West Kazakhstan region wins Senat Open Chess Tournament team competition
On August 28, Astana hosted the Senat Open Сhess Tournament final, with 218 participants sitting at the chessboards, who represented all regions and three major cities of Kazakhstan, as well as the Parliament, Kazinform News Agency reports.
The opening ceremony began with the performance of the anthems of Kazakhstan and FIDE. The welcoming speech was delivered by Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev and President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation Timur Turlov. They made the symbolic first move of the final match.
The final tournament was held according to the Swiss system in nine rounds with a 10+5 time control. Talgat Blankin from Pavlodar region won nine rounds and became the absolute winner of the competition. Tair Zhumabayev from West Kazakhstan region finished second with 8 points, and Berik Tleumbetov from Almaty became third with 7.5 points.
Apart from individual competition, winners in team and special categories were identified. Zainabkhan Bozhgulova from Astana became a winner among women. Talgat Blankin is the best among civil servants, and Tair Zhumabayev showed excellent result among veterans. Prizes were also awarded to deputies, journalists, and in other nominations.
As for team competition, Astana ranked third, Zhambyl region finished second, and the team from West Kazakhstan region emerged as the winner.
The Senat Open Сhess Tournament final summed up the series of competitions which began in February. This year, more than 2,100 chess fans from all over the country took part in the tournament, given the veteran stages, their number exceeded 3,000.
Earlier, it was reported that Bibisara Assaubayeva became the second Kazakh woman in history to be officially awarded the FIDE Grandmaster title, while 14-year-old Edgar Mamedov set a national record as the youngest GM from Kazakhstan.