Two grandmasters and former World Junior Champions—Darmen Sadvakasov, First Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and Vice President of the Asian Chess Federation, and Ilaha Kadimova, Woman Grandmaster and Secretary General of both the Turkic Chess Association (TCA) and the Azerbaijan Chess Federation—will arrive in Ashgabat to participate in the chess program of the International Fair and Exhibition “KIDS EXPO: Everything for Children” (19–22 August 2026, Exhibition Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan).
The distinguished guests will host masterclasses for the country’s top players: Ilaha Kadimova will lead sessions for the Turkmenistan Women’s National Team, and dedicated masterclasses are also planned for the Youth National Team.
These training sessions will form a key component of the exhibition’s extensive chess program, headlined by the Kids Expo Chess Cup 2026—an international rapid and blitz tournament taking place on 19–20 August. Beyond the competition, KIDS EXPO visitors of all ages can look forward to interactive festival activities and a dedicated business program.
“Chess Island”: Learn to Play in Half an Hour
Festival activities will be hosted at the combined “Chess Island” stand. Visitors can learn the fundamentals of the game in just 30 minutes, play casual matches with fellow attendees, or test their skills against masters. One of the main highlights will be a blindfold simultaneous exhibition, where an experienced master will play multiple games without looking at the board. The area will also feature a themed photo zone with oversized chess pieces, interactive masterclasses, Kahoot trivia games with prizes, and traditional simultaneous exhibition sessions.
Business Program: Bringing Chess to Schools
On 19 August, the exhibition will host an international roundtable titled “Chess, Youth, Education, and International Cooperation,” bringing together leaders of national chess federations from 11 countries across the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. The central topic will be the integration of chess into school curricula across all participating nations.
Attending the meeting will be leadership from the International School Chess Federation (ISCF), led by CEO Alina Dvoretskaya, alongside Darmen Sadvakasov, who directly spearheaded the successful rollout of chess into over 1,500 Kazakhstani schools over the past two years. The roundtable is organized as part of the Year of Chess in Education 2026, declared by FIDE and ISCF.
“Chess is a universal language understood by children worldwide and one of the most effective tools for cognitive development. The tournament and events in Ashgabat hold regional significance: under one roof, we are discussing and demonstrating in practice how chess is entering schools. This has been made possible largely due to the support of Turkmenistan’s leadership, under whose backing chess in the country has developed with particular intensity in recent years. I am confident that the KIDS EXPO chess program will introduce the game to hundreds of children and parents while launching systematic efforts to advance school chess across the region,” noted Timur Turlov, President of the International School Chess Federation, the Turkic Chess Association, and the Kazakhstan Chess Federation.
A detailed schedule of chess events is available for download in Russian and Turkmen.
Organizers and Partners
The event is organized and supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan, the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, the International School Chess Federation (ISCF), the Turkic Chess Association (TCA), the Freedom Asian Chess Initiatives (FACI) program of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Freedom Holding Corp. (Freedom Group), and TurkmenExpo.
The chess festival at KIDS EXPO 2026 represents a major step forward in popularizing chess among Turkmen youth and expanding international sports and educational cooperation. /// Chess Federation of Turkmenistan