Kazakhstan received a board of honor – Newspaper Kommersant No. 10 (7455) of 01/20/2023

For the first time in its history, Kazakhstan will host a world-class sporting event. He won the competition for the right to host the World Chess Championship match. In the duel in Astana, which opens on April 7, one of the most prestigious titles in sports will be played by the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and the Chinese Ding Liren. The €2 million match was sponsored by US-based Freedom Holding Corp., which is headed by Kazakh-born businessman Timur Turlov.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has decided on the venue for its main event – the match for the world title. It will be held from April 7 to May 1 in Astana. One of the most valuable titles in sports, which is actually vacant at the moment, will be played in the duel. For almost ten years they owned Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who at the end of 2021 confidently defended him in a match against Russian Jan Nepomniachtchi in Dubai. However, a few months later, Carlsen announced that he had decided not to take part in the next match, effectively giving up the title. In Astana, Nepomniachtchi and Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren will fight for him. Both achieved this right thanks to the Candidates Tournament held last summer in Madrid. Nepomniachtchi took first place in it, Ding Liren – second.

FIDE clarified that the regulations for the Astana match will be the same as for the Dubai match. The opponents will have to play 14 games with classical time control, and in case of a draw at the end of them, a tie-break in rapid chess or blitz.

The prize fund of the match remained the same. It will amount to €2 million. 60% of the amount will go to the winner, 40% to the loser.

Kazakhstan is quite actively developing the sports industry, but this match will be the first unqualified top event in sports that it has had the opportunity to host. And in order to get the status of its owner, the Kazakh application had to win a competition in which its opponents, as follows from FIDE statementswere three countries. At the same time, if China and Mexico simply “expressed interest” in holding the fight, then the federation called Argentina “the other main contender”.

Explaining why Kazakhstan did win the competition, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, in addition to his desire to “develop chess in Asia,” pointed to Argentina’s position, which was not very successful, given the composition of the match.

A significant difference in time zones, in his opinion, would have a large negative impact on the size of the match audience. In the case of Kazakhstan, such a problem will not arise. Dvorkovich described its location as “ideal” for the situation.

It can be assumed that the background also played in favor of Kazakhstan. He recently took on an important chess competition. At the end of December, Almaty hosted the World Rapid and Blitz Championships (both titles for men won Magnus Carlsen). Leading grandmasters noted the good organization of the tournament, the general partner of which was Freedom Holding Corp. It is based in the US, but its leader and founder is Kazakh-born businessman Timur Turlov. It is Freedom Holding Corp. became a sponsor of the match for the “classic” world title, which, as Arkady Dvorkovich expects, despite the absence of an undisputed frontman of modern chess, will be in great demand – if only because of the inclusion in the fight for the title of China.

Alexey Dospekhov