The women's chess team of Turkmenistan managed to rise by as much as 40 positions in the world ranking, which is published by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on a monthly basis. The average rating of the leading «ten» Turkmen chess players, who now ranks 56th among 200 countries, is 1940.
Such an unexpectedly rapid growth in team rating indicators is primarily due to the high tournament activity that is observed in the chess field in Turkmenistan after the «pandemic silence». Chess players who switched to the status of «passive» during the years of the pandemic are returning to their worthy «active» places, thanks to a series of tournaments held by the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan over the past three months.
A feature of these national competitions, in contrast to previous years, is that the organizers provide calculation of individual ratings of games played at all national level tournaments, which allows each chess player to score a rating corresponding to his level of play in the FIDE international reining list.
Among the significant tournaments of the last three months, one can note the first leagues of the championship of Turkmenistan in both the open and women's categories (December 2022), the national championships in rapid and blitz chess in the open and women's categories (November 2022), the national championships among youth under 20 in open and women's categories (January 2023). It is noteworthy that despite the separate women's categories of tournaments, the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan actively encourages the participation of the fair sex in men's tournaments, which are now commonly called open.
By the way, the highest league of the championship of Turkmenistan among women is also taking place these days, where, after five rounds, the current champion of the country, Jemal Ovezdurdyyeva, is in the lead with 4.5 points. The sisters Lala and Leyla Shohradova and Ogulsuray Bayrambayeva are half a point behind her. In total, the tournament, in which 14 chess players participate, will take place in 13 rounds.
According to the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, on February 13, the country's championships in children's and youth age categories among boys and girls under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old will begin. And at the end of February, the main start of the year is scheduled to begin - the major league of the open championship of Turkmenistan, which is traditionally known as men's, but this year the champion of the women's major league will also take part in it.
Male chess players also improved their rankings, moving up one step in the world rankings to 66th place compared to the previous month. International master Yusup Atabayev demonstrated a noticeable jump in rating indicators, who has now become the leader of the rating list of Turkmen chess players. His rating reached 2516.
The course of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan to hold a large number of tournaments with a FIDE rating is obvious, which in turn affects the high level of motivation of athletes and a more active invitation of top players to international competitions.
