Former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov is set to take part in the Baku Open 2026, adding significant prestige to one of the region’s leading chess festivals.
The Azerbaijan Chess Federation confirmed to İdman.Biz that the decorated Ukrainian grandmaster has agreed to compete and has been officially included in the list of participants for the upcoming tournament.
Ponomariov made history in 2002 when he became the youngest FIDE world champion, winning the title in a knockout-format championship by defeating compatriot Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final. He was also the penultimate champion in the separate FIDE world title lineage, which was introduced in 1993 following the split in the chess world after Garry Kasparov’s dispute with the governing body. The unified world championship was restored in 2006, when Vladimir Kramnik defeated Veselin Topalov.
In total, six players have held the FIDE world title during that period, including Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Viswanathan Anand, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Topalov and Ponomariov himself.
The Baku Open 2026 will take place from 27 April to 6 May at the Baku Crystal Hall and forms part of the wider Chess Tour Azerbaijan project, a nationwide series of tournaments organised by the national federation. The event is expected to attract a strong international field alongside many of Azerbaijan’s leading grandmasters, further underlining Baku’s growing status as a major hub on the global chess calendar.
