Archives: News

Registration for the 28th Asian Youth Chess Championships, to be held from 15 to 25 July 2026 in Shenzhen, China, is now open.

Shenzhen is a modern and dynamic city, widely recognized as a global technology hub. Located just north of Hong Kong, it offers excellent infrastructure, international accessibility, and a vibrant cultural environment for participants and visitors.

All National Chess Federations have received their login credentials to register players, accompanying persons, and official delegates through the online registration system.

The official regulations of the event can be found here.

Official website here:

A total of 55 National Chess Federations from Asia are eligible to register players in the Under 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, and 8 categories, in both the Open and Girls sections.

Each federation has the right to nominate one official player in each category. In addition, federations may register extra players in all categories.

Photo of overall winners of  2025edition; From left to right: Chief Arbiter K.K. Chan, Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Bharat Singh and Thailand Chess Association President Sahapol Nakvanich.

https://aycc2025.chesstournament.org/

Last year, the 27th edition of the Asian Youth was organized in Bangkok, Thailand, with a record of  700 players from 33 Asian Countries.

The 2026 edition of the FIDE World Cadet & Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships, held in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia has emphatically underscored Asia’s growing dominance in global youth chess, as players from the continent delivered a historic performance across both rapid and blitz formats.

Organized by the Chess Federation of Serbia under the auspices of FIDE, the event attracted around 450 participants from 40 national federations competing across six age groups – U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18 – in Open and Girls’ categories.

Rapid: 10 out of 12 Titles
In the rapid section, Asian players claimed 10 of the 12 gold medals across all age categories, demonstrating consistency, depth, and a high level of preparation. From the youngest divisions to the Under-18 category, players from Kazakhstan, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and India proved dominant, leaving only two titles for the rest of the world.

The overall medal tally reinforces this superiority, with Asian players claiming 27 out of 36 medals available in the rapid competition.

Blitz: Near-Perfect Sweep

If the rapid results were impressive, the blitz event took Asian dominance even further. In a stunning display, Asian players captured 11 out of 12 gold medals in the blitz categories, coming within a single title of a complete sweep.

Beyond the gold medals, the medal tally paints an even clearer picture of supremacy:
Asian players secured 31 out of the 36 total medals awarded in blitz (gold, silver, and bronze combined), leaving just five medals for non-Asian competitors.

With such commanding performances in both rapid and blitz, the future of world chess is increasingly being shaped in Asia. Many of these young champions are expected to rise through the ranks and become the next generation of elite competitors on the world stage.

 Photo: Chess Federation of Serbia

Full tournament results can be found here:
Rapid – https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1392963.aspx
Blitz – https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1394847.aspx

On Thursday, April 16, the last games of the XXIII Anatoly Karpov International Tournament were played at the Ugra Chess Academy.

In the 9th round, the game between Ilia Iljiushenok and Denis Lazavik turned out to be very short: the opponents made a draw by threefold repetition of the position on the 11th move. Thus, the Belarusian grandmaster Denis Lazavik became the winner of the tournament, scoring 6 points out of 9. After the game, he commented on his performance:

“The tournament was quite easy. On the second day, I won two games – it’s quite good for a round-robin event. I’m used to playing in open tournaments, and there you can start with “4 out of 4”, but you still need to win a bunch of games to become the winner, whereas here, after two wins, you can play in a more solid way. Moreover, in the games I played as Black against Raunak Sadhwani and Ilia Iljiushenok, they didn’t really try to beat me, so in fact I was left with White games. Probably the most important was the victory over Ivan Zemlyanskii in the penultimate round: I managed to prepare well there, so I’ll highlight that one. My other wins against Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Benjamin Gledura were more difficult”, said Lazavik.

Draws were also recorded in the games between R. Sadhwani and Lu Shanglei, A. Grebnev and A. Hakobyan, A. Nesterov and B. Gledura, and I. Zemlyanskii and S. Vokhidov.

The Hungarian grandmaster Benjamin Gledura took clear second place with 5.5 points. Aram Hakobyan from Armenia won bronze with 5 points.

