When in 1993 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected the first president of Kalmykia he immediately signed a decree on the development of chess. Children in Kalmykia study chess in kindergartens starting from the age of four. It is not surprising that that they outperformed their peers in other regions of Russia including from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moreover, the teaching of chess in Kalmykia is not limited to school but continues in the local universities.According to the results of the All-Russian Super Final of the Championship of Russia-ASC Russia held in Kazan, the Kalmykia national chess team took the honourable 3rd place in the overall standings.
The chess team of Kalmykia was represented by Elsa Shankchieva, Lana Mandzhieva, David Godayev and Tsetsen Dorginov. Also, the Kalmyk chess players showed good results in their individual tests. The second place in the women's individual standings took Lana Mandzhieva. Third place in the men's individual event was taken by David Godayev.
Meanwhile, the traditional chess festival "Elista Summer" was successfully held in Elista in June. The tournament was divided into 3 groups.
Sixteen chess players at the age of 12 to 15 years took part in group A. Eight rounds were played. The tournament in group B became the most spectacular. 52 young chess players aged from 9 to 11 years fought there. Nine rounds were played. As a result, Bogdan Mastersky, a student of Elista Secondary School No. 3, took 1st place in boys, Vyacheslav Darbakov, a representative of EMG, took 2nd place, and Tamerlan Komayev, a student of Elista Secondary School, took 3rd place. 47 young chess players aged 8 years and under took part in tournament C.
As Kirsan Nikolayevich had planned, Elista remains the chess capital of Russia judging by its unflagging interest in chess.
