Lazavik Wins KazChess Masters Unbeaten as Dubov Slips Late

Denis Lazavik won the KazChess Masters in Almaty, finishing on 6½/9 with four wins and five draws. The 19-year-old Belarusian GM went through the nine-round event unbeaten, and a final-round draw with Aram Hakobyan was enough for outright first.

Daniil Dubov took second on 6/9. Shamsiddin Vokhidov and 14-year-old Kazakh IM Mark Smirnov shared third on 5½.

How the lead changed hands

Dubov entered the last three rounds half a point clear of Lazavik and Vokhidov. The turning point came in round seven. Dubov, 30, did not make the most of a clearly better endgame and was held to a draw by Sauat Nurgaliyev.

That same day Lazavik beat Alua Nurman with Black to join Dubov on 5/7. In round eight Lazavik beat Nurgaliyev with White and went ahead. Dubov drew with Hakobyan, and Vokhidov beat Nurman to reach 5½/8.

A final round with three Black games

All three frontrunners had Black in Tuesday’s last round. Dubov finished first, drawing with top seed Mahammad Muradli after 31 moves.

Vokhidov then lost to Nurgaliyev, the 16-year-old Kazakh IM who had come into the round without a win. That left Lazavik needing only a draw.

Hakobyan pressed for a while in a minor-piece endgame, aiming at Black’s isolated pawn. Lazavik held without major trouble, and the players agreed a draw after 58 moves.

Lazavik’s classical credentials

The title follows his win at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Masters. Lazavik is best known as a formidable online blitz and bullet player, and he reached the final of this year’s Esports World Cup, where he lost to Magnus Carlsen.

A clean, unbeaten run against a ten-player field that included Dubov and the top seed Muradli suggests his game travels well to slower time controls.

Smirnov’s norm

Smirnov was the youngest and lowest-rated player in the field. He lost his opening game to Dubov, then scored four wins and three draws in his remaining eight games. His only other loss came against Vokhidov.

He beat fellow Kazakhs Edgar Mamedov and Denis Makhnev with Black in rounds seven and nine. His 5½/9 meant a 2666 performance rating and his first GM norm. The 2024 under-12 world champion now needs further norms to complete the title.

Mamedov, 16, had been one of the early pacesetters, when he and Makhnev led on 2½/3. Both finished behind the leaders.