Final standings:

1. Denis Lazavik — 6 points out of 9
2. Benjamin Gledura — 5.5
3. Aram Hakobyan — 5

4-7. Raunak Sadhwani, Aleksey Grebnev, Ivan Zemlyanskii, Shamsiddin Vokhidov — 4.5

8. Lu Shanglei — 4
9. Arseniy Nesterov — 3.5
10. Ilia Iljiushenok — 3

Two years in a row, the international tournament named after the legendary world champion has been hosted by the capital of Ugra, and before that it had been held for many years in the town of Poikovsky, Nefteyugansk district. The competition was held in the “rapid classic” format, which was officially approved by FIDE not so long ago, so the grandmasters played two rounds a day for four out of five days.

The tournament was also included in the FIDE Circuit series — the World Championship cycle. The participants received the circuit points according to their performance. The total prize fund of the competition amounted to almost 12 million rubles.

Results:

Chess-results: here

Live broadcast:

Lichess — https://clck.su/ipSXd

Chessopen — https://clck.su/MfYMB

Videotranslation — https://vk.com/chessugra

Photos — https://chesshmao.ru/gallery/

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/TJ5C/VZZJgb5FN

On Wednesday, April 15, after a day off, the XXIII Anatoly Karpov International Tournament continued in the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk.

In the seventh round, Aleksey Grebnev beat Ilia Iljiushenok as Black in a fiercely contested and dramatic game. After the game, the winner briefly talked about the match:

– I think that I didn’t play the most popular line in the opening, and everything transposed into the Nimzo-Indian Defense. It was a fighting position. At some point, I should have been completely winning. I tried to calculate something, but, apparently, I need to remember that it’s already better not to calculate anything (laughs). After that, the game somehow took a turn for the fiercer, and there wasn’t enough time. Then the position equalized, and, as it seems to me, the opponent thought that the resulting endgame was drawn, so he simply began to play “by hand” and ended up in a hopeless position.

Denis Lazavik and Benjamin Gledura, the leaders of the tournament, tied pretty quickly, playing with Raunak Sadhwani and Lu Shanglei, respectively.

Draws were recorded in the games of A. Nesterov — S. Vokhidov and I. Zemlyanskii — A. Hakobyan.

In the penultimate eighth round, Denis Lazavik defeated Ivan Zemlyanskii as White and became the sole leader of the tournament, because Benjamin Gledura drew with Aleksey Grebnev.

Denis Lazavik tells: “We played the Benoni Defense without a tempo for White. As a rule, this opening rarely appears, but then I decided that maybe the opponent wouldn’t expect it, even though I had played like this once. Ivan had been playing the Gruenfeld Defense during the tournament. I expected it, so I chose this setup. It turned out that he ended up in my variation. Nothing special, but it so happened that I knew it almost up to the 25th move — that’s rare. I sacrificed a few pawns, and a arose such position where either I had messed something up and would resign, or it’s easy because there’s only one line to follow.

The important moment came when I played 35. Kh1 (here he was like: “What are you doing?”), then I absolutely blundered the move 26…Rg6 after 35…axb4 36. Ke4. But then, 38. Ng3 was later found by pure chance — usually I’m not so lucky. I don’t know if he could have saved himself in time trouble, but it’s obvious that he didn’t see 38. Ng3 like me. After that, his position collapsed swiftly. Maybe he could have gone for the queen swap variation, and we would have played this two‑on‑two endgame for a long time with me having the extra piece. As it was, he blundered 41. Qf6+, and that was the end of It”.

Playing Black against Lu Shanglei, Arseniy Nesterov sacrificed a pawn during the middlegame, securing compensation thanks to the White bishop being tied down to its initial position. The opponents fought a maneuvering battle in a closed position, where White advanced on the kingside, and Black broke through on the opposite side of the board. After the exchange of pieces, a rook endgame arose, and there Nesterov made a decisive mistake, capturing the wrong pawn and allowing the opponent’s king to break through into his rear. With precise play, the rating favorite Lu Shanglei achieved his first victory in the tournament.

The games between S. Vokhidov — R. Sadhwanі and A. Hakobyan — I. Iljiushenok both ended in draws.

Standings after Round 8:

1. Denis Lazavik — 5.5
2. Benjamin Gledura — 5
3. Aram Hakobyan — 4.5

4-7. Raunak Sadhwani, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Aleksey Grebnev, Ivan Zemlyanskii — 4

8. Lu Shanglei — 3.5
9. Arseniy Nesterov — 3
10. Ilia Iljiushenok — 2.5

Round 9 pairings:

А. Nesterov — B. Gledura, R. Sadhwani — Lu Shanglei, I. Zemlyanskii — S. Vokhidov, I. Iljiushenok — D. Lazavik, А. Grebnev — А. Hakobyan

The final ninth round will be held on Thursday, April 16, with the game starting at 1 PM local time.

