A chess player from the VSMPO-AVISMA club has defeated the Chinese national team at an international tournament

Photo: VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation Press Service

 

SVERDLOVSK REGION

 

Ekaterinburg Aleksey Prokhorov, an FIDE Master from the VSMPO-AVISMA chess club, has triumphed over a team of top Chinese players in a simultaneous exhibition match during the Friendship Match, an international Russia-China chess tournament held in Ekaterinburg and supported by the VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation. Eight chess players from each country, plus one top-level player from each, participated in the tournament. The Russian team comprised the winners of the White Rook finals from Moscow and the four strongest players from the Ural Chess Academy, including Aleksey Prokhorov.

 

In a simultaneous exhibition, Prokhorov played against members of the Chinese national team, winning with a score of 4.5 to 3.5. The 15-year-old Russian (FIDE rating 2261) also participated in a Star Match against International Grandmaster Bai Jinshi (age 26, FIDE rating 2571). They played four rapid games and ten blitz games. In the rapid games, they drew 2-2, while Bai Jinshi was the stronger player in the blitz games, winning 8.5-1.5.

 

In the two-day Friendship Match team competition, the Chinese team scored a total of 33.5 points, outscoring the Russian team by 3 points in the rapid chess portion. FIDE Master Yang ZiLong led the Chinese team, winning seven out of his eight games. The top performers for the Russian team were FIDE Master Roman Shogdzhiev and Candidate Master Arseny Kleshchevnikov, both finishing with 5 points.

 

It's worth noting that in 2024, Aleksey Prokhorov ranked among the top 15 players in the World Championship and secured the bronze medal in chess composition in Brazil. In 2023, he won the Russian Chess Cup in the Yaroslavl region, placed 12th out of 165 participants in the World Youth Championship in Italy, and became the Asian Youth Champion (under 14). Mikhail Shelkov, founder of the Empathy Foundation and a shareholder of the VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, provides comprehensive support for Prokhorov's training, including training camps and opportunities to play against Grandmasters. Prokhorov also receives a monthly maintenance grant from the Empathy Foundation.