The FIDE World University Team Chess Championship-2026 concluded in Almaty, with the team from Ural State Mining University in Yekaterinburg taking the title. Kazakhstan's team from the Kazakh National University of Sports finished third, according to infohub.kz.
In the final showdown between Yekaterinburg and St. Louis, six of the eight games ended in draws. The decisive contribution to the Russian victory came from International Master Lia Garifullina, who defeated American women's grandmaster Talia Cervantes-Landeiro twice.
The bronze medal match was a true highlight of the tournament. After losing the first round, the Kazakh players bounced back in the second. The main time ended in a draw, as did the blitz. In the Armageddon super-blitz, Kazybek Nogerbek defeated Indian grandmaster Aditi Samant, securing bronze for his team.
The championship was organized by FIDE together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, and the Almaty city administration. General partners were the Freedom holding company and the Shapagat corporate foundation.
The tournament's prize fund was 50,000 euros. The winners from Russia received 25,000 euros, the American runners-up 15,000, and the Kazakh team 10,000 euros.