Novokuznetsk hosted the closing ceremony of the International Forum on February 19th, following an intense 5-day marathon—a fierce struggle that unfolded among young but skilled chess players aged 6 to 14. Twenty-six teams (130 children) from seven countries—Russia, Mongolia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan—competed for the Intellect Academy Cup.
“The tournament was held in a completely new format; it’s unlike any other competition,” Alexander Shukan, Head of the Regional Resource Training Center of the Russian Chess Federation in Kuzbass, said. “While it’s a team-based tournament, each round consisted of two stages: a simultaneous exhibition and a match. At first, the captains played against four members of another team concurrently. This was a critical moment, as the leader’s performance significantly impacted the overall team score. The simultaneous exhibition was followed by a standard rapid chess match across five boards, with captain pitted against captain, the first board of the children against the first board of the opponents, the fourth against the fourth. Then the points scored in the simultaneous exhibition and the match were summed up.”
About 300 people gathered at the awards ceremony: chess players, coaches, parents, and guests. It was marked by a warm and friendly atmosphere, a sense of occasion, and the playing of the national anthems of the victorious teams.
Among the Russian teams, third place was taken by the team from Gymnasium No. 15 in Novosibirsk (coach: I.S. Akulov, captain: Ivan Akulov). In second place was the team from Physics and Mathematics School No. 56, Ulan-Ude (coach: Z.V. Rinchinov, captain: Timur Kalashnikov). The absolute winner among the Russian teams was the team from Intellect Academy (coach: A.E. Teterina, captain: Gleb Rybkin).
Among the foreign teams, the prizes were distributed as follows: third place went to the team from Kyrgyzstan (coach: D.S. Toktogonov, captain: Aktilek Azyrankulov). Second place was claimed by the team from Armenia (coach: N.N. Movsisyan, captain: Garik Sharadzhyan). And the team from Kazakhstan took the highest award (coach: A.P. Kashashvili, captain: Mark Smirnov).
The winners in the individual competition were also honored on this day. Three special “Will to Win” awards were presented to the teams from Bulgaria, Mongolia, and Belarus.
In addition to their medals, certificates, and the Intellect Academy Cups, the young participants departed with cash prizes, gifts, a wealth of positive memories, and new friendships that they hope to rekindle at next year’s second annual Intellect Academy Cup International Tournament.