IM Sauat Nurgaliyev and WIM Zarina Nurgalieva are the newly crowned Kazakhstan chess champions, both winning their maiden national titles.
The 2026 Kazakhstan Championship, held in open and women’s sections, took place in Astana from May 2–12. Both competitions were 14-player round-robins with classical time control (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment).
The open section proved exceptionally tight, as most participants were closely matched in rating. After Round 8, as many as three players – IM Zhandos Agmanov, the 2025 champion GM Kazybek Nogerbek, and Nurgaliyev – were sharing the lead on 5.5/8. A pivotal moment came in Round 9: Agmanov and Nogerbek split a point in their game, while Nurgaliyev defeated Vladislav Malygin and seized the sole lead, a position he maintained to the very end.
Heading into the final round a full point ahead of his closest rivals, Nurgaliyev made a quick draw with FM Dinmukhammed Tulendinov and secured the title with a score of 9/13. Agmanov pulled off a final-round victory and finished just a half-point behind the champion. Notably, both the champion and the runner-up completed the event unbeaten.
Three players tied for third place on 8/13, with GM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov taking bronze based on his superior Sonneborn-Berger tiebreaker.
The women’s competition was even more thrilling, as four participants – WGM Liya Kurmangaliyeva, WIM Zarina Nurgalieva, the 2025 champion WIM Elnaz Kaliakhmet, and IM Meruert Kamalidenova – all crossed the finish line on 9/13, resulting in a four-way tie for the first place. The rapid single round-robin that followed failed to produce a clear winner the winner: Nurgalieva and Kamalidenova both scored 2/3 forcing a two-game blitz tiebreaker.
Nurgalieva dominated both games, recording a 2–0 victory to claim the national title.
Photos: Kazakhstan Chess Federation