thinks she would do better against the zombies, but Sindarov believes he’d last longer.

Chess

Beyond the Magnus Selfie: Kazakhstan’s Alua Nurman Climbs the Chess Ranks

Kazakhstani chess player Alua Nurman attracted attention on social media after taking a selfie with top-ranked Magnus Carlsen at a tournament. However, some chess analysts suggest that greater attention should be paid to her recent success on the board. This year, 18-year-old Nurman was awarded the International Master (IM) title by FIDE, the international governing body of chess. She previously held the lower-ranking Woman Grandmaster title. Nurman delivered strong performances at the Prague International Chess Festival in late February and early March, and again at the Agzamov Memorial tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where she defeated American grandmaster Brandon Jacobson, whose classical chess rating is about 2,590. Her rating has increased by around 65 points to more than 2,440 as a result of her recent results. The International Master title requires a rating of at least 2,400. “Alua didn't just take a selfie w/ Magnus, she also earned the IM title, had the best tournament performance of her career, got her highest-rated win ever, & became No. 1 in the girls' junior rankings!” Women’s Chess Coverage, a social media account focused on women’s chess, said on X. FIDE defines juniors as players under 20. Nurman is Kazakhstan’s second-ranked female chess player after Bibisara Asaubayeva, who is currently competing in the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. The selfie was taken on April 2, just before Nurman and Carlsen played at the Grenke Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany. Nurman asked for a selfie, and Carlsen obliged. The Kazakhstani player then put her phone in her bag. After a moment, Carlsen got up and told a tournament official that Nurman had a phone, and it was confiscated for the duration of the game. FIDE generally prohibits players from having electronic communication devices during matches because of concerns about cheating. The selfie incident occurred before the start of the match, which the Norwegian won. Nurman was delighted with the experience of playing Carlsen, who is widely considered one of the best chess players of all time. “Dream come true!!” she said on Instagram. It was, Nurman added, a “truly enjoyable game.”