The Turkmenistan Chess Championship continues in Ashgabat, held as a double round-robin tournament. The Open Category features the country’s strongest players, including seven men and one woman, while the Women’s Category consists of eight representatives selected from national qualifying tournaments.
Following the conclusion of the first round on February 7, leaders have emerged in both categories.
Women’s Category:
Lala Shohradova (Rating: 2109) — 6.5/7 points. As expected, Lala is living up to her status as the leader of women’s chess in the country.
Gulmira Seyilhanova (Rating: 1810) — 4.5/7 points. Gulmira started very strongly; however, her final two games of the first round were unsuccessful. Despite this, she maintains second place.
Jahan Rejepova (Rating: 2051) — 4/7 points. The reigning national champion has yet to fully showcase her strengths, but experts believe she will demonstrate her “champion’s character” in the second round to defend her position for a spot on the national team.
Open Category:
Amanmuhammet Hommadov (Rating: 2269) — 7/7 points. Amanmuhammet is demonstrating absolute dominance, displaying a very high level of play in every game.
Vepaly Halynyazov (Rating: 2194) — 4.5/7 points. The reigning national champion lost to the tournament leader, but his comeback victory last year is well-remembered, and a fierce fight is expected from him in the final stages.
Ahmet Gubataev (Rating: 2176) — 4/7 points. Ahmet lost to Hommadov and Halynyazov in rounds 5 and 6, but secured his position with a final-round victory over his rival, Turaev.
The Higher League games continue. Ahead lie the decisive matches of the second round, which will determine the national champions and the members of Turkmenistan’s national teams.
As a reminder, the top three finishers from the Open Category will join the national team. According to the selection regulations approved by the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Atabayev (Rating: 2487) and Meilis Annaberdiev (Rating: 2424) have already been included in the men’s team based on their high international ratings without participating in this tournament.
For the women’s team, Leyla Shohradova (Rating: 2182)—the leader of the national women’s ranking—has been directly included based on her rating. The remaining four members of the Olympic team will be determined by the result
