Strong field at Masters Open in Aktobe (Kazakhstan)

by André Schulz
6/24/2025 – FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial first move on Sunday at a strong open tournament in Aktobe. The event has been held since 2019 as a memorial for his father, Vladimir Dvorkovich. Top seed is Wang Hao but in his first game the Chinese grandmaster suffered a loss. | Photos: Tournament page
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The International Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial – Aktobe Open 2025 (June 22 to 30) began on Sunday in Aktobe, a city in northwestern Kazakhstan with a population of nearly 600,000. The name "Aktobe" means "city on the white hill" in Kazakh. The chess festival includes three tournaments: a Masters event with a strong international field for players rated 2400 and above, a Challengers tournament for players rated between 1900 and 2399, and an Open for players rated between 1400 and 1899.

The guaranteed prize fund for the Masters tournament is 78,000 US dollars. The winner receives 18,000 dollars, the runner-up 12,000 dollars, and third place 10,000 dollars.

The tournament is named in memory of Russian chess arbiter and official Vladimir Dvorkovich, the father of current FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. After completing his studies, Vladimir Dvorkovich worked in Aktobe for a time. The memorial tournament has been held here since 2019. Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial first move at the opening of the event.

The tournament is organized by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KazChess) and FIDE, with support from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Akimat of the Aktobe region. The event is sponsored by Freedom Holding Corp. and the Aktobe Copper Company. The venue is the ASE Tennis Center in Aktobe, generously provided by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation.

"This tournament offers our chess players an excellent opportunity to compete at home against the world’s elite—in a familiar environment, but at the highest level of competition. Thanks to a good prize fund, the event has attracted a truly top-class field, in line with its status. And it is especially important that all of this is happening in the region. We are deliberately working to ensure that major tournaments are not held only in Astana and Almaty, but also in regional centers that are developing dynamically in the chess sphere. This creates new growth points for chess infrastructure, inspires young people, and gives a strong boost to the development of the sport at the local level," said Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.

Several strong international grandmasters are competing in the Masters tournament. The starting list is headed by top Chinese player Wang Hao (Elo 2701). Arkadij Naiditsch, currently playing under the Bulgarian flag, is ranked seventh. Kazybek Nogerbek is the highest-rated Kazakh player in the field. Among the nearly 70 participants in the Masters, there are 21 grandmasters.

After two rounds, only four players remain with a perfect score. Tournament favorite Wang Hao suffered a loss in the very first round against Russian player Dmitry Rostovtsev. Arkadij Naiditsch was defeated in the second round.

Standings after two rounds

1 24
IM Urazayev, Arystanbek KAZ 2490 2 1 0 2
2 28
IM Davtyan, Artur ARM 2472 2 1 0 2
3 8
GM Aryan, Chopra IND 2620 2 1 0 2
4 10
GM Yilmaz, Mustafa TUR 2586 2 1 0 2
5 35
FM Rostovtsev, Dmitry FID 2429 1,5 1,5 0 1
6 37
IM Goutham, Krishna H IND 2427 1,5 1,5 0 1
7 36
IM Kuru, Atilla TUR 2428 1,5 1,5 0 1
8 39
FM Valiyev, Shahin AZE 2421 1,5 1,5 0 1
9 45
IM Abdilkhair, Abilmansur KAZ 2401 1,5 1,5 0 1
10 49
IM Amilal, Munkhdalai MGL 2385 1,5 1,5 0 1
11 23
IM Ilamparthi, A R IND 2490 1,5 1,5 0 1
12 64
FM Lyutsinger, Iren w FID 2261 1,5 1,5 0 1
13 4
GM Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2641 1,5 1,5 0 1
14 12
GM Iniyan, Pa IND 2573 1,5 1,5 0 1
15 9
GM Amar, Elham NOR 2589 1,5 1,5 0 1
16 13
GM Aditya, Mittal IND 2563 1,5 1,5 0 1
17 31
FM Panesar, Vedant IND 2456 1,5 1,5 0 1
18 14
GM Nogerbek, Kazybek KAZ 2538 1,5 1,5 0 1
19 32
Utegaliyev, Azamat KAZ 2445 1,5 1,5 0 1
20 16
GM Xue, Haowen CHN 2518 1,5 1,5 0

Games

Links

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Topics: Aktobe Open, Aktobe Open 2025
André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.
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