Parliamentarians of the CIS countries, unite!
The first Open Cup of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in chess was held in Almaty
In November last year, at the plenary session of the IPA CIS in Dushanbe, the Chair of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Maulen Ashimbaev, proposed organizing a chess tournament dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Kazakhstan Chess Federation, led by Executive Director Gulmira Dauletova, acted as the organizer of the chess program for the IPA CIS. The director and chief arbiter of the Open Cup was KCF Vice‑President Alexander Babenko.
Representatives of six CIS countries –Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan – participated in the individual‑and‑team competition. The tournament saw parliamentarians and government staff members from the Commonwealth countries facing off across the boards.
Russia was represented by senators Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Savin and Oleg Tsepkine, State Duma deputies Sergey Leonov, Ivan Babich and Alexey Volotskov; the team’s captain was Albert Minnullin, director of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “Sergey Karjakin Chess Club.”
The Russian chess team received active support from senators who took part in the session of the IPA CIS Standing Committee — Andrey Shevchenko, Olga Shchetinina and Natalya Kuvshinova — as well as from Olga Folomeeva of the International Relations Directorate of the Federation Council apparatus.
Thanks to the efforts of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and Deputy Executive Director Boris Pen, the competition was held to the highest standard, a fact noted by all participants. The organizers of the next cup will have to keep up to such level. Beyond the competitive matches, a friendly atmosphere; was fostered where participants not only played chess but also actively socialized, including extensive cultural program, excursions around Almaty and a gala dinner.
“Although the tournament is friendly in nature, I am sure the team competition will be fierce. May the strongest win! Most importantly, such events are designed to strengthen friendship and cooperation among our fraternal peoples,” emphasized Russian senator and multiple‑time world champion Sergey Karjakin.
The winners and prize‑winners of the Open Cup were presented with awards by Zhakip Asanov, Deputy Chair of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In his welcoming remarks he highlighted the symbolic link between politics governance and chess.
“The work of a legislator is in some ways similar to a chess game. We must calculate our moves, understand their consequences and keep the whole ‘board’ in our heads. But whereas in chess you can start over, in Parliament we do not have that luxury – every move we make becomes law, for which we are responsible to our country,” Zhakip Asanov noted.
Team scores were calculated based on the results of each country’s four best players. Sergey Karjakin convincingly won the individual standings and also took first place among active parliamentarians. Albert Minnullin secured third in the individual standings, first among seniors (50+) and second in the category “staff members of the apparatus of elected bodies” Alexander Savin and Ivan Babich also contributed points to the team.
In the team standing the Russians won the bronze medals. Silver went to the hospitable hosts. The winners of the first IPA CIS Open Cup in chess were the united and sizeable team of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Photos and videos: press service of the MRCF and Olga Folomeeva.
