Alua Nurman becomes world's second-best junior girl chess player
Kazakh chess players Alua Nurman and Amina Kairbekova have both broken into the top 10 of the latest FIDE world rankings for girls, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Sports.kz.
Alua Nurman, 19, currently holds second place with 2,443.0 rating points. Over the past twelve months, she has made an impressive leap, climbing 14 spots with a total gain of +105.0 points. She is now hot on the heels of the leader, Russia's Anna Shukhman (2,456.4), and has outranked Lu Miaoyi (2,438.0) of China.
Amina Kairbekova has 2,374.0 points and sits in ninth place worldwide. Over the last rating period, she gained 12 points, moving up one spot.
Top 5 Junior Girls in the World:
- Anna Shukhman (Russia) — 2456.4
- Alua Nurman (Kazakhstan) — 2443.0
- Lu Miaoyi (China) — 2438.0
- Afruza Khamdamova (Uzbekistan) — 2423.0
- Alice Lee (USA) — 2415.0
Alua Nurman became widely known to Kazakh social media audiences following an incident in April 2026 at the Grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe, Germany. Before the start of her second-round game, she approached world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway and asked for a selfie. He agreed, but immediately after the photo, he approached the arbiters and reported that his opponent had a mobile phone with her. The referee confiscated the phone before the game began and issued a warning to Nurman.
As the incident occurred before the first move, no technical loss was given, and the game was played as scheduled (Carlsen won).
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Woman Grandmaster Alua Nurman secured a spot at the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2027.