Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- An official opening ceremony of the tournament will take place at the International Chess Academy on 16 August. Our pride, the 17th world champion Rustam Kosimjonov, will take part in the opening ceremony.

About 150 chess players and judges from 12 countries - Armenia, Afghanistan, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Palestine, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will compete for the title of the best grandmaster in the region. Competitions will be held in two groups - in the main group "A" with a rating of 1800 and above, and in group "V" for participants with a rating below 1800.

The total prize pool of the tournament is US$25,000.

The main judge of the competition will be Khusan Turdialiyev, an international judge, FIDE Regional President for Central Asia. Khusan Turdialiev is an eight-time world chess champion, FIDE world champion, referee of the World Rapid and Blis Championship, FIDE Grand Prix referee, and also the chief referee of the Carlsen-Anand match, which took place in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Also, the competitions of the Tashkent Chess Tournament will be judged by international judges from Russia, Iran and Tajikistan.

The international tournament will also be attended by young chess players who will compete for the titles of International Grandmaster, Master of Sports of the International Category and Master of Sports of the FIDE category.