Final Ranking after round 8

Chess-results: here

Live broadcast:

Lichess — https://clck.su/ipSXd

Chessopen — https://clck.su/MfYMB

Videotranslation — https://vk.com/chessugra

Photos — https://chesshmao.ru/gallery/

Benjamin Gledura caught up with the leader at the XXIII Anatoly Karpov International Tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk

Two-thirds of the XXIII Anatoly Karpov International Tournament have been completed.

In the fifth round, Shamsiddin Vokhidov suffered his second consecutive defeat, losing as White to Benjamin Gledura. After the game, the Hungarian grandmaster explained that he had already lost to this opponent in a solid opening, so this time he was looking for a sharper battle. And so it happened: the grandmasters played the Sicilian Defense and reached a position with mutual chances. White castled long, while the black king remained in the center. Gledura made a typical exchange sacrifice on c3, weakening the dark squares around the opponent’s king, which soon proved decisive. White allowed the black queen and bishop to line up on the long diagonal and were forced to resign due to severe losses.

Aleksey Grebnev held a rook and knight endgame with a pawn down against Raunak Sadhwani, and Ilia Iljiushenok defended a tough position against Ivan Zemlyanskii in a long and stubborn struggle. The games Lu Shanglei — D. Lazavik and A. Nesterov — A. Hakobyan also ended in draws.

In the sixth round, as in the previous one, Benjamin Gledura scored the only victory of the entire tournament. The Hungarian grandmaster, playing White, defeated Russian Ilia Iljiushenok and caught up with the leader, Denis Lazavik. After the game, Benjamin shared his impressions:

«The second game today was long and very challenging. I think that in the middlegame he was doing fine, maybe even slightly better. But I launched an attack on the kingside, and he started spending a lot of time. My opponent made several small mistakes, after which we entered the endgame that proved extremely difficult for him to defend under time pressure.

Regarding my overall performance, of course, today the games worked out very well. I make mistakes, my play is far from ideal, but the result is good so far. I hope I’ll be able to keep going. There are still three rounds to go, and they will be very tough because the opponents here are strong. Let’s see. I hope that I can show some good chess», — the grandmaster concluded.

Draws were recorded in the games A. Grebnev — I. Zemlyanskii, D. Lazavik — A. Nesterov, S. Vokhidov — Lu Shanglei, and A. Hakobyan — R. Sadhwani.

Standings after Round 6:

1-2. Denis Lazavik, Benjamin Gledura — 4

3-4. Aram Hakobyan, Ivan Zemlyanskii — 3.5

5-6. Raunak Sadhwani, Shamsiddin Vokhidov — 3

7-8. Aleksey Grebnev, Arseniy Nesterov — 2.5

9-10. Ilia Iljiushenok, Lu Shanglei — 2

Round 7 pairings:

Lu Shanglei — B. Gledura, A. Nesterov — S. Vokhidov, R. Sadhwani — D. Lazavik, I. Zemlyanskii — А. Hakobyan, I. Iljiushenok — А. Grebnev.

The tournament has a day off on Tuesday, April 14. The seventh and eighth rounds will be held on April 15. The games start at 11 AM and 4 PM local time.

Live broadcast:

Lichess — https://clck.su/ipSXd

Chessopen — https://clck.su/MfYMB

Videotranslation — https://vk.com/chessugra

Photos https://chesshmao.ru/gallery/

More than 20 Official events of the Asian Chess Federation have been announced to be organized in the year 2026:

Check all official events on the FIDE Calendar here:

Plus the mentioned events, the following events are supposed to be organized in the mentioned countries, but the dates to be announced.:

The FIDE Continental Online Chess Championships for Prisoners returns for its second edition, set to take place across four continents in May 2026.

This event builds on the momentum of the inaugural continental championships in 2025 and is part of FIDE’s ongoing Chess for Freedom initiative – a programme designed to expand opportunities for intellectual engagement, personal development, and social reintegration through chess.

The first Continental Online Chess Championships for Prisoners, held in May 2025, marked a major milestone in the Chess for Freedom programme, bringing together teams from correctional institutions around the world in structured online competition. That pioneering event demonstrated the power of chess to create connection and opportunity even in challenging circumstances, reinforcing the value of regular regional championships as a complement to FIDE’s established intercontinental events.

