A high second place was taken by a tandem of juniors from Turkmenistan at the Asian team online chess championship that ended on Sunday. First-ranker Amanmuhammet Hommadov and FIDE Master among women Lala Shohradova, who made up the mixed double team in the under-18 category, scored 15 team points out of 18 possible, losing only to Indonesia, which scored 16 points. Third place on the podium went to the Philippines with 13 points.
The competition, which brought together 42 participants from 21 countries of the continent, was attended by such solid teams as Sri Lanka, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and India. The online tournament was held for three days, from the 28th to 30th of April, with the «rapid» regulation, where the players were given 15 minutes with an addition of 10 seconds for each move made.
In the individual competition among youths, 16-year-old Amanmuhammet Hommadov, who played his first online tournament, took 2nd place with 7 points out of 9 possible, losing the first line to Filipino Arka Christian Gian Carlo. A chess player from Indonesia closed the top three with 6 points.
And at the second women's board, the 17-year-old current champion of the country Lala Shohradova also took 2nd place. With 7.5 points, she lost half a point to a strong rival from Indonesia, Laisa Latifa. The third was a chess player from Iran.
It should also be noted that in terms of game points, the team of Turkmenistan was the best in the tournament, gaining 14.5 points. Indonesia won by team points with 14 game points. The Chess Federation of Turkmenistan notes that «this fact and the overall success of our juniors testify to the evenness of the game, the psychological stability of our team and, of course, the professional training of the players».
10-grader Amanmuhammet Hommadov, who studies at secondary school №117, trains with the honoured coach of Turkmenistan Serdar Annaberdiyev at the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Drafts School. And Lala Shohradova, a student of the 31st secondary school from the Danev etrap, is the ward of the coach Gulhan Gurbandurdyyeva.