Nodirbek Abdusattorov wins Zone 3.4 Open Championship
The Zone 3.4 Zonal Open Championship (the zone includes Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) was held in Tashkent from May 6-15, 2021. The 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control brought together 34 players, battling for two slots in the upcoming FIDE World Cup. The prize fund of Zone 3.4 Open Championship in the amount of $3,000 was provided as a grant from Asian Chess Federation. Two top GMs from Uzbekistan the namesakes Abdusattorov and Yakubboev entered the competition as rating favourites and both delivered on expectations. Nodirbek Abdusattorov turned in an excellent performance scoring 8 out of 9 points and finished 1½ points ahead of Yakubboev and Petr Kostenko. The second qualifying spot in the FIDE World Cup goes to Nodirbek Yakubboev thanks to better tiebreaks (higher average rating of his opponents). Final standings: 1 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2627 8 2 GM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2605 6½ 3 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2404 6½ 4 GM Vokhidov Shamsiddin UZB 2529 6 5 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas KAZ 2575 6 6 GM Vakhidov Jakhongir UZB 2533 5½ 7 IM Suleymenov Alisher KAZ 2438 5½ 8 IM Nigmatov Ortik UZB 2421 5½ 9 IM Assaubayeva Bibisara KAZ 2381 5 10 Sattarov Bobir UZB 2459 5