Daniil Dubov commented on 13-year-old Sergey Sklokin’s performance at the Aktobe Open 2026. Dubov believes Sklokin is playing above his rating, and calls Sergey’s play in the final round suspicious.

Daniil Dubov

Daniil Dubov

Russian GM

“In this tournament, a lot depends on the draw. There is, for example, this boy, Sergey Sklokin… It’s clear that you can beat him, but it is also clear that he plays much better than the average person with his rating.

He didn’t lose the game against me, although he could have. And on the final day of the tournament, his play seemed suspicious, but he somehow managed to pull it off.

You could get Sklokin as a partner, for example, or you could get some guy who’s been consistent for years and plays to his rating.”

The Aktobe Open 2026 took place from June 3 to 11, in Kazakhstan. Sergey Sklokin finished 10th out of 81, without losing a single game in the tournament. Sklokin played with a performance of 2646 and gained +25.4 points of Classical rating.

Credit: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE