Winners of Zakovat Gambit chess tournament awarded in Tashkent

The final matches took place in the capital on October 29–30. Participants were divided into five groups based on their rating and skill level. The winner of each group is awarded 50 million soums, second place receives 30 million, and third place gets 20 million. The best female chess player in each group receives a separate prize of 20 million soums. The total prize fund amounted to 620 million soums.

A total of 5,831 chess players registered for the tournament this year, including 633 women and girls — a record number of female participants in the history of the competition. The number of participants roughly doubled compared to the previous year. For the first time, regional qualifiers were held in person across all 14 regions of the country; qualifying online via the Chess.com platform was also an option.

Saida Mirziyoyeva attributed the growing interest in the tournament to young people's pursuit of knowledge. She noted that while the country has already achieved noticeable success in international chess, it is equally important to create conditions in which everyone can develop their abilities. She assigned a special role to the Zakovat project in this effort: "The future of the country depends not only on what the younger generation knows, but also on how they think."