ASTANA – Like all great sports, chess attracts many people for its brilliance, building pressure, and unexpected outcomes. As the global chess community celebrates International Chess Day on July 20, The Astana Times reflects on some of Kazakhstan’s most remarkable chess achievements led by prodigy women.
Photo credit: kazchess.kz
International Chess Day commemorates the founding of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1924. This year, FIDE launched the Year of Social Chess, an initiative dedicated to using the game as a tool for inclusion, education, empowerment, and mental well-being. With the theme Every Move Counts, FIDE highlights that both in chess and in life, every decision plays a role in building the story.
Kazakhstan’s chess history is in its early chapters and already marked by games of rare brilliance. Kazakh women in chess are a particular source of pride, excelling in this traditionally male-dominated game of precision, concentration and memory.
A recent moment of pride came on July 11, when 19-year-old Meruert Kamalidenova defeated reigning Women’s World Cup champion Aleksandra Goryachkina in the FIDE Women’s World Cup. This raises hopes that she may one day follow in the footsteps of Kazakhstan’s top grandmasters, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Bibisara Assaubayeva.
Along with their dominance over the chessboard, each of these women made their contributions to the development of Kazakhstan’s chess game and can shape the sport’s future in the country.
Zhansaya Abdumalik
A persuasive case can be made that Zhansaya Abdumalik is one of the greatest female chess players in Kazakhstan.
Zhansaya Abdumalik on the board during the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2023 Munich. Photo credit: Paul Meyer-Dunker
She was a genuine phenomenon when she won the World Youth Chess Championship in the under-eight-year-old category back in 2008. That win made her the first world champion in Kazakh chess history.
In 2021, Abdumalik also became the first female player from both Kazakhstan and Central Asia to receive the grandmaster title.
Now, the 25-year-old Kazakh chess prodigy is taking a break in her career, but she continues to promote chess in Kazakhstan through her chess academy.
Bibisara Assaubayeva
Not many women in chess can claim to have gained international success at a young age. Bibisara Assaubayeva is one of them. In 2021, she made chess history, becoming the youngest Women’s World Blitz Chess Champion at the championship in Poland. She was 17 when she earned that title.
Bibisara Assaubayeva. Photo credit: gov.kz
This year, having surpassed the 2500 rating for the first time in her career, Assaubayeva became the second female grandmaster from Kazakhstan after Abdumalik.
She also grabbed headlines in late June for receiving a rare invitation to compete in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. In such a top-tier closed tournament traditionally dominated by male players, Assaubayeva has become the third woman in history to receive such an invitation.
Last year, Assaubayeva secured the top spot in three FIDE world rankings, excelling in the under-20 category, blitz and rapid formats.
Young generation
The example of two Kazakh chess champions helps build enthusiasm for the game among younger generations as well.
Kazakhstan emerged as the top-performing nation at the 2025 FIDE World School Chess Championship in March in Serbia, with Astana’s seven-year-old chess player Abdul-Malik Kairat securing an early victory in the Open U7 (under 7) category. Along with him, gold medals were awarded to Alisha Bissaliyeva in the Girls U9 category, Alimzhan Zhauynbay in the Open U11 category, and Artyom Bogdanov in the Open U17 category.
Chess tournaments in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has a strong tradition of hosting major chess events, which has contributed significantly to the development of the game in the country.
In 2022, Almaty hosted the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships, while Astana held the first leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix and hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2019.
However, it was not until 2023, when two world-renowned chess grandmasters, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and Chinese Ding Liren, sat down in a small room at the 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship, that the viewing experience became accessible to chess fans in Kazakhstan.
The competition to determine the best player in chess on the planet ended with a victory for Liren.
