The Most Famous
CHESS PLAYERS from Kazakhstan
This page contains a list of the greatest Kazakhstani Chess Players. The pantheon dataset contains 374 Chess Players, 2 of which were born in Kazakhstan. This makes Kazakhstan the birth place of the 37th most number of Chess Players behind Denmark and Syria.
Top 2
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Kazakhstani Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Kazakhstani Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912 - 1974)
With an HPI of 54.01, Rashid Nezhmetdinov is the most famous Kazakhstani Chess Player. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.
Rashid Gibyatovich Nezhmetdinov (Russian: Раши́д Гибя́тович Нежметди́нов, Tatar: Рәшит Һибәт улы Нәҗметдинов, Räşit Hibät ulı Näcmetdinov; IPA: [ræˈʃit næʑmetˈdinof]; December 15, 1912 – June 3, 1974) was a Soviet chess player, chess writer, and checkers player. Although he never attained the title of Grandmaster, he was a renowned tactician and created several brilliant games. Biographer Alex Pishkin compares him to Chigorin, Réti and Spielmann.
2. Zhansaya Abdumalik (2000 - )
With an HPI of 22.67, Zhansaya Abdumalik is the 2nd most famous Kazakhstani Chess Player. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakh: Жансая Даниярқызы Әбдімәлік/Jansaya Daniyarqyzy Äbdimalik; Russian: Жансая́ Дания́ровна Абдумали́к, romanized: Zhansaya Daniyarovna Abdumalik; born 12 January 2000) is a Kazakhstani chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She is the first Kazakhstani woman, and the 39th woman overall, to earn the GM title. Abdumalik has a peak FIDE rating of 2505 and has been ranked as high as No. 11 in the world among women. Abdumalik has been a two-time girls' World Youth Champion as well as a girls' World Junior Champion. She is also a two-time Kazakhstani women's national champion, and has represented Kazakhstan in women's events at the Chess Olympiad, World Team Chess Championship, and the Asian Nations Chess Cup. On April 20, 2022, Zhansaya became the President of the Almaty Chess Federation. Abdumalik began playing chess at age five. She emerged as a chess prodigy, first qualifying for the girls' World Youth Championships at age seven and winning gold medals at the under-8 level at age eight and the under-12 level at age eleven. She earned the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title at 14 years old in 2014 and the International Master (IM) title at 16 years old in 2016. Having previously earned silver and bronze medals at the under-20 girls' World Junior Championship, she won the gold medal in 2017. After achieving all of her norms for the GM title across 2017 and 2018, Abdumalik became a Grandmaster in 2021 by reaching the 2500 rating threshold in Gibraltar in the last leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2019–21. She also had a career-best performance rating of 2699 at the tournament. In her career, she has defeated several Grandmasters rated above 2600, including Yaroslav Zherebukh when he was rated 2642 to help earn her first GM norm.
Pantheon has 2 people classified as chess players born between 1912 and 2000. Of these 2, 1 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living chess players include Zhansaya Abdumalik. The most famous deceased chess players include Rashid Nezhmetdinov. As of April 2022, 1 new chess players have been added to Pantheon including Zhansaya Abdumalik.
