Meryem Agajanova, a candidate Master of Sports from Ashgabat, became the champion of Turkmenistan in chess. The 17-year-old student of the 11th grade of the 55th secondary school in the capital achieved this success for the first time by winning the women's top league of the country's championship.
The competition took place over two weeks at the specialized chess and checkers school in Ashgabat, with the participation of 8 female chess players who played against each other in two rounds with white and black pieces.
It is noteworthy that the current composition of the women's top league was one of the youngest in the history of Turkmen chess, with an average age of only 17 years!
This demonstrates that chess is now "getting younger" all over the world, and Turkmenistan is not an exception. Children start playing and engaging in the wise game from a very young age, and modern computers with powerful engines for analyzing positions help them much more effectively than before. Moreover, thanks to the Internet, chess can be played "all day long" among millions of admirers of the ancient game on popular chess platforms, and a worthy opponent can be easily found at any time.
As expected, the main competition among the women for medals unfolded between the defending champion of Turkmenistan last year, Lala Shokhradova, her younger sister Leyla, and the vice champion of Turkmenistan in 2023 Meryem Agajanova. Despite losing twice in direct confrontations against the more renowned Lala Shokhradova, Meryem (FIDE rating - 1873) demonstrated a 100% result against all other opponents in the tournament, which allowed her to maintain the first place, scoring 12 out of 14 possible points in the end.
Meryem Agajanova becomes the Turkmenistan Chess Champion for the first time. Last year, she won the first league and earned a silver medal in the top league. Her first coach was Saodat Achilova. Currently, she is honing her skills in this game under the guidance of the honored coach of Turkmenistan Serdar Annaberdiyev. In addition to chess, the new Turkmenistan champion is interested in medicine and plans to become a doctor in the future.
Lala Shokhradova (1949), an 18-year-old high school student from Danev etrap, took the second place in the championship with 11 points, and her 17-year-old sister, Leyla (1929), completed the top three.
It is gratifying that 13-year-old Jahangir Rejepova from Turkmenabat took the confident 4th place in the tournament and, accordingly, a place in the women's national team.
Intense competition unfolded for the 5th place, which also secured a spot in the women's national team. Three athletes - Enesh Arazmedova, a student of the Ashgabat Chess School, Byagul Ezizova, this year's winner of the first league, and Ogulsuray Bayrambaeva, last year's top league medalist, - scored 4.5 points each and shared 5th to 7th places. In this situation, it was necessary to resort to additional coefficients, which turned out to be better for the 16-year-old schoolgirl, Enesh Arazmedova.
Based on the results of the national championship, the top five female chess players formed the composition of the Turkmenistan women's national team, which will face a serious test at the World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, in September 2024.
