Representatives of Turkmenistan won silver and bronze medals at the Western Asian Junior Rapid Chess Championship (under 20) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
According to the tournament regulations, which consisted of 7 rounds, each player was allocated 15 minutes for the entire game with an additional 10 seconds after each move.
As reported by the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, the silver success in our team was achieved by Vepaly Khalyniyazov, a student of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction. He scored 5.5 points in 7 games. The same score was achieved by international master G. Harshavardhan from India, who topped the final standings based on additional indicators.
Another our compatriot, Amanmukhammet Khommadov, a high school student from Ashgabat School №117, had 5 points before the final round. If he had won the final game against Sri Lankan international master Da Silva, he could have won the gold medal. However, his opponent's experience proved to be superior. He ultimately became the bronze medalist. Amanmukhammet finished the tournament in 5th place among 40 participants.
Lala Shokhradova, a schoolgirl from Danev etrap, Lebap region, won the bronze medal in the Turkmenistan team. She scored 5.5 points out of 7 possible in the women's category, in which 36 chess players competed for awards. Lala won the bronze medal in the last round over the champion of the tournament - Zeinep Sultanbek, woman international master from Kazakhstan, who had a 100% result before meeting Lala. Second place with 6 points was taken by chess player Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini from Sri Lanka.
The next set of medals will be played in classical chess, with the competition consisting of 9 rounds. The Western Asian Junior Championship will conclude with a blitz tournament on December 6th.
