Time is desperately short – in chess terms, we are in time trouble.

The atmosphere is businesslike: we are reviewing our results, discussing future plans, and shaping projects and decisions for 2026. One thing is clear: the upcoming season will be packed.

We plan to revamp the Young Talent Support Program, which is, in essence, the main driving force behind youth chess. We also intend to place greater focus on schools and host several major FIDE tournaments in Kazakhstan.

However, it is probably best to start with our meeting with the Head of State. Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich set aside time to receive FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and me, and personally congratulated our young champions on their brilliant victories.

The meeting was warm, yet the President engaged deeply with every detail. We discussed how Kazakhstani chess has grown over these past three years, how our chess ecosystem is evolving, and the tangible results it is delivering. Our youth national team currently ranks No. 1 in the world, ahead of such powerhouses as the United States, India, and China.

To my mind, this is a logical outcome. We simply never doubted our young players. We patiently supported them, put in the work, and did everything possible to unlock their potential. And the results followed.

In terms of international medal counts, we are also finishing this year ahead of targets. Kazakhstan currently has 148 medals, including 63 gold, 40 silver, and 45 bronze. By comparison, we brought home 55 golds last year. These figures are constantly being updated, and by the time this text is published, that tally may be higher still.

More importantly, the very mindset of Kazakhstani chess has shifted, along with how we perceive ourselves. Our talents do not merely believe they can win – they know it. They have studied their opponents well and fully understand their own capabilities and strengths. You could call this a champion’s mindset, and our players definitely have it.

During the meeting at Akorda, the President devoted considerable attention to cooperation with FIDE, which plays a central role in virtually every major international chess championship. Today, collaboration between Kazakhstan and FIDE stands at an all-time high.

Next year will bring many more joint undertakings. In Almaty, we plan to host the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship – featuring teams from Oxford and Harvard – as well as one of the stages of the FIDE World School Team Championship. These will be major international events drawing participants from every corner of the globe, giving Kazakhstan another opportunity to demonstrate its famous hospitality and strengthen its standing in the world of chess.

An important November announcement: our Young Talent Support Program will change in 2026. The number of participants will be reduced from 45 to 34. This will allow us to avoid overextending the budget, foster healthy internal competition, and provide even more focus and support to truly motivated players. The list of grant recipients will be published in February.

We launched this program in 2023, when I took charge of the KCF. Participants are selected based on a specialized evaluation system, and we aim to support the best players aged 9 to 16.

They receive regular monthly stipends, coaching sessions, training camps, coverage of international tournament travel expenses, and other resources to support their development. It is our way of taking care of and supporting our young talent. We can see that the program is thriving and yielding real results; our goal for 2026 is to refine that focus even further.

I would also like to express my heartfelt support for our women’s national team, who finished just one step away from the podium at the World Women’s Team Championship in Spain. It felt as though several things went wrong during that tournament, but there is certainly no reason to lose heart. A 4th-place finish is a highly respectable result – one that should be used to our advantage to review mistakes, identify areas for improvement, and press forward.

Still, Kazakhstan had plenty to celebrate at this championship: a brilliant national team debut and an individual gold medal for Elnaz Kaliakhmet, another gold for Meruert Kamalidenova, and a bronze for Zarina Nurgaliyeva. Today, Kazakhstan boasts one of the strongest women’s teams in the world – a point we also touched upon during our meeting with the President – and I am confident that our biggest victories are yet to come.и.

It is precisely at tournaments like these that the strongest connections are forged. You find yourself alongside fascinating people, making connections, and coming to better understand others – and ultimately, yourself. To my mind, this is what makes chess so valuable. It is gratifying to see it becoming a prominent part of corporate and cultural life in Kazakhstan.

The final results of this year will be compiled very soon. But even now, it is clear that 2025 will certainly be a year to remember. Thank you for your interest in and support for chess; we will do everything we can to give you even more reasons to celebrate.