From April 2 to 10, the Asian Zone 3.4 Championship will be held in Almaty. This tournament serves as a qualifying event for the World Chess Cup 2025. Chess players from six countries—Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the host country, Kazakhstan—will participate in the competition.
The tournament features 134 participants, comprising 88 men and 46 women. They will compete for three qualifying spots for the Women’s World Cup, scheduled from July 5 to 29 in Batumi, Georgia, and for four qualifying spots for the Men’s World Cup, scheduled from November 1 to 26 in New Delhi, India.
The Turkmen national team, led by Mergen Kakabaev and Serdar Annaberdiyev, will be represented by 10 players—5 in the open category and 5 among women. Participants include the country’s strongest chess players: International Master Saparmurat Atabayev (rating on April 1: 2530), who awaits confirmation of his Grandmaster title at the next FIDE Presidential Council meeting; Grandmaster Meylisa Annaberdieva (rating: 2449); and FIDE Master Lalu Shokhradov (rating: 2144).
Additionally, Vepaly Khaliniyazov (rating: 2224, Master of Sports), Amanmuhammet Khommadov (rating: 2262, Master of Sports), and Shahrukh Turaev (rating: 2164, Candidate Master of Sports) will compete for Turkmenistan in the open category. Among the women are Women’s Candidate Master Leila Shohradova (rating: 2023), Women’s Candidate Master Byagul Ezizova (rating: 1941), Candidate Master of Sports Ogulsurai Bayrambaeva (rating: 1889), and Jahan Redzhepova (rating: 2017, 1st rank).
The zonal championship will be held in pavilions 7 and 8 of the Atakent Center in Almaty (Timiryazeva Street, 42, corner of Auezova Street).
The tournament’s prize fund is 20,000 dollars, to be divided equally between the men’s and women’s categories. Winners will receive 3,000 dollars, second place 2,500, third place 1,500, fourth place 1,200, fifth place 1,000, and sixth place 800 dollars.
This championship is also notable because Vepa Myalikguliev, head of the Turkmenistan Chess Federation, has been appointed to the Appeals Committee of this prestigious official tournament. He joins two other colleagues: Hisham Al Taher (UAE), General Secretary of the Asian Chess Federation, and Alexander Babenko (Kazakhstan), an international arbiter. Such a role is typically entrusted to individuals with impeccable reputations, who are capable of objectively and impartially adjudicating complex and potentially contentious situations that may arise at high-level competitions.
