July 20 is International Chess Day. Fans of the ancient intellectual game have been celebrating this holiday every year since 1966. The initiative to create International Chess Day belongs to the World Chess Federation (FIDE), which was founded in Paris on July 20, 1924.
The game of chess is very popular in Turkmenistan. Vepa Malikgulyev, Chairman of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, spoke about the most significant successes achieved by young Turkmen chess players this year in an interview with the “Golden Age” correspondent. He called the main achievement of the national team of Turkmenistan the 3rd place won by the athletes in the women's online blitz festival, which was held from June 5 to 26.
Turkmenistan was represented in the tournament by:
On the first board is Jemal Ovezdurdyyeva, current champion of Turkmenistan among women, FIDE chess master. Jemal has been fond of chess since the age of five; her mother helped her learn the basics of the game. In addition to chess, Jemal plays tennis.
On the second board is Lala Shohradova, world champion among schoolgirls, FIDE chess master. When the girl was five years old, Halil Gurbandurdyyev became her first coach. Lala prefers to spend the rest of her time after chess lessons sewing.
On the third board, Meryem Agajanova, who has the first rank in chess, played for the national team. Meryem began to seriously get involved in the game at the age of nine. Now the current coach of the athlete is the honored coach of Turkmenistan Serdar Annaberdiyev. When asked what she enjoys besides chess, Agajanova replies: “Swimming”.
Enesh Arazmedova, another holder of the first category in chess, played on the fourth board. She, like Meryem, became interested in chess at the age of nine and also trains under the guidance of Serdar Annaberdiyev. True, unlike Agajanova, Enesh is fond of table tennis.
All girls have something in common. Each of them likes to play white more, preferring bright tactical play, but not forgetting the cold calculation that is so necessary at the board. These qualities are especially useful in rapid chess tournaments. At the end of the conversation, the Chairman of the Chess Federation noted that Annagozel Mekanova, a 4th-year student of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, excelled in the tournament recently held by the chess and checkers school in the overall standings with a 100% result - 7 points out of 7 possible. Quite young chess players, nine-year-old Mahri and her twelve-year-old sister Jennet Myradova, showed themselves worthy in the tournament.
