From February 17 to 28, the International Festival “Crown of Russian Chess” will be held in the Moscow region.
The festival is truly international. Chess players from two dozen countries will participate in the tournaments. Among the guests are recognized chess powers such as India, Kazakhstan, Armenia and newcomers from Togo, Mauritius, Nepal, very exotic countries for this sport…
The prize fund of the “Russian Chess Crown” will reach a record of 7,500,000 rubles, and the winner of the main tournament will receive 1 million rubles.
Expanding the international presence became possible thanks to the activities of the House of Russia abroad, where the chess clubs of grandmaster Sergei Karyakin operate, as well as the international online project “Asian Tournament”, which has become a platform for regular interaction between chess players from different countries. This is how chess shaped a new architecture in international sports relations.
Mithrabhoy Guhoy, winner of the Commonwealth Championship, represented India. Turkmenistan sent one of the largest delegations, including new 2025 grandmaster Saparmyrat Atabaev, who has achieved success at major international tournaments in Central Asia. Belarus will be represented by 2022 national champion Maxim Tsaruk. The Thai delegation, a strategic partner of FSHMO, also deserves attention. The Philippines will be represented by international masters, national champions and Asian champions. The delegation was led by a world chess legend – Asia's first non-Soviet grandmaster, Eugenio Torre, whose name symbolized the continent's entry into the world chess arena.
Sergei Karyakin, one of the most famous Russian grandmasters of our time, is expected to participate in the festival. The world rapid champion and winner of many international tournaments is actively involved in the development of chess in Russia: he heads the Moscow Regional Chess Federation, carries out educational projects for children and adolescents, supports the veteran chess movement and attracts SVO participants to competitions.
2025 Russian champion Arseny Nesterov will perform at the tournament. His victory in the national championship was one of the main surprises of the past season. Among the favorites is the winner of the 2025 Russian Cup, 2024 national rapid chess champion Nikita Afanasyev. It is noteworthy that his wife Maria Afanasyeva will also participate in the competition. The family's chess duo regularly competes for the Kuban University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism and are winners of all-Russian team competitions. One of the most experienced participants, 2011 European champion Vladimir Potkin, is the coach of one of the strongest Russian grandmasters, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Of interest is the participation of Roman Shogdzhiev, the youngest international master in history, who received this title at the age of 10. He is a world and European junior champion, and has experience competing against top grandmasters, including twelfth world champion Anatoly Karpov.
