Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev took part in the opening ceremony of the final of the Senat Open tournament – the Open Cup of the Chamber of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan in chess.
The Senat Open competition brought together over 8,000 chess enthusiasts of various professions, ages, and regions. This, according to Maulen Ashimbayev, is the main value of the sporting event. This is almost three times more than last year. Participants in the tournament included doctors, teachers, media representatives, government officials, and members of parliament at all levels.
The Senate Speaker emphasized that the tournament once again demonstrated that chess in Kazakhstan is becoming not only a professional sport but also a mass intellectual movement. Furthermore, organizing chess competitions plays a key role in scaling up the sport at the regional level. The development of this area is also under the special supervision of the Head of State.
"President Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev places great emphasis on developing Kazakhstan's intellectual potential. Chess plays a significant role in this process. The Senat Open tournament also aims to popularize chess. Over the past three years, the Senat Open has come a long way. This year, for the first time, the competition was held in four full stages – from the Round of 16 to today's final. Five zonal semifinals covered all of Kazakhstan: North, South, Central, East, and West. This is already a nationwide movement. There are no random victories at the board. Strategic thinking, endurance, and the ability to calculate the consequences of one's decisions several moves ahead are essential. These are precisely the qualities that are in demand today in various fields. I am confident that today's Senat Open 2026 tournament will be a major event in the development of chess in the country," the Chairman of the Chamber said in his speech, thanking the tournament organizers.
Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, also emphasized that over the past three years, the tournament has become truly popular and has taken an important place in the country's chess ecosystem.
"The Senat Open tournament is only three years old, but it has already earned a prominent place in Kazakhstan's unified chess ecosystem. Each year, the number of Senat Open participants has grown. And this is perhaps the most honest indicator that our tournament has become, without exaggeration, a national event. This year, nearly 9,000 people took part. The success of the Senat Open is no accident. It is the result of the extensive work carried out at the direction of our President," noted Timur Turlov.
The tournament consisted of four stages, from the Round of 16 to the deciding games. The only restriction for participation was an ELO rating below 2000 in all time controls: classical, rapid, and blitz, as of January 1, 2026.
After the Round of 16, participants competed for a spot in the quarterfinals, where the strongest chess players in each region were determined. The next stage was the semifinals, which were held in a zonal format. Fifty-three participants from each semifinal advanced to the final. In Astana, they were also joined by members of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, members of republican public councils, and government officials, as determined by the credentials committee. Following the finals, winners were determined in 10 categories.
Twenty small cups were also awarded to the best teams in the regions, and the large Senat Open 2026 Cup was awarded to the tournament's best team.
(Press Office of the Senate, 74-72-27. Photo by: A. Baizhumanov)
