From March 3 to 17 in Ashgabat, the eight strongest chess players of the country will compete in a round-robin system in two rounds for the championship title and spots in the Turkmenistan national team. The list of contenders for the men's chess crown was determined based on the results of the first league tournament, which was held at the 4th sports school in the city of Dashoguz, as reported by the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan.
A total of 56 chess players competed for six spots in the top league, playing 11 rounds using the Swiss system.
The tournament was won by Allayar Shirliev (FIDE/Elo rating - 2111), a private soldier of military unit № 2112 of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan, who scored 9 out of 11 possible points.
Shahrukh Turaev (rating - 2183), a coach of the national women's team of Turkmenistan and Candidate Master from Dashoguz, achieved the same score as Allayar in terms of points. However, he was placed second based on additional criteria.
Azim Saryev, a schoolboy from Ashgabat, took the third place, trailing the leaders by one point. He managed to increase his Elo rating by 80 points, reaching almost the 1900 level.
With a score of 7.5 points each, Vepaly Khalynyazov, a student at the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, and Shageldi Gurbandurdyev (Lebap), a former world champion among boys under 8 years old and Candidate Master FIDE, secured fourth and fifth places respectively.
Eight players who scored 7 points were contenders for the sixth place, but based on additional criteria, the final spot in the top league went to Muhammet Ezizov, a student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports.
It should be noted that two chess players, current national champion Grandmaster Maksat Atabaev and gold medalist of the 2023 Asian Championship among schoolchildren under 17 years old Amanmukhammet Khommadov, already have the right to participate in the top league.
The winners and medalists of the first league were awarded the cup, medals, certificates and cash prizes. In addition, chess players who finished in the top 10 were presented with gift certificates from the Dashoguz restaurant "DZ Burgerhouse".
The results of the top league of Turkmenistan-2024 Championship will determine the composition of the men's national team for the World Chess Olympiad to be held in September this year in Budapest, Hungary.
