The winners of the Turkmenistan National Championships in classical chess among boys and girls in the age categories Under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 have been determined. The competitions, which brought together around 500 young players from all regions of the country, were held at the Specialized Chess and Checkers School in Ashgabat, The Golden age electronic newspaper reports.
In the youngest boys’ category U8, contested by 76 players, victory was secured thanks to strong opening preparation by Kerim Babayev, a student of the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School, who scored 8 points out of 9.
In the girls’ U8 category, which featured 36 participants, the fight for the championship unfolded among players from Lebap region. The winner was last year’s champion in the Under 7 category, Meryem Rustemova, who scored 8 points in 9 games.
In the boys’ U10 category, with 82 participants, the battle for the title developed between the Charyyev brothers. The younger of the two, Charyhekim, won an age category one year above his own for the third consecutive year, scoring 8 points.
In the girls’ U10 category, 34 players competed for the title. The champion was Bagul Jumayeva from Lebap, who scored 7.5 points and had previously won the U9 category.
In the boys’ U12 category, which included 67 players, Nazar Narimanov from Lebap and Omarbek Ismailov from Dashoguz region each scored 7.5 points. Based on the result of their head-to-head encounter, Nazar claimed the national title for the first time.
In the girls’ U12 category, among 27 participants, the champion was Aya Bayramova from Lebap region, who scored 8.5 points out of 9.
In the highly competitive boys’ U14 category, featuring 48 players, Aly Ahmedov claimed a hard-fought victory without losing a single game. He scored 7.5 points in 9 rounds, finishing half a point ahead of Emir Amanmuhammedov from Mary region, who took second place.
In the girls’ U14 category, with 29 participants, Nurana Soyunova from the private academy “Kusht Alemi” claimed a confident victory with 8.5 points, demonstrating that a 200-point rating advantage was no coincidence.
In the boys’ U16 category, among 35 participants, first place with 8 points was won by Ashyrmuhammet Atayev, a student of the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School, who had previously won the U17 category.
In the girls’ U16 category, where 17 players contested the championship title, the fight for gold unfolded between two representatives of Lebap: the reigning women’s champion Jahan Rejepova and last year’s category champion Mahri Agamyradova. Their head-to-head game ended in a draw, and as a result of an early setback in the tournament, Mahri finished second with 8 points, half a point behind Jahan.
In the oldest boys’ category, U18, which featured many strong players born in 2008 representing Lebap region, the fate of the gold medal among 27 participants was decided by the reduced Buchholz tie-break. It favored Shageldi Kurbandurdyyev, who scored 8 points and became the champion. Sanjar Gaybullayev, who also scored 8 points, finished second.
The only perfect score of the entire tournament in the girls’ U18 category, which included 13 participants, was achieved by Jennet Yalkanova from Mary region. She scored 9 points out of 9 and finished 2.5 points ahead of her closest rival, Mahrijemal Gurbangeldiyeva from the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School.
The championships in the even-numbered age categories are a key stage of the national selection system. Based on the results of these competitions, the national team will be formed to represent Turkmenistan at international tournaments held under the auspices of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF).
