January Favorit chess Weekend 2026
30 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 09 Jan 2026 to 11 Jan 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 3 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1914, and top seed was Daryn Dairov (🇰🇿 KAZ, 2089).
Beibars Sultanbek (🇰🇿 KAZ, 1951) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Pairavi Kodiri (4.0) and Daryn Dairov (4.0). Sultanbek won solo starting round 4.
The biggest upset came in round 5: Kazbek Zamanbek (1452) beat Daulet Nurbolatov (1922), a +470-point gap.
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How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsBeibars Sultanbek led from R4; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.
Beibars Sultanbek held the sole lead from R4 through R5 without losing it.
Beibars Sultanbek drew with Pairavi Kodiri (Black).
Beibars Sultanbek 4 wins (R1–R4)Daryn Dairov 3 wins (R1–R3)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Beibars Sultanbek | * | ½ | 1 | — |
| 2Pairavi Kodiri | ½ | * | — | ½ |
| 3Daryn Dairov | 0 | — | * | — |
| 4Alikhan Yelibay | — | ½ | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sultanbek, Beibars | 1951 | KAZ | +23N | +8B | +7N | +3B | =2N | 4.5 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 13.50 | 2201 | +41.9 |
| 2 | Kodiri, Pairavi | 2029 | TJK | +13N | +9B | =4N | +10B | =1B | 4.0 | 14.5 | 17.5 | 13.25 | 2045 | +7.2 |
| 3 | Dairov, Daryn | 2089 | KAZ | +12B | +18N | +14B | −1N | +7B | 4.0 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 10.50 | 2058 | -2.3 |
| 4 | Yelibay, Alikhan | 1767 | KAZ | +27N | +15B | =2B | =14N | +8N | 4.0 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 9.75 | 2107 | +60.6 |
| 5 | Zamanbek, Kazbek | 1452 | KAZ | +16B | =6N | =19B | =11N | +14B | 3.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 8.75 | 1849 | +97.6 |
| 6 | Yessenbaev, Nazar | 1683 | KAZ | =29N | =5B | +20N | =9B | +21N | 3.5 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 7.50 | 1837 | +32.4 |
| 7 | Bulat, Mansur R | 1736 | KAZ | +30N | +10B | −1B | +19N | −3N | 3.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 5.00 | 1865 | +21.2 |
| 8 | Kadyr, Aldiyar | 1720 | KAZ | +24B | −1N | +22B | +16N | −4B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 5.50 | 1768 | +10.0 |
| 9 | Uderbayev, Tamirlan | 1742 | KAZ | +25B | −2N | +17B | =6N | =11B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 6.25 | 1749 | -0.4 |
| 10 | Karpunin, Kirill | 1933 | KAZ | +22B | −7N | +12B | −2N | +17B | 3.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 7.00 | 1789 | -14.4 |
| 11 | Belikova, Dariya | 1676 | KAZ | +26B | −14N | +15N | =5B | =9N | 3.0 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 6.75 | 1775 | +18.4 |
| 12 | Sisemalin, Sanzhar | 1645 | KAZ | −3N | +28B | −10N | +23B | +25N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 3.50 | 1750 | +16.4 |
| 13 | Abilbek, Azamat | 1627 | KAZ | −2B | +25N | −16B | +26N | +18B | 3.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 4.00 | 1740 | +14.4 |
| 14 | Nurbolatov, Daulet | 1922 | KAZ | +20N | +11B | −3N | =4B | −5N | 2.5 | 14.5 | 16.5 | 7.00 | 1715 | -44.8 |
| 15 | Dzhumakanov, Kuanysh | 1984 | KAZ | +17B | −4N | −11B | =24N | +23B | 2.5 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 4.25 | 1659 | -48.5 |
| 16 | Muratuly, Magzhan | 1804 | FID | −5N | +21B | +13N | −8B | F | 2.0 | 11.5 | 13.5 | 5.00 | 1669 | -25.6 |
| 17 | Asan, Nurtilek | 1609 | KAZ | −15N | +27B | −9N | +20B | −10N | 2.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 3.00 | 1596 | -6.8 |
| 18 | Shafikov, Emil | 1772 | KAZ | +28B | −3B | =23N | =21B | −13N | 2.0 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 2.75 | 1651 | -32.4 |
| 19 | Ibrayev, Ualikhan | 1488 | KAZ | =21N | +29B | =5N | −7B | F | 2.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 3.25 | 1572 | +8.0 |
| 20 | Sapargali, Nurbolat | 1496 | KAZ | −14B | +26N | −6B | −17N | +24B | 2.0 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 2.50 | 928 | -13.8 |
| 21 | Diaskyzy, Daliya | 1884 | KAZ | =19B | −16N | +29B | =18N | −6B | 2.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.50 | 1494 | -77.6 |
| 22 | Panov, Viktor | 1549 | KAZ | −10N | +30B | −8N | −25B | +27N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.00 | 1027 | -7.2 |
| 23 | Serik, Bekasyl | 1589 | KAZ | −1B | +24N | =18B | −12N | −15N | 1.5 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 2.50 | 1515 | -12.9 |
| 24 | Lisogor, Vyacheslav | 0 | KAZ | −8N | −23B | +28N | =15B | −20N | 1.5 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 2.25 | 1495 | 0.0 |
| 25 | Duisebayev, Akadil | 0 | KAZ | −9N | −13B | F | +22N | −12B | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.00 | 1446 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Sadykov, Amir | 0 | KAZ | −11N | −20B | +27N | −13B | −28N | 1.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 1.00 | 759 | 0.0 |
| 27 | Berdygozhin, Ilay | 0 | KAZ | −4B | −17N | −26B | +29N | −22B | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 0.50 | 841 | 0.0 |
| 28 | Ayupov, Almansur | 1439 | KAZ | −18N | −12N | −24B | F | +26B | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.00 | 909 | -14.4 |
| 29 | Orazbay, Aitugan | 0 | KAZ | =6B | −19N | −21N | −27B | F | 0.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 1.75 | 1412 | 0.0 |
| 30 | Kenzhekhanova, Nadira | 0 | KAZ | −7B | −22N | F | F | F | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 0.00 | 853 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Zamanbek, KazbekKAZ+97.63.5 pts · #4
- 2Yelibay, AlikhanKAZ+60.64.0 pts · #6
- 3Sultanbek, BeibarsKAZ+41.94.5 pts · #1
- 1Diaskyzy, DaliyaKAZ-77.62.0 pts · #22
- 2Dzhumakanov, KuanyshKAZ-48.52.5 pts · #9
- 3Nurbolatov, DauletKAZ-44.82.5 pts · #8
- R5+470 Elo gap
- R1+352 Elo gap
- R3+308 Elo gap