Astana Team Draws in First Quarterfinal Match of Chess Universiade

The playoff stage of the World University Chess Championship kicked off in Almaty. In the first round of the quarterfinals, the team from the Kazakh National University of Sports (KNUS) split the points (2:2) with the National Technical University of Athens, according to infohub.kz.

Wins for the Kazakh team came from Grandmaster Kazybek Nogerbek and International Master Meruert Kamalidenova. Kazybek, playing white, defeated Grandmaster Dimitris Alexakis, while Meruert, with black, overcame FIDE Women's Master Panagiota Kiouzi.

International Masters Satbek Akhmedinov (black) and Arystan Isanzhulov (white) lost to FIDE Masters Nikolaos Koutlas and Vasilios Kasioumis, respectively.

This evening, the second round will take place, with the opponents swapping colors. If the capital's team beats the Greeks, they will likely face one of the favorites in the semifinals: the team from Ural State Mining University in Yekaterinburg. The Russian chess players routed the Chileans 4:0 in the first quarterfinal round.

The 2026 World University Chess Championship is being held in Almaty. The other quarterfinal matchups are: USMU (Russia) vs. University of Chile (4:0), University of Texas (USA) vs. Gunadarma University (Indonesia) (3:1), and Saint Louis University (USA) vs. Harvard University (USA) (4:0).

Quarterfinals, semifinals, the third-place match, and the final, like the group stage matches, are played over two rounds. In case of a tie, winners are determined by a tie-break.

Matches are played on four boards. Each team must have at least one man and at least one woman. The time control is 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move starting from the first move.

The tournament is organized by FIDE together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, and the Akimat of Almaty. General partners are the Freedom holding group and the Shapagat corporate fund.

The total prize fund is 50,000 euros. The champions will receive 25,000 euros, the runners-up 15,000 euros, and the third-place team will split 10,000 euros.