Ural Queen

As part of the 16th Eurasian Economic Youth Forum, the 6th All-Russia "Ural Queen" tournament, named after Anatoly Karpov, multiple world champion and State Duma deputy, was held at Ural State University of Economics.

As usual, USUE acting rector Yakov Silin welcomed the participants and guests of the sporting competition. Legendary grandmaster and USSR champion Rafael Vaganyan and Executive Director of the Sverdlovsk region Chess Federation Albert Stepanyan delivered welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony.

This year, 165 chess players aged 12 to 25, all holding a second-category or higher, competed for the title of the best. Participants demonstrated their mastery in nine rounds with a 10-minute time control. Playing against experienced masters at the competition, young players hone their skills.

It's worth noting that rapid chess has already become one of the most popular formats. According to the rules of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), it is a game of unique dynamic: there's enough time for thoughtful calculations, but not enough for a meticulous analysis of all variations.

“Rapid chess requires both quick reflexes and thoughtfulness. I've been playing chess since I was five; my mother taught me,” said a tournament participant Nikita Bobylev. “And then I decided I would like to learn more, to be able to do more. I'm glad I'm participating in such a large-scale tournament for the second time.”

Mentors and coaches, who have themselves gone through this path, play a special role in the developing and coaching of the tournament's young participants. Yevgeny Plyusnin, the coach of the Chelyabinsk State University chess and checkers team, came to the competition with his students from the Southern Urals: “As a student, I once won a prize, and after turning to coaching, I'm happy to bring my students here to participate. The key factors for winning are composure; this is a challenging sport, and it's essential to maintain focus. This requires a predisposition, talent, and hard work. We thank USUE for its enormous contribution to chess and our opportunity to participate. We are also applying this invaluable experience to our university.”

At the end of the 6th All-Russia tournament “Ural Queen”, the judges summed up the results of three events and, based on the results of all games, determined the overall champion of the competition.

Nikolai Zharkov, Sverdlovsk region, was declared the winner of the tournament .

Nikolai Zharkov also took first place in the Sverdlovsk region. FIDE Master Roman Kuzmin won the silver medal among chess players from the Middle Urals, and Pavel Kozachkov took third place.

In the standings among other Russian entities, the places were distributed as follows:

• 1st place – Timofey Toropov, Tyumen region;
• 2nd place – Alexander Tuzov, Tyumen region;
• 3rd place – Daniil Pankov, Kurgan region.

The FIDE Women's Masters occupied every step of the podium. Zhanna Lesnykh from the Sverdlovsk region won the gold medal, Yulia Vinokur from the Chelyabinsk region took second place, and Margarita Filippova from the Sverdlovsk region took bronze.

The “Ural Queen” tournament has been held for six years during the Eurasian Economic Youth Forum. It promotes chess among young people for its intellectual and cultural development.

Congratulations to the winners and thank everybody for participating!