World chess champion Magnus Carlsen arrives in Almaty
The current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen arrived in Almaty today.
At the airport, he was greeted by a young fan - chess player Delilah Sadvakasova. Delilah is the champion of the Republic of Kazakhstan in blitz, the winner of the 2019 Karpov Cup, and the winner of the International Chess Federation FIDE award.
The chess player was awarded for creating a unique cultural and educational project «Chess Stories with Delilah», where she tells about the world champions of chess. Among the selected women, Delilah is the only child. It is worth noting that 2022 was declared the FIDE Year of Women in Chess.
«I admire Magnus Carlsen’s career and I believe that him becoming a champion is the merit of his father. I also have the support of my family, without their support there would be no success. I got an autograph not only from Magnus but from his father too,» says 9-year-old Delilah.
The World Chess Championship will be held in Almaty on December 25-30, 2022. Leading chess players from 50 countries will compete for titles. The tournament is organized by FIDE and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation.
The tournament will be held at the Palace of Sports and Culture named after Baluan Sholak. The championship is held with the support of the akimat of Almaty and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The prize fund is one million dollars.
Leaders of the Open Championship are the defending world champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway, with a rating of 2859 in the December list), Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2768), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2766), Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 2793), Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2764), Alexander Grischuk (FIDE, 2745), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2740), Jan-Krzysztof Duda(Poland, 2729), Yu Yangyi (China, 2728), the defending champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France, 2737 - Blitz) as well as many other famous chess players.
The strongest chess players among women are Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2584), Kateryna Lagno(FIDE, 2563), Koneru Humpy (India, 2572), Tan Zhongyi (China, 2518), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2517), Harika Dronavalli (India, 2507), Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan, 2496), Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran, 2490), Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria, 2442), current champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE, 2520 - Rapid) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan, 2440), as well as many other stars.
The general partner of the World Cup is Freedom Broker, which provides the entire prize fund. Partners of the tournament are also Lancaster Group, Shokan Ualikhanov School, the company «Thiolain», domestic startup Chess Legends, Polymetal, and water producer Turan.
Magnus Carlsen (Norway) was born on November 30, 1990. Grandmaster (since 2004). The defending world champion (since 2013 Magnus won the championship 5 times and he will hold a champion title until the results of the Yan Nepomnyashiy against Dean Lijen match, which will be held in 2023). Three-time world champion in the rapid (2014, 2015, 2019) and five-time world champion in blitz (2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019). Magnus’ maximum rating is 2882 (May 2014 and August 2019) which is the highest in history.