The 2026 Continental Championships will again feature separate regional competitions for the following continents:

• Africa – May 12, 2026
• Americas – May 14, 2026
• Europe– May 19, 2026
• Asia – May 21, 2026

Each continental championship will take place over a single day, with teams from correctional facilities within the region competing online on Chess.com. The format will vary based on the number of entries, using round robin or Swiss systems to ensure competitive balance and engagement.

National federations and correctional institutions are invited to register teams representing:

• One men’s correctional facility team
• One women’s correctional facility team
• One juvenile team (players under 20)

Countries that organise national prison chess championships may qualify additional teams, expanding access to regional competition.

The championships feature rapid time control (10 minutes with a 5-second increment) and are structured to maintain fair play and security, with oversight and technical support coordinated by FIDE and its partners. As in the first edition, the focus remains on providing meaningful competitive opportunities while upholding the integrity of the event and the dignity of participants.

Continental champions will be recognised with official titles and certificates, and all participants will receive acknowledgement for their achievements. FIDE encourages participating institutions to share reports and photos, where permitted by local regulations, to highlight the ongoing impact of chess behind bars.

Registration is open until 1 May 2026, with no entry fee required.

The 2nd Continental Online Chess Championships for Prisoners represent the continued evolution of the Chess for Freedom programme, reinforcing FIDE’s commitment to using chess as a constructive force for inclusion, empowerment, and personal growth around the globe.

Registration & key dates

• Registration deadline: May 1, 2026
• Registration: Click [HERE] to register
• Technical meeting: Week of May 5, 2026 (via Zoom)

Correctional institutions must complete the online registration form and confirm their team’s participation via email to Mikhail Korenman at mikhail.korenman@ccsheriff.org.

The Kazakhstan Chess Federation announces the results of the selection process for national chess federations in the Freedom Asian Chess Initiatives (FACI) 2026 project. The application period for the new stage of the initiative, implemented with the support of Freedom Holding Corp., FIDE, and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF), concluded in early January.

Following a comprehensive review of applications, the following countries have been approved as participants of FACI 2026:

🇰🇭 Cambodia

🇯🇵 Japan

🇯🇴 Jordan

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan

🇳🇵 Nepal

🇵🇰 Pakistan

🇹🇲 Turkmenistan

The selection was based on compliance with the project criteria and the potential for sustainable chess development in the respective countries.

The FACI project is aimed at the sustainable development of chess across Asia through strengthening national federations, enhancing professional training standards, and fostering international cooperation. The program includes training camps, educational seminars, and support for participation in international competitions.

In 2025, FACI supported seven national chess federations — Oman, Cambodia, Nepal, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, and Pakistan. The participating countries demonstrated strong sporting results, including prize-winning finishes at international tournaments. Several federations also received grant support to participate in the FIDE World Cadet Chess Championship held in Almaty, providing young players with valuable experience competing at the highest international level.

KazChess warmly congratulate selected federations on becoming part of FACI 2026. May this initiative open new opportunities, and contribute to the continued growth and unity of the Asian chess community.

More detailed information about the FACI project is available in our video feature and on our website

• Queen Festival Online Chess Tournament: https://forms.gle/rBcspUh9Fth9fQki9
• Princess Festival Online Chess Tournament: https://forms.gle/c6ZsH6gxPAEN7ZAz9

The Asian Chess Federation successfully conducted a Swiss Manager Seminar on 18–19 October 2025. The seminar was held online via Zoom Platform, and led by distinguished Lecturers IA Casto Abundo, IA Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, and IA Michael Joseph Pagaran.

A total of 68 participants from 26 national chess federations (AFG, BRN, CAN, CHN, EGY, GHA, GUM, IND, IRI, IRQ, JAM, JOR, JPN, KAZ, KEN, KSA, LCA, MAR, MAS, PAK, PHI, PLE, SRI, TJK, UAE, UZB) took part in the two-day program, consisting of:

• 13 International Arbiters
• 25 FIDE Arbiters
• 28 National Arbiters

The first day focused on the introduction and basic functions of the Swiss Manager software, while the second day covered advanced operational features. A total of 58 participants completed the Practical Examination.

All participants received supplementary study materials and were awarded Certificates of Attendance confirming their participation.

Due to the strong interest and high demand among arbiters, the Asian Chess Federation plans to repeat the seminar in the near future.

Successful Examinees – Awarded the title of Swiss Manager Expert