Kazakhstani chess grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva is enroute to her historic debut at the 2026 Norway Chess Women’s event. The defending Women’s World Blitz Champion, with three world titles, is the youngest player to compete in the women’s tournament and has landed in Oslo to play the tournament.
Expressing her excitement on her debut, Assaubeyava in a recent interview said, “I’m really happy that I will play chess, because I think it’s an amazing event. We don’t have a lot of strong women’s tournaments, and it will be a very good experience.”
At the age of 21, Assaubayeva has created a name for herself in the elite list of women’s chess players. She won three Women’s World Blitz Championship titles in 2021, 2022, and 2025 and is one of the dominant speed chess players of her age group. Her career breakthrough came in 2021 when she became the youngest World Blitz champion to win the title at the age of 17, which has also been recognized by the Guinness World Records.
The same year, Assaubayeva ended in the runner-up position at the FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship. The 2025 season was another landmark season of her career. She first bagged her third World Blitz title, then went on to earn the Grandmaster title, made her qualification for the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, and went past 2500 in ratings after reaching 2513.
Assaubayeva’s participation in the Norway Chess Women 2026 reflects her commitment towards the sport by setting the stage for the elite female players from the next generation of upcoming stars, to that of the already established icons.
Norway Chess COO Benedicte Westre Skog is excited to see a player like Assaubayeva making her debut in the tournament’s 2026 edition.
He said, “We are very pleased to welcome Bibisara Assaubayeva to chess for the first time. Her achievements at such a young age are remarkable, and having the youngest female player ever compete in Women makes this debut even more special.”
The Norway Chess Women 2026 in Deichman Bjorvika, Oslo, will feature world-class chess players competing in the event. The participating chess players will play in a six-player double round-robin format, ensuring some high-intense action from players’ performance and quality match for fans watching worldwide.
(Inputs sourced from ANI)
