A significant event in the sports life of Turkmenistan was the recent visit of the 59-year-old legendary grandmaster Nigel Short, who is rightly considered one of the greatest British chess players of all time, the Golden age electronic newspaper reports.

Short was a chess prodigy, earning the title of International Master at 14 and Grandmaster at 19. Throughout his career, he won numerous tournaments and represented England in several Chess Olympiads. His greatest international fame came in 1993 when he played a World Chess Championship match against Garry Kasparov, becoming the first Englishman to challenge the world chess crown holder.

Currently, Nigel Short holds the position of FIDE Director for Chess Development. He arrived in the Turkmen capital at the invitation of the British Embassy and the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports to participate in an international exhibition and scientific conference dedicated to the development of sports in Turkmenistan.

Additionally, the renowned grandmaster, with a FIDE blitz rating of 2571, participated in the Turkmenistan Chess Federation Cup (TCF) Blitz Tournament, contested by over 300 participants. As expected, Nigel Short emerged as the winner. In nine games, he scored 7.5 points and surpassed International Grandmaster Maksat Atabayev (FIDE blitz rating – 2377) and Candidate Master Amanmukhammet Hommadov (2316) based on additional criteria.

During his stay in Turkmenistan, Nigel Short also conducted a simultaneous exhibition with 10 young chess players, lasting over two hours and resulting in victories for the chess star in all games. The young athletes gained valuable experience playing against a grandmaster and had many positive emotions.

At the request of coaches and leading chess players of the country, N.Short held a separate meeting with them to discuss issues related to the development of chess players' skills, coaching activities, and creating conditions for the fast-paced and sustainable chess development in the country.