Kazakhstan Championship 2022: Zhalmakhanov and Kamalidenova win titles
IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov and WIM Meruert Kamalidenova are the new champions of Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstan Chess Championship took place from December 2-11 in Semey, with the open and women’s events (round-robin tournaments with classical time control) running simultaneously. The 9th-rated Ramazan Zhalmakhanov (pictured below) caused a minor sensation in the open championship scoring 9/13 and finishing a full point ahead of Kazybek Nogerbek and Denis Makhnev, who tied for second place. The 20-year-old from Almaty took a practical approach drawing the games with his main competitors and notching up several victories against the participants from the bottom of the standings, which worked perfectly for him. The silver medal goes to Kazybek Nogerbek, thanks to better Sonneborn-Berger; Denis Makhnev took the bronze. The champion and the runner-up became the only unbeaten players in the competition. Final standings: 1 IM Zhalmakhanov, Ramazan 2401 9 2 IM Nogerbek, Kazybek 2468 8 3 GM Makhnev, Denis 2481 8 4 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 2507 7½ 5 IM Agmanov, Zhandos 2442 7½ 6 Utegaliyev, Azamat 2445 7 7 IM Urazayev, Arystanbek 2465 7 8 IM Aitbayev, Aslan 2421 7 9 GM Kostenko, Petr 2374 5½ 10 IM Suleymenov, Alisher 2476 5½ 11 IM Kazakov, Konstantin 2385 5½ 12 IM Ansat, Aldiyar 2291 5 13 FM Abdilkhair, Abilmansur 2278 4½ 14 FM Sapenov, Daniyal 2323 4 The fate of the title in the women’s championship was decided in the final eleventh round. Sitting on 8/10, the rating favourite and the leader Meruert Kamalidenova (pictured below) did not play (due to the odd number of participants) and had to wait for the outcome of the game between her main rival Alua Nurmanova vs Elnaz Kaliakhment. Photo: Niki Riga Trailing Kamalidenova by a full point, Nurmanova needed a victory to catch up with the leader she beat in the direct encounter. Playing with the white pieces, Alua came very close and had a study-like win at some point but missed her chance and had to settle for a draw to finish a half-point behind the champion (7½/10). Xeniya Balabayeva and Amina Kairbekova scored 6½/10 each and tied for third place, with the former taking bronze by dint of slightly better Sonneborn-Berger. Final standings: 1 WIM Kamalidenova, Meruert 2377 8 2 WIM Nurmanova, Alua 2191 7½ 3 WIM Balabayeva, Xeniya 2183 6½ 4 WIM Kairbekova, Amina 2209 6½ 5 WIM Serikbay, Assel 2230 6 6 WIM Nurgali, Nazerke 2168 5½ 7 WIM Sultanbek, Zeinep 1891 5 8 WFM Nurgaliyeva, Zarina 2013 3½ 9 WFM Kaliakhmet, Elnaz 1786 2½ 10 Kaldarova, Ayaulym 1832 2 11 Popandopulo, Kristina 1846 2 Photo: Kazakhstan Chess Federation Facebook page Official website: kazchess.kz/
Greek Championship: Georgios Mitsis and Marina Makropoulou come out on top
Georgios Mitsis and WGM Marina Makropoulou are the 2022 Greek Chess Champions. The championships (round-robin tournaments with classical time control) took place in the headquarters of the Greek Chess Federation in Athens from December 3 to 11. The 4th ranked Georgios Mitsis, rated 2365, clinched his first national title with a round to spare, scoring 7 out 9, 1½ points ahead of FM Nikolaos Koutlas and GM Spyridon Skembris.The 20-year-old got off to a flying start winning the first three games, including against #2 IM Konstantinos Moutousis and #3 GM Spyridon Skembris. Georgios scored five wins and made four draws, had a performance of 2552 and gained 42.4 rating points. FM Nikolaos Koutlas won the silver medal thanks to his greater number of victories (four), while GM Spyridon Skembris (three victories) took the bronze. Final standings: 1 Mitsis, Georgios (2365) 7 2 FM Koutlas, Nikolaos (2267) 5½ 3 GM Skembris, Spyridon (2381) 5½ 4 IM Alexakis, Dimitris (2486) 5 5 FM Trimitzios, Petros (2358) 5 6 FM Markidis, Konstantinos (2290) 4½ 7 FM Alexiadis, Hristos (2342) 4½ 8 IM Moutousis, Konstantinos (2392) 3½ 9 Naoum, Spyridon (2352) 3 10 Marinakis, Hristos (2118) 1½ A first-round win turned out to be a crucial one for WGM Marina Makropoulou. She beat Antonia Christodoulaki, who, however, managed to bounce back and catch up with Marina in the final round. Marina scored 7/10 and claimed the title thanks to the first tiebreak, their direct encounter. The rating favourite, aged 62, clinched her ninth national title in Greece (tenth in total; she also won the 1984 Romanian Women’s Championship) and broke two records: the number of women’s champions titles and the oldest woman to win the national championship in Greece. Antonia Christodoulaki, who also scored 7/10 points, had to settle for the silver medal, and Magdalini Mihailidou, who netted 6/10 and took the bronze. Final standings: 1 WGM Makropoulou, Marina (2130) 7 2 Christodoulaki, Antonia (2063) 7 3 Mihailidou, Magdalini (1815) 6 4 WFM Makka, Evanthia (2008) 5½ 5 WIM Makka, Ioulia (1952) 5½ 6 Androni, Konstantina (1964) 5 7 Gkoutzouki, Aikaterini Argyro (1618) 5 8 Drakaki, Anna-Maria (1956) 5 9 Deli, Eleanna Ratzvika (1718) 3½ 10 Amiridou, Dimitra (1871) 3 11 Kiousi, Panagiota (1818) 2½ Photo: Ioannis Makropoulos