Allayar Shirliyev, a first-rate chess player from Ashgabat, became the chess champion of Turkmenistan. The 21-year-old conscript soldier achieved this success for the first time by winning the highest league of the national championship.
The competition took place over a period of two weeks at the specialized chess and checkers school of the capital city, with the participation of 8 chess players. It is worth noting that the current cohort of finalists in the top league was one of the youngest in the history of Turkmen chess - the average age of male participants was 21 years.
The contenders for the title of Turkmenistan champion competed for it for the first time in double round-robin tournament, playing two games against each other with both white and black pieces. The organizers decided on this competition format to eliminate any chance occurrences in determining the winners, which could have occurred in a short-distance tournament. In the championship, each chess player had spare time to play twice against all participants in the 14 rounds.
This time resreve could be useful for Maksat Atabayev (FIDE rating - 2417), current country champion, who unexpectedly lost to candidate master Shahrukh Turayev (2183) in the first round. However, after the unexpected defeats in the first two rounds, the international grandmaster decided to withdraw from the tournament.
Meanwhile, Allayar Shirliyev, a private soldier of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan's Military Unit No. 2112, who took the lead in the middle of the championship, confidently brought the matter to victory, scoring a total of 11.5 points out of 14 possible. This achievement allowed the new country champion to increase his Elo/FIDE rating by 72 points and surpass the level of 2200 point.
Amanmukhammet Khommadov (rating – 2222), seventeen-year-old high school student from Ashgabat missed out on the victory by just one point, while Vepaly Khalyniyazov, eighteen-year-old student of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecte and Construction finished third with 9 points.
It is worth noting the fourth place of another Ashgabat school student - sixteen-year-old Azim Saryev (1906), who, despite being ranked 33rd in the Turkmen chess rating list, performed well in his debut in the top league, scoring 8 points and making it into the reserve of the national adult team.
Candidate master Shahrukh Turayev, who finished the first round of the tournament in first place, had a very unsuccessful second part of the championship and as a result, dropped from 7.5 points to the 5th position in the final standings.
Three prize-winners of the men's top league received the right to represent our country at international tournaments throughout the year, including the World Chess Olympiad, which will take place in Budapest, Hungary in September. Earlier, due to their high rating scores, Saparmyrat Atabayev (2506) and Meilis Annaberdyyev (2467) had already secured a place in the Turkmenistan national team without participating in the top league.
