Kazakhstan’s Assaubayeva picks up first point at Budapest tournament after drawing Wesley So
Kazakhstan’s chess star Bibisara Assaubayeva has scored her first point at the Total Chess Pilot 2026 tournament in Budapest, Hungary, after drawing both games against American grandmaster Wesley So in the opening round of the group stage, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Sports.kz.
Assaubayeva collected one point out of a possible two in her matches against So.
The two players are competing in Group D alongside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Hans Niemann of the US, Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali Rameshbabu of India.
On November 10, Assaubayeva suffered eight consecutive defeats in a nine-round Swiss-system blitz event. She managed to secure a draw against India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu in the final round.
With just 0.5 points from nine possible, Assaubayeva finished 24th and last in the standings. The chess player later described the result as the worst of her career.
The next round of the competition is scheduled to take place today.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Kazakhstan’s young chess prodigy won the third title of the world championship in Spain.
