Promoting chess throughout society
One of the strategic objectives of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) is to build strong and long-term partnerships with relevant government offices in our country in order to promote chess throughout our society. We see this not as a one-sided story, but a win-win story where everyone considers each other's interests as we all strive to achieve our respective goals.
Over the past year, we have made great progress in this area. I am very pleased to report that The Comprehensive Chess Development Plan for the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted by the government and that at the direction of our President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev , the chess-in-education project is currently being implemented. In addition, we are now holding numerous tournaments around the country that encourages diplomats, government officials, and successful business people to become involved the chess universe, making holding or participating in a chess tournament not just fashionable, but a new mainstream for Kazakhstani HR in the corporate world.
Perhaps one of the better examples of our success in this area is our recent Senat Open Chess Tournament. The tournament was launched in April of this year with the personal support of the Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Maulen Ashimbayev, and its main objective was to hold a tournament among deputies of maslikhats (locally elected government officials) of all levels, as well as public figures and journalists, under the auspices of the Chamber of Parliament. On August 31st, the final took place in Astana, in which 130 people from all regions participated.
The Senat Open helped us to activate the chess agenda at a very local level where 220 out of 226 maslikhats were involved in the project and more than 2000 people took part in the tournament. In many of the regions represented, it allowed us to strengthen the interaction between our KCF branches and local authorities, and in several regions where the Comprehensive Chess Development Plans were signed, decisions were made to increase funding for chess sports.
On August 31st, in addition to participating in the official ceremony of opening, Chairman Ashimbayev held a meeting with the chairmen of maslikhats, where they discussed issues of further supporting chess in their regions and the wider involvement of deputies and the public in the process. This was a very constructive and important meeting for all participants in Kazakhstani chess and I want to extend a special thanks to the vice president of the KCF, Alexander Babenko, for his tremendous work in organizing the tournament over the past four